Medical Dystopias | BTHX 5000-002/8000-002

Dystopian literature is a genre of fiction used to explore social and political structures in a dark, often politically repressive world. Starting most famously with Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, novelists and filmmakers have used fictional dystopias to explore ethical issues in medicine and biology, especially genetic engineering, psychiatric medication, human cloning and medical experimentation. This class will use works of fiction and film to explore such issues along with larger questions of social justice, exploitation, animal rights and existential meaning.