Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCSC chapter.

Ā Media has always been a great way to analyze society and what is considered the social norm. The Social Fiction Conference is a Crown affiliated gathering of people over two days for analyzing issues of social justice that are imbedded in the science fiction, gaming, and fantasy genre and examining how it reflects and affects real life.

(Not just the conference UCSC needed but the conference that UCSC deserved)

On Friday, Tim Yamamura gave a presentation on how the fictional figure Urashima Taro is relevant in the intersections of Asian American literature and science fiction, then a group from the Bay Area Steampunk Society gave conference goers a 101 on Steampunk. Later at midnight, conference goers were given a free ticket to go to the midnight showing for Howl’s Moving Castle at the Del Mar downtown.

(The Bay Area Steampunk Society)

The next day, Saturday, conference goers got to go to sections about differenct subject matters and listen to the keynote speaker. This year, the keynote speaker was Kim Stanley Robinson. He is an American science fiction writer known for his award winning trilogy Mars.Dr. Michael Blumlein also gave a speech on the promise and perils of science and scientific thinking.

(Dr. Michael Blumlein surrounded by great superheros and villains and Aquaman)

After the keynote speaker, conference goers had their choice of multiple workshop sessions and there were 3 sessions total that conference goers could go to. Some particularly interesting workshops included:

-Examining racism and religion in the game Skyrim: Elder Scrolls to see how it affects perceptions in the game and how the skills learned from playing can be applied to the outside world.

-A creative writing workshop focusing on describing difficult fantasy and science fiction concepts using metaphors.

– Examining female characters in media and how femininity is portrayed with regards to gender presentation and character agency and how aesthetics betray cultural stereotypes about femeninity and competence.

– A discussion about Twitch play Pokemon and it’s implications for a structurally vulnerable society.

– and a workshop discussing about how sexism has changed in the video game industry and market using the game Duke Nukem.

At the end of the day, everything winded down with a raffle, ranging from Social Fiction Conference t-shirts to a signed copy of the Mars Trilogy.

All in all, it was a positive environment for discussion of social justice in the media with lots of fun and camaraderie. I highly recommend going to next year’s Social Fiction Conference!

Clarissa Hyun is a Class of 2016 Psych major at UCSC. She hails from the birthland of the Mac, which she states is very overrated. On her spare time she draws, attempts to write, and eats. Which is totally a hobby. Yes.
My name is Geraldine Nicdao, a UC Santa Cruz '14 Banana Slug Alum. From day one, I was born and raised a U.S. Navy Brat and spent most of my life growing up in Japan. A few things that I absolutely love are steak, fashion, and travel. I am always striving to go beyond the cookie cutter and constantly defying everybody's expectations. One of my biggest accomplishments to date, would be finishing the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco 2013. Not many know this, but I also was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and so I've had my fair challenges balancing the life of a college student and the obstacles of health. My philosophy is: "work hard and play harder" because I believe that self care is important which includes rewarding yourself for the hard work that you do- "treat yo' self!". Looking at my Instagram will give you a bit of an insight to my fun and busy bee life. One of my current projects includes the #BangingBootyProject which is a document of my goals, efforts, and strides on my own health and fitness journey. Over the next few years, I am planning to pursue a second degree in Communications and PR/Marketing.