Fiction-Science Institute

Summer 2026

The program at a glance:

 

Institute 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

Duos comprise one fellow who teaches fiction and one fellow who teaches STEM—within any field or department. Fellows will individually implement their new jigsaw modules in their Fall 2026 and Fall 2027 courses.

Meet the Summer 2026 Cohort

Featuring workshops with celebrated guest speakers:

The program in detail:

  • Innovate an interdisciplinary undergraduate curriculum by integrating fi-sci pattern mapping into courses across the university.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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. Learn more about the superpower benefits of interdisciplinary fluency.

  • Over the course of the Institute, fellows design original JMs at the intersections of fiction and STEM.

    In June and July fellows participate in expert-led workshops that offer guidance about format and ideas for content.

    In Fall 2026 and Fall 2027, each fellow will implement their new JM by aligning it to one of their courses.

  • FIU faculty members interested in cross-disciplinary, cutting-edge, creative pedagogy.

  • Via Zoom, Summer 2026

 
 

Institute Agenda

 
 
 

This program is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Award No. 2518840.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.