The University of the Future
Workshop Speculative Creative Writing with Isabel Hoving

Speculative literary fiction addresses issues of our contemporary world by posing the question “what if?” In this workshop creative writing, participants work towards their own piece of short dystopian fiction, as a tool for criticizing the ills of contemporary academia and for imagining an alternative university. What if the already tedious bureaucracy of grade administration, the perverse financial impulses for "excellency", or the securitization of university campuses were to be taken to yet another level? What if our university were fully carbon neutral and ecologically sustainable? What if student numbers would explode and the housing crisis remained unresolved? What if...?

In the first session, you will work in class on hands-on assignments and tools to improve your writing. After this session, you will work on a 2000 word piece of prose fiction at home. You will read each other's work through a peer review system. In the final session, we will discuss each other’s work with the full group.