Jigsaw Modules
FIU+UoB
Fiction-Science Institute
Summer 2024
FIU’s Science & Fiction Lab partners with University of Birmingham’s LANS Lab to offer the first transatlantic Fi-Sci Institute
The program at a glance:
Fi-Sci Faculty Fellows take part in an exciting initiative to interweave fiction and STEM. Working in interdisciplinary duos, fellows develop jigsaw modules that link their specializations by way of fi-sci analogies.
Mapping patterns
at the confluence of
fiction and science
Teams comprise one fellow who teaches humanities or humanistic social sciences, and one fellow who teaches in a STEM field. Fellows will individually implement their new jigsaw modules in their Fall 2024 courses.
Meet the Summer 2024 Cohort
FIU
FIU
FIU
UoB
UoB
UoB
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Associate Teaching Professor @FIU
English
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Teaching and Research Fellow @UoB
Chemical Engineering
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Assistant Professor @FIU
Architecture
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Associate Professor @UoB
Materials Engineering
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Assistant Teaching Professor @FIU
Marine Biology
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Professor @UoB
Classics
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Assistant Professor @FIU
English
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Teaching Fellow @UoB
Civil Engineering
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Adjunct Lecturer @FIU
Global and Sociocultural Studies
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Lecturer @UoB
Biosciences
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Associate Professor @FIU
English
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Assistant Professor @UoB
Criminology
Featuring workshops with celebrated guest speakers:
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Ken Liu
WRITER OF SPECULATIVE FICTION
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James Phelan, Ph.D.
DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
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Anamika Prasad, Ph.D.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF BIOMEDICAL, MECHANICAL, AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
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Vandana Singh, Ph.D.
WRITER OF SCIENCE FICTION; PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AND ENVIRONMENT, FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY
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Nick Sousanis, Ph.D.
COMICS AUTHOR; ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HUMANITIES & LIBERAL STUDIES, SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNVERITY
The program in detail:
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Innovate an interdisciplinary undergraduate curriculum by integrating fi-sci pattern mapping into courses across the university.
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Fi-sci is an analytic framework that involves locating the pattern of a scientific phenomenon in a work of fiction. For instance, astrobiologists commonly refer to a circumstellar habitable area as the Goldilocks Zone, because the science and the fairy tale share a pattern: they both describe conditions that are "just right." Visit the Fi-Sci Gallery to explore more examples of pattern mapping across literature and STEM.
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With “plug-and-play,” portable course content in the form of jigsaw modules (JMs). JMs are ready-to-go clusters of lessons that can be interpolated into pre-existing courses in any discipline.
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Bundled in adaptable, self-contained units, intersections of fiction and science can transform the undergraduate classroom experience. We learn by analogy: understanding something new by connecting it to something already familiar. An interdisciplinary curriculum is like a welcome banner, encouraging visitors to make new, creative connections.
The JM model gets interdisciplinarity into places where it would otherwise not exist. Without changing majors, declaring a new minor, or incurring excess credits hours, STEM students in fi-sci badge-adopting courses will have the opportunity to not only interface with the humanities, but assimilate humanistic approaches into their chosen disciplines. Whether they encounter the badge in a humanities course or a STEM course, STEM majors will gain exposure to the humanities that is not perfunctory, but rather fully entwined with their subject of study. Learning for humanities majors improves as well: they see their subject in a new light and observe how it intersects with other fields – what it can offer to the understanding of other subjects. This will enable them to discover novel applications for their humanistic expertise, which can translate into innovative job opportunities. -
Over the course of the Fi-Sci Institute, fellows design original JMs at the intersections of fiction and STEM.
In July fellows participate in four expert-led workshops that offer guidance about format and ideas for content.
In Fall 2024, each fellow will implement their new JM by aligning it to one of their courses.
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FIU and UoB faculty members interested in cross-disciplinary, cutting-edge, creative pedagogy.
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Via Zoom, July 2024.
Institute Agenda
Explore Fi-Sci Modules Developed by Previous Cohorts
ASSOCIATE TEACHING PROFESSOR
OF HISTORY; DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR WOMEN’S AND GENDER STUDIES, FIU
Alexandra Cornelius, Ph.D.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SCIENCES, FIU
Fahad Saeed, Ph.D.
ASSISTANT TEACHING PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY; FACULTY FELLOW, HONORS COLLEGE, FIU
Tigran Abrahamyan, Ph.D.
VISITING ASSISTANT TEACHING PROFESSOR OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES; FACULTY FELLOW,
HONORS COLLEGE, FIU
Jeanette Smith, J.D.
Nicola Gavioli, Ph.D.
ASSOCIATE TEACHING PROFESSOR
OF PORTUGUESE, FIU
Sabyasachi Moulik, Ph.D.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF CELLULAR BIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY, FIU
PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS; DIRECTOR OF THE BIOMOLECULAR SCIENCES INSTITUTE; FACULTY FELLOW, HONORS COLLEGE, FIU
Prem Chapagain, Ph.D.
Magda Novelli Pearson, Ph.D.
INSTRUCTOR OF ITALIAN AND ITALIAN
PROGRAM COORDINATOR, FIU
This program is made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed with relation to this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.