A Look Back at the Future: 100 Years of Science Fiction (Webinar)
Price range: $18.00 through $50.00
For close to a century Science Fiction has been one of the most popular—and one of the least critically respected—genres of fiction. This lecture follows the evolution of Science Fiction from its origins in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to its present-day pop-culture dominance, paying particular attention to the way the genre separated from its siblings Fantasy and Horror.
We will trace the evolution of Sci-Fi from the ‘pulp’ works of H.P. Lovecraft in the 1930s, through the ‘hard-boiled’ stories of Robert Heinlein and A.E. van Vogt in the ’40s, and into the ‘Golden Age’ of the 1950s and 60s, when much of the best work of Isaac Asimov, Fritz Leiber, and Theodore Sturgeon was published. Although the further diversification of the genre makes it somewhat more challenging to follow a single path in 1960s and ’70s, we can see the effects of a turn towards the ‘social’ and ‘revolutionary’ in the writings of Ursula Le Guin, Harlan Ellison, Phillip K. Dick, and Octavia Butler. Building on these foundations, the 1980’s “Cyberpunk Revolution” brought innovations in literary style to the genre that we can trace further into the aesthetically accomplished Sci-Fi of the ’90s and 2000s and in the fragmented but still massively influential Science Fiction of the present day.
My goal in this lecture is to sketch out the broad literary history of the genre’s development, showing students where their own favorite Sci-Fi fits, and suggesting further authors and works that might be appealing.
Instructor: Dr. Michael Drout
Meet Time: This webinar will stream live on August 19th, 2026 at 7:00 PM ET with a runtime of approximately 90-120 minutes. The recording will be made available with lifetime access the next day in your HHL customer account.
Individual Price: $18 (Non-Refundable)
Family Price for 3 or more students: $50 (Non-Refundable)
Recommended Age: This webinar can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.
How to access the class: After purchase, the link to the live session as well as the eventual recording of the webinar will be made available in the customer’s HHL account under “My Courses” with lifetime access.
Description
For close to a century Science Fiction has been one of the most popular—and one of the least critically respected—genres of fiction. This lecture follows the evolution of Science Fiction from its origins in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to its present-day pop-culture dominance, paying particular attention to the way the genre separated from its siblings Fantasy and Horror.
We will trace the evolution of Sci-Fi from the ‘pulp’ works of H.P. Lovecraft in the 1930s, through the ‘hard-boiled’ stories of Robert Heinlein and A.E. van Vogt in the ’40s, and into the ‘Golden Age’ of the 1950s and 60s, when much of the best work of Isaac Asimov, Fritz Leiber, and Theodore Sturgeon was published. Although the further diversification of the genre makes it somewhat more challenging to follow a single path in 1960s and ’70s, we can see the effects of a turn towards the ‘social’ and ‘revolutionary’ in the writings of Ursula Le Guin, Harlan Ellison, Phillip K. Dick, and Octavia Butler. Building on these foundations, the 1980’s “Cyberpunk Revolution” brought innovations in literary style to the genre that we can trace further into the aesthetically accomplished Sci-Fi of the ’90s and 2000s and in the fragmented but still massively influential Science Fiction of the present day.
My goal in this lecture is to sketch out the broad literary history of the genre’s development, showing students where their own favorite Sci-Fi fits, and suggesting further authors and works that might be appealing.
Instructor: Dr. Michael Drout
Meet Time: This webinar will stream live on August 19th, 2026 at 7:00 PM ET with a runtime of approximately 90-120 minutes. The recording will be made available with lifetime access the next day in your HHL customer account.
Individual Price: $18 (Non-Refundable)
Family Price for 3 or more students: $50 (Non-Refundable)
Recommended Age: This webinar can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.
How to access the class: After purchase, the link to the live session as well as the eventual recording of the webinar will be made available in the customer’s HHL account under “My Courses” with lifetime access.
Additional information
| Number of Students | One Student, Two Students, Three or More Students |
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