HIVEMIND launched in 2021, the 50th anniversary of the first science fiction course taught at Georgia Tech. In 1971, Professor Irving “Bud” Foote taught one of our first accredited SF classes, commencing a long tradition of SF Studies at GT. For a brief history of science fiction studies at Georgia Tech, please check out the timeline below. To learn more about SF at Tech, please also check out Sci Fi @ Tech, the GT Library’s Science Fiction Lounge, and the Science Fiction Studies Minor.
1971
First Sci Fi class at GT
The first Science Fiction Class at Georgia Tech is taught by GT literature professor Irving “Bud” Foote in 1971.
1979
Jay Telotte joins Georgia Tech
Professor Jay Telotte, author of Animating the Science Fiction Imagination and Science Fiction Film, joins GT.
1998
SF Collection is established
Professor Bud Foote retires in 1998, donating 8000+ items to the GT Library and forming the core of our SF collection.
1999
Lisa Yaszek joins Georgia Tech
Regents Professor Lisa Yaszek, Science Fiction Studies scholar and author of Literary Afrofuturism in the Twenty-First Century and The Future Is Female, joins Georgia Tech.
2004
Sci Fi Lab Established
Professor Lisa Yaszek founds the Sci Fi Lab in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication.
2006
Sci Fi Lab Radio Show established
Professor Yaszek forms the Sci Fi Radio Show, a student produced and led radio show, in 2006. It currently broadcasts online at www.wrek.org.
2010
Kathleen Ann Goonan joins Georgia Tech
LMC hires award-winning science fiction author Kathleen Ann Goonan as a Professor of the Practice (2010-2015).
2015
SF Minor Created
Professors Lisa Yaszek and Nihad Farooq establish the Science Fiction Studies Minor.
2017
Susana Morris joins Georgia Tech
Dr. Susana Morris, scholar of Black Feminism, Black Digital Media, and Afrofuturism, joins LMC. Professor Morris is the author of Close Kin and Distant Relatives: The Paradox of Respectability in Black Women’s Literature.
2018
SF Lounge Opens
The GT Library is renovated and a dedicated SF Lounge is created in the entry, the core of the collection based on Dr. Foote’s 1998 donation.
2021
HIVEMIND established
Dr. Amanda Weiss, assistant professor of Japanese and Media Studies, launches HIVEMIND: Global Speculative Fiction.
2020
Ida Yoshinaga joins Georgia Tech
Dr. Ida Yoshinaga, assistant professor of Science Fiction Film joins Georgia Tech. Dr. Yoshinaga is also the co-editor of Uneven Futures: Strategies for Community Survival from Speculative Fiction.