In this College Edge seminar, we’ll read bold science fiction by Latin American and U.S.-Latino writers who use the future to question the present. These stories explore worlds shaped by climate change, mass migration, government overreach, and economic inequality. Some imagine societies under intense control. Others imagine how broken systems might be healed.

Together, we’ll explore cli-fi (stories about environmental futures) and poli-sci fi (stories about power, politics, and resistance), all in English translation. Rather than treating these texts as distant or abstract, we’ll ask what they reveal about real-world questions: Who is included or excluded? Who has power? What does resilience look like when the system is stacked against you?

You won’t just analyze these stories, you’ll experiment with them. Using AI as a creative and critical tool, you’ll rewrite endings, imagine alternate futures, step into characters’ relationships, and test how AI can help you generate new ideas (and where it falls short). Along the way, you’ll decide when AI is useful, when it isn’t, and how it shapes the stories we tell.

By the end of the course, you’ll build confidence as a reader, writer, and discussion participant. You’ll sharpen your ability to think critically about the future, experiment creatively with ideas, and use AI thoughtfully; skills you’ll carry into college and beyond.

This course is taught by:

Teaching Professor Samuel Jaffee, UW Spanish and Portuguese Department

To sign up for College Edge and reserve your spot in this course, click on the "register now" button below.