Jessamyn Neuhaus http://geekypedagogy.com @GeekyPedagogy January 2019 Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay: Studying Star Trek
Supplement to Chapter Five, “Practice,” of Geeky Pedagogy: A Guide for Intellectuals,
Introverts, and Nerds Who Want to Be Effective Teachers
(Morgantown: University of West Virginia Press, 2019)
In Chapter Five of Geeky Pedagogy, I argue that “for people who care about student learning, here’s the best and worst news about effective teaching that you will ever hear: no matter who you are or what you teach, you can get better with practice. Nothing will improve our teaching and increase our students’ learning more than doing it, year after year, term after term, class after class, day after day” (146). I also conclude the book with a brief review of the four pedagogical practices described in the previous chapters, and note that “the more time we can spend just doing them, the better we’ll get at effective teaching and advancing our students’ learning” (148).
The citations in Chapter Five are not lengthy and the chapter does not raise the need for additional citations from the scholarship on teaching and learning. There is, however, one area of scholarship that I would like to add to this book as a nod to my favorite geeky popular text: Star
Trek (ST). ST is by no means a perfect franchise or fandom, yet crucial to its longevity is its ability to evolve, most notably in terms of diversifying popular presentations. To my mind,
“infinite diversity in infinite combinations” will always be the most poetic, truest description of both a lived reality as well as a sociocultural ideal—as a teacher, as a nerd, and as a human being.
Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 1
I offer here not a comprehensive bibliography, but rather a sample of scholarly work published in the past fifteen years in the field of ST studies and which may be of interest to
Geeky Pedagogy readers. Indeed, Star Trek studies offers some of the best examples of geeks, introverts, and nerds in academia doing our thing.
Consumerism and Economics
Like all mass media, Star Trek is a commodity, created to sell and to generate profit. For analysis of ST as part of the capitalist economy, see for example Dyomi Baker, To Boldly Go:
Marketing the Myth of Star Trek (London: Tauris Academic Studies, 2018); Douglas Brode and
Shea T. Brode, The Star Trek Universe: Franchising the Final Frontier (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2015); Tim Summers, “From ‘Sabatoge’ to ‘Sledgehammer:’ Trailers, Songs, and the Musical Marketing of Star Trek Beyond (2016),” Music and the Moving Image 11, no. 1
(2018): 40-65. On using Star Trek to examine issues of economics in our universe, see for example Dan Hassler-Forest, “Star Trek, Global Capitalism, and Immaterial Labour,” Science
Fiction Film and Television 9, no. 3 (Autumn 2016): 371-391. For a study of the economic questions raised by Star Trek’s depiction of a post-capitalist world in which everyone’s basic needs are met, see Manu Saadia, Trekonomics (San Francisco: Pipertext, 2016).
Cultural Studies
No scholarly are boasts as much Star Trek scholarship as the multidisciplinary, pop culture-fluent field of cultural studies. These analyses include close readings of narrowly focused issues in the franchise such fashion, monsters, and music, as well as broader examinations of the
TV shows and films as cultural texts and situated in cultural history. See for example Katharina
Andres, “Fashion’s ‘Final Frontier:’ The Correlation of Gender Roles and Fashion in Star Trek,”
Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research 5 (2013): 639-649; Michele Barrett and
Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 2
Duncan Barrett, Star Trek: The Human Frontier Second Edition (New York: Routledge, 2016);
M. Keith Booker, Star Trek: A Cultural History (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2018);
Justin Everett, “The Borg as Vampire in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) and Star
Trek: First Contact (1996): An Uncanny Reflection,” in Draculas, Vampires, and Other Undead
Forms: Essays on Gender, Race, and Culture, ed. John Edgar Browning and Caroline Joan (Kay)
Picart (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2009); Lincoln Geraghty, The Influence of Star Trek on
Television, Film, and Culture (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2007); Lincoln Geraghty, Living with
Star Trek: American Culture and the Star Trek Universe (London: I.B. Tauris, 2014); David
Gerrold and Robert J. Sawyer, eds., Boarding the Enterprise: Transporters, Tribbles, and the
Vulcan Death Grip (Dallas: BenBella Books, 2006); Jessica Getman, “A Series on the Edge:
Social Tension in Star Trek’s Title Cue,” Journal of the Society for American Music 9, no. 3
(August 2015): 293-320; Hannah Gunderman, “Blurring the Protagonist/Antagonist Binary through a Geopolitics of Peace: Star Trek’s Cardassians, Antagonists of the Alpha Quadrant,”
Geographical Bulletin 58, no. 1 (May 2017): 51-62; Karen Hellekson, “Living With Star Trek:
American Culture and the Star Trek Universe,” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts 19, no. 1
(2008): 112-156; Michael Hemmingson, “Sex and Star Trek: Amorous Androids, Interstellar
Promiscuity,” Science Fiction Studies 36, no. 3 (2009): 572-577; Craig Owens Jones, “‘Acolytes of History?’ Jazz Music and Nostalgia in Star Trek: Next Generation,” Science Fiction Film and
Television 9, no. 1 (2016): 25-53; Peter W. Lee, ed., Exploring Piccard’s Galaxy: Essays on Star
Trek: The Next Generation (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2018); Donald Palumbo, “The
Monomyth in Star Trek (2009): Kirk & Spock Together Again for the First Time,” Journal of
Popular Culture 46, no. 1 (February 2013): 143-172; Stefan Rabitsch, “‘And yet, everything we do is usually based on the English:’ Sailing the Mare Incognitum of Star Trek’s Transatlantic
Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 3
Double Consciousness with Horatio Hornblower,” Science Fiction Film and Television 9, no. 3
(Autumn 2016): 439-472; Tim Summers, “Star Trek and the Musical Depiction of the Alien
Other,” Music, Sound, and the Moving Image 7, no. 1 (Spring 2013): 19-52; Margaret
Weitekamp, “Two Enterprises: Star Trek’s Iconic Starship as Studio Model and Celebrity,”
Journal of Popular Film and Television 44, no. 2 (January-March 2016): 2-13; Carlos de Yarza,
“Star Trek—Where No Genre Has Gone Before: Application of Mittell’s Television Genre
Theory to the Star Trek Series,” Journal of Multidisciplinary Research 9, no. 2 (Summer 2017):
73-80.
Embodied Identity: Race and Ethnicity
One of the most intriguing aspects of studying Star Trek as a historian and as a professor of pop culture is considering the ever-evolving ways it represents racial and ethnic identity. From the well-documented intentions of the original series creators, who sought to depict a more racially diverse and enlightened future (and falling considerably short by contemporary standards) to the franchise’s variety of Native American representations to the first iteration of the series with an African American female lead, embodied racial and ethnic identity on ST is a rich and abundant source for academic exploration. See for example L.D. Alexander, “Far
Beyond the Stars: The Framing of Blackness in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” Journal of
Popular Film and Television 44, no. 3 (July 2016): 150-158; Daniel Bernardi, “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations: Diegetic Logics and Racial Articulations in the Original Star Trek,”
Film and History 24, no.1 (2013): 60-74; Harvey Cormier, “Race Through the Alpha Quadrant:
Species and Destiny on Star Trek,” in SciFi in the Mind’s Eye: Reading Science Through Science
Fiction, ed. Margret Grebowicz (Chicago: Open Court, 2007); Katja Kanzler, “‘A Cuchi Moya!’
Star Trek’s Native Americans,” American Studies Journal 49 (2007):
Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 4 http://www.asjournal.org/49-2007/star-treks-native-americans/#; De Witt Douglas Kilgore,
“‘The Best is Yet to Come,’ or, Saving the Future: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Reform
Astrofuturism,” in Black and Brown Planets: The Politics of Race in Science Fiction, ed. Isiah
Lavender III (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2014); Allen Kwan, “Seeking New
Civilizations: Race Normativity in the Star Trek Franchise,” Bulletin of Science, Technology, &
Society 27, no. 1 (February 2007): 59-70; Michael Charles Pounds, “Explorers: Star Trek: Deep
Space Nine,” in The Black Imagination: Science Fiction, Futurism, and the Speculative, ed.
Sandra Jackson and Julie Moody-Freeman (New York: Peter Lang, 2011).
Embodied Identity: Sexuality and Gender
Like sci fi generally, Star Trek offers gender studies scholars a complex case study in popular representations of gender. The series is set in an explicitly egalitarian future, yet as a product of each era that produces it, ST includes its fair share of gender stereotypes. Similarly, the series has been, according to Bruce E. Drushel (cited below) “insufferably straight” for most of its history, but recent iterations bely that characterization, including the somewhat controversial reference to Sulu’s husband in Star Trek: Beyond (2016). (For a quick summary of some of the most trenchant issues at stake in that particular debate, see J. Bryan Lowder, “The
Debate Over Sulu’s Sexuality in Star Trek Beyond Should Set off Your Red Alert,” Slate, July 8,
2016, https://slate.com/human-interest/2016/07/george-takei-is-right-sulu-shouldnt-be-gay-in- star-trek-beyond.html. For a counterpoint to Lowder’s take, see Ryan Gilbey, “Don’t Klingon to the Past, George Takei,” The Guardian, July 10, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/10/george-takei-gay-sulu-star-trek).
Having just watched the franchise’s second gay male relationship (yay!) end SPOILER ALERT
Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 5 in one of the character’s neck snapping (sob!) on Star Trek Discovery (2018), I’m well aware that the show’s representations of sexual identity is ripe for scholarly analysis.*
On gender identity, see for example Sandra Beyer, “A Utopia for Conservatives and Real
Men: Sexual Politics and Gendered Relations in Star Trek,” in Envisioning American Utopias:
Fictions of Science and Politics in Literature and Visual Culture, ed. Antje Dallmann, Reinhard
Isensee, and Philipp Kneis (New York: Peter Lang, 2011); Clare L. Boulanger, “Paradise is for
Pussies: Star Trek and the Myth of the Bad Mother,” in Reflecting on America: Anthropological
Views of U.S. Culture, ed. Clare L. Boulanger (Boston: Pearson/Ally and Bacon, 2008); Mia
Consalvo, “Borg Babes, Drones, and the Collective: Reading Gender and the Body in Star Trek,”
Women’s Studies in Communication 27, no. 2 (Summer 2004): 177-203; Aviva Dove-Viebahn,
“Embodying Hybridity, (En)gendering Community: Captain Janeway and the Enactment of a
Feminist Heterotopia on Star Trek: Voyager,” Women’s Studies 36, no. 8 (December 2007): 597-
618; Linda Dryden, “She: Gothic Reverberations in Star Trek: First Contact,” in Postfeminist
Gothic: Critical Interventions in Contemporary Culture, ed. Benjamin A. Brabon and Stephanie
Benz (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007); Kathy F. Ferguson, “This Species Which Is Not
One: Identity Practices in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” in Judith Butler’s Precarious Politics:
Critical Encounters, ed. Terrell Carver and Samuel A. Chamber (New York: Routledge, 2008);
Mary Henderson, “Professional Women in Star Trek, 1964-1969,” Film and History 24, no. 1
(2013): 47-59; Stephen Kerry, “‘There’s No Genderqueers on the Starboard Bow:’ The Pregnant
Male in Star Trek,” Journal of Popular Culture 42, no. 4 (August 2009): 699-714; Diana M. A.
Relke, “Gender, The Final Frontier: Revisiting Star Trek: The Next Generation,” in Homer
Simpson Marches on Washington: Dissent Through American Popular Culture, ed., Timothy M.
Dale and Joseph J. Foy (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2010); Jennifer M. Rey,
* Update and another SPOILER: In a complicated plot twist, the couple was reunited at the end of Season Two. Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 6
“Changing Gender Roles in Popular Culture: Dialogue in Star Trek Episodes from 1966 to
1993,” in Variation in English: Multi-Dimensional Studies, ed. Susan Conrad and Douglas Biber
(New York: Routledge, 2013); Patricia Vettel-Becker, “Space and the Single Girl: Star Trek,
Aesthetics, and 1960s Femininity,” Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies 35, no. 2 (May
2014): 143-179.
On sexual identity, see for example Bruce E. Drushel, “If Art Imitated Reality: George
Takei, Coming Out, and the Insufferably Straight Star Trek Universe,” in LGBT Transnational
Identity and the Media, ed. Christopher Pullen (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); Henry
Jenkins, “Out of the Closet and into the Universe: Queers and Star Trek,” in Queer Cinema: The
Film Reader, ed. Harry M. Benshoff and Sean Griffin (New York: Routledge, 2004); Meghna
Kajihara, “Star Trek and the Non-Binary Gender Individual,” The Eagle Feather 12, no. 1
(2016): http://dx.doi.org/10.12794/tef.2016.350; James Satter, “The Hidden Homosexual:
Reexamining Star Trek’s Sulu,” Science Fiction Studies 33, no. 2 (2006): 379-382; Debra Bonita
Shaw, “Sex and the Single Starship Captain: Compulsory Heterosexuality and Star Trek:
Voyager,” Femspec 7, no. 1 (2006): 66-85. See also the citations below on fan culture.
For a very small sample of relevant blogs and online commentary (which have been considerably quicker to discuss transgender issues) that address sexuality and gender identity, see for example Allison Bieglow, “The History of LGBTQ Representation in Star Trek,” Film
School Rejects, July 21, 2016, https://filmschoolrejects.com/the-history-of-lgbtq-representation- in-star-trek-c973a74bfeec/; Elanor Broker, “Back on Vertiform City,” Electric Lit, July 16, 2018, https://electricliterature.com/the-star-trek-episode-that-helped-me-understand-my-transition- ef63dbad318a; Jessie Earl, “Star Trek’s Accidental Transgender Episode,” Nerd Out (blog),
Pride.com, November 2, 2018, https://www.pride.com/nerdout/2018/11/02/star-treks-accidental-
Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 7 transgender-episode; J.A. Ironside, “Star Trek and Sexuality,” J. A. Ironside (blog), September
23, 2018, http://www.jaironside.com/?p=545; Amanda Rodriguez, “Trill Gender and Sexuality
Metaphors in Star Trek,” Bitch Flicks, February 6, 2013, http://www.btchflcks.com/2013/02/trill- gender-and-sexuality-metaphors-in-star-trek.html#.XEXxuix7mUk; Caitlin Walsh, “It’s Not
Easy Being a Queer Star Trek Fan,” Women at Warp, January 10, 2017, http://www.womenatwarp.com/its-not-easy-being-a-queer-star-trek-fan/.
Embodied Identity: Intersectional Studies
Of course, “identity” on Star Trek is always a confluence of factors and never singular, as intersectional analysis demonstrates. See for example David Greven, Gender and Sexuality in
Star Trek: Allegories of Desire in the Television Series and Films (Jefferson, NC: McFarland,
2009); Nadine Farghaly and Simon Bacon, eds., To Boldly Go: Essays on Gender and Identity in the Star Trek Universe (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2017); Chaya Porter, “‘Engaging’ in Gender,
Race, Sexuality and (dis)Ability in Science Fiction Television through Star Trek: The New
Generation and Star Trek: Voyager,” MA Thesis, University of Ottawa, 2013; C. Scodari,
“Nyota Uhura is Not a White Girl,” Feminist Media Studies 12, no. 3 (September 2012): 335-
351; Hannah Van Geffen, “Gender and Racial Identity in Star Trek: The Original Series, Star
Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Discovery,” M.A. thesis, Leiden University, 2018.
See also Diana Adesola Mafe, Where No Black Woman Has Gone Before: Subversive Portrayals in Speculative Film and TV (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2018).
Fan Studies
It could be argued that the field of fan studies owes more to ST than any other mainstream pop culture text. “Trekkies” or Trekkers are both subject and object of scholarly fan studies, while Spock/Kirk slash fiction is ground zero for textual poaching. On the Star Trek
Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 8 fandom, see for example Sarah M. Corse and Jaime Hartless, “‘Sci-Fi and Skimpy Outfits:’
Making Boundaries and Staking Claims to Star Trek: Into Darkness,” in Fan Girls and the
Media: Creating Characters, Consuming Culture (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2015);
Nicholas Dobson, “Creating Canon Through Kickstarter: Star Trek Continues,” in Everybody
Hurts: Transitions, Endings, and Resurrections in Fan Cultures, ed. Rebecca Williams (Iowa
City: University of Iowa Press, 2018); P. J. Falzone, “The Final Frontier is Queer: Aberrancy,
Archetype, and Audience Generated Folklore in K/S Slashfiction,” Western Folklore 64, no. 3-4
(Summer/Fall 2005): 243-261; Lincoln Geraghty, “A Network of Support: Coping with Trauma
Through Star Trek Fan Letters,” Journal of Popular Culture 39, no. 6 (December 2006): 1002-
10024; Lincoln Geraghty, “‘A Reason to Live:’ Utopia and Social Change in Star Trek Fan
Letters,” in Popular Media Cultures: Fans, Audiences, and Paratexts, ed. Lincoln Geraghty
(New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015); Henry Jenkins, Science Fiction Audiences Watching
Star Trek and Dr. Who (New York: Taylor and Francis, 2005); Henry Jenkins, “Star Trek Rerun,
Reread, Rewritten: Fan Writings as Textual Poaching,” in Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A
Critical Reader, ed. Gail Dines, et al. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2018); Bridget Kies, “One
True Threesome: Reconciling Canon and Fan Desire in Star Trek: Voyager,” Transformative
Works and Culture 8 (2004): doi: https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2011.0248 ; Bridget Kies, “‘A
Friendship That Will Define You Both:’ Star Trek and Devolution of American Masculinity”
Transformative Works and Culture 9, no. 3 (2016): doi: https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2011.0248;
Patricia Frazer Lamb and Diana L. Veit, “Romantic Myth, Transcendence, and Star Trek Zines,” in The Fan Faction Studies Reader, ed. Karen Hellekson and Kristina Busse (Iowa City:
University of Iowa Press, 2014); Larisa Mikhaylova, “Star Trek (2009) and the Russian ST
Fandom: Too Many Batteries Included,” in Fan Culture: Theory/Practice, ed. Katherine Larsen
Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 9 and Lynn Zubernis (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2012); Ria Narai, “Female-
Centered Fan Fiction as Homoaffection in Fan Communities,” Transformative Works and
Cultures 24 (2017): doi: https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2017.01014; Lorrie Palmer, “Star Trek
Nation: Fan Letters as Social Practice,” Extrapolation 49, no. 3 (Winter 2008): 501-507; Bob
Rehak, “Transmedia Space Battles: Reference Materials and Miniatures Wargames in 1970s Star
Trek Fandom,” Science Fiction Film and Television 9, no. 3 (Autumn 2016): 325-345; Elizabeth
Woledge, “Decoding Desire: From Kirk and Spock to K/S1,” Social Semiotics 15, no. 2 (August
2005): 235-250.
History
History as a discipline has not addressed ST to the extent it warrants, in my humble opinion. However, a few scholars have utilized specifically historical focus to analyze Star Trek.
See for example Nancy R. Reagin, ed., Star Trek and History (Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons,
2013); Bruce Franklin, “Star Trek in the Vietnam Era,” Film and History 24, no. 1 (2013): 36-
46; Lincoln Geraghty, “‘Carved from the rock experience of our daily lives:’ Reality and Star
Trek’s Multiple Histories,” European Journal of American Culture 21, no. 3 (2002): 160-177;
Kevin M. McGeough, “Victorian Archaeologies, Anthropologies, and Adventures in the Final
Frontier: Modes of Nineteenth-Century Science Exploration and Display in Star Trek,” Science
Fiction Film and Television 9, no. 2 (Autumn 2016): 229-253; Stefan Rabistch, Star Trek and the
British Age of Sail: The Maritime Influence Throughout the Series and Films (Jefferson, NC:
McFarland, 2019); Mark Allen Rhodes, “Alternative Pasts, Presents, and Future in Star Trek:
Historical Engagement and Representation Through Popular Culture,” Geographical Bulletin 58, no. 1 (May 2017): 29-39. See also the section below, “Political Science and Politics.”
Literary Analysis
Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 10
In addition to numerous cultural studies scholars who utilize literary theory, some academic analysis of ST focuses on literary elements. See for example James F. Broderick, The
Literary Galaxy of Star Trek: An Analysis of References and Themes in the Television Series and
Films (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2006); Kimberly Campbell, “Back to the Future: Star Trek and the Old French Epic,” Olifant 25, no. 2 (2006): 161-174; Kaorlina Kazimierczak, “Adapting
Shakespeare for Star Trek and Star Trek for Shakespeare: The Klingon Hamlet and the Spaces of
Translation,” Studies in Popular Culture 32, no. 2 (Spring 2010): 35-55; Robert Tindol, “The
Star Trek Borg as an All-American Captivity Narrative,” Brno Studies in English 38, no. 1
(2012): 151-158.
Religious Studies and Philosophy
For scholars of religion, Star Trek offers two (at least) main sites for analysis: one, themes of belief, mythology, and spirituality explored via these popular representations in characters and story lines and two, the parallels between ST fandom and religious practices. See for example Laura Ammon, “Where We Have Gone Before: Star Trek Into and Out of
Darkness,” Implicit Religion 17, no. 4 (2014): 379-393; Carol Devine, Star Trek Revealed: The
Spiritual Dimensions of the Original Series (Virginia Beach, VA: Surly Bonds Books, 2007);
Yanassan Gershom, Jewish Themes in Star Trek: Where No Rabbi Has Gone Before! (n.p.: Lulu
Press, 2009); Michael Jindra, “It’s About Faith in Our Future: Star Trek Fandom as Cultural
Religion,” in Religion and Popular Culture in America Third Edition, ed. Bruce David Forbes and Jeffery H. Mahan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2017); Matthew Wilhelm
Kapell, ed., Star Trek as Myth: Essays on Symbol and Archetype at the Final Frontier (Jefferson,
NC: McFarland, 2010); Ross Kraemer, Religions of Star Trek (New York: Basic Books, 2009);
Jennifer E. Porter and Darcee L. McLaren, eds., Star Trek and Sacred Ground: Explorations of
Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 11
Star Trek, Religion, and American Culture (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2016);
W. Simpson, “Souls, the Final Frontier: Human Intuitions of Mind in Star Trek,” Journal of
Religion and Popular Culture 28, no. 2-3 (Fall 2016): 81-92; Robin Wiley, “Becoming Data:
Star Trek’s Wisdom and the Unforeseen Effects of Fieldwork on the Fieldworker,” Journal of
Religion and Popular Culture 22, no. 3 (Fall 2010): 44-73.
Related to the questions of ultimate truth asked by scholars of religion, philosophers also utilize ST as a means for exploring significant questions in their field. See for example Kevin S.
Decker and Jason T. Eberl, eds., The Ultimate Stark Trek and Philosophy: The Search for
Socrates (Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, 2016); Jason T. Eberl and Kevin S. Decker, eds.,
Star Trek and Philosophy: The Wrath of Kant (Chicago: Open Court, 2008); George A.
Gonzalez, The Absolute and Star Trek (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017); Adam Kotsko,
“The Inertia of Tradition in Star Trek: Case Studies in Neglected Corners of the ‘Canon,’”
Science Fiction Film and Television 9, no. 3 (Autumn 2016): 347-370; Steven Umbrello, “Star
Trek’s Stoics: The Vulcans,” Philosophy Now 106 (January-February 2015): 29.
Political Science and Politics
Political analysis of Star Trek covers policies from the Cold War to 9/11, and a range of political issues such as the justice system, nationalism, and globalization. See for example Robert
H. Chaires and Bradley Chilton, eds., Star Trek Visions of Law and Justice (Dallas: Adios Press,
2003); Fiona Davidson, “Owning the Future: Manifest Destiny and the Vision of American
Hegemony in Star Trek,” Geographical Bulletin 58, no. 1 (May 2017): 8-18; Steffen Hantke,
“Star Trek’s Mirror Universe Episodes and U.S. Military Culture Through the Eyes of the
Other,” Science Fiction Studies 41, no. 3 (November 2014): 562-578; Lincoln Geraghty, “Truly
American Enterprise: Star Trek’s Post-9/11 Politics,” in New Boundaries in Political Science
Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 12
Fiction, ed. Donald M. Hassler (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2008); George
Gonzalez, Star Trek and the Politics of Globalization (Switzerland: Springer/Palgrave
Macmillan/Palgrave Pivot, 2018); George A. Gonzalez, The Politics of Star Trek: Justice, War, and the Future (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015); Mike O’Connor, “Liberals in Space:
The 1960s Politics of Star Trek,” Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics, and Culture 5, no. 2
(December 2012): 185-203; Nicholas Evan Sarantakes, “Cold War Pop Culture and the Image of
U.S. Foreign Policy: The Perspectives of the Original Star Trek Series,” Journal of Cold War
Studies 7, no. 4 (Fall 2005): 74-103; David Seitz, “‘Most Damning of All…I Think I Can Live
With It:’ Captain Sikso, President Obama, and Emotional Geopolitics,” Geographical Bulletin
58, no. 1 (May 2017): 19-28; J.A. Vuori, “To Boldly Torture Where No One Has Tortured
Before: Star Trek and the Transformation of ‘Progressive’ Social Imaginary of Torture in the
United States,” Global Discourse 7, no. 2-3 (July 2017): 309-326; Rick Worland, “From the
New Frontier to the Final Frontier: Star Trek from Kennedy to Gorbachev,” Film and History 24, no. 1 (2013): 19-35.
Psychology
For psychologists, ST is both a vehicle for exploring themes of medicine and wellness, and also an interesting popular depiction of medical practice (the starship/station’s physician is a main character on most iterations of the franchise). See for example M. Basilowski, “From
Bones to Brain: 50 Years of Star Trek and Changes in the Stigmatization of Psychological
Disorders,” Current Psychology (May 2018): 1-10; David Forrest, “Consulting to Star Trek: To
Boldly Go Into Dynamic Neuropsychiatry,” Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry 33, no. 1 (Spring 2005): 71-82; Travis Langley, ed. Star Trek
Psychology: The Mental Frontier (New York: Sterling, 2017); Geoff Lawrence-Smith,
Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 13
“Embracing Autistic Traits: Spock’s Vulcan Heritage in Star Trek,” British Journal of
Psychiatry 204, no. 4 (April 2014): 251; Thaoms H. Picard, Star Trek: A Psychoanalysis (New
York: Algora Publishing, 2018); Esther Rashkin, “Data Learns to Dance: Star Trek and the Quest to Be Human,” American Imago 68, no. 2 (2011): 321-346; D. K. Seitz, “Second Skin, White
Masks: Postcolonial Reparation in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” Psychoanalysis, Culture, and
Society 22, no. 4 (December 2017): 401-419
Scholarship on Teaching and Learning
Readers of Geeky Pedagogy might well ask, “Hey, what about teaching?” Although there is not an extensive body of work on Star Trek pedagogy, a number of teacher scholars and practitioners have published ST-related SoTL. See for example Allie Ford and Lynette Pretoriu,
“The Needs of the Many Outweigh the Needs of the Few: Teaching Medical Ethics Using Star
Trek,” in Teaching Medicine and Medical Ethics Using Popular Culture, ed. Evie Kendal and
Basia Diug (Switzerland/New York: Springer/Palgrave Macmillan, 2017); Michael A. Karls,
“The Mathematics of Star Trek: An Honors Colloquium,” PRIMUS 21, no. 1 (2011): 26-46;
Katherine Lopez, et al., “Ferengi Business Practices in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine—To
Enhance Student Engagement and Teach a Wide Range of Business Concepts,” E-Journal of
Business Education and Scholarship of Teaching 11, no. 1 (2017): 19-56; Christian Dark
Oklaner and Atiba R. Ellis, “The Star Trek Enrichment Series: An Exploration in Teaching and
Learning,” Howard Law Journal 58 (January 2015): 557-570; John C. Putnman, “To Boldly Go
Where No History Teacher Has Gone Before,” The History Teacher 46, no. 4 (August 2013):
509-529; Terry Sheperd, “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations: Portraits of Individuals with Disabilities in Star Trek,” Teaching Exceptional Children 3, no. 6 (July 2007): 1-16;
Stephen Rabitsch, et al., Set Phasers to Teach! Star Trek in Research and Teaching
Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 14
(Switzerland: Springer International, 2018); Craig Whitsed and Wendy Green, “Lessons From
Star Trek: Engaging Academic Staff in the Internationalisation of the Curriculum,” International
Journal for Academic Development 21, no. 4 (December 2016): 286-298.
For examples of non-scholarly commentary and discussion about Star Trek and pedagogy, see Johnathan Alexandratos, “How Star Trek Makes Me a Better Teacher,” Women At
Warp (blog), September 12, 2017, http://www.womenatwarp.com/how-star-trek-makes-me-a- better-teacher/; Dave Huber, “Learning History and Culture Via Star Trek,” The College Fix
(Arizona State University), November 28, 2014, https://www.thecollegefix.com/learning-history- and-culture-via-star-trek/; Any Lau, “Why I Teach Star Trek in My Class, CNN.com, March 2,
2015, https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/02/opinion/lau-star-trek-influences/index.html; Lori
McNelly, “Star Trek and College Writing 101: Learning Ethnography via the Star Trek
Universe,” Women At Warp (blog), November 14, 2017, http://www.womenatwarp.com/star- trek-and-college-writing-101-learning-ethnography-via-the-star-trek-universe/; David Madey,
“Star Trek as Social Theory: To Boldly Go Into the Classroom,” The California Aggie, January
25, 2018, https://theaggie.org/2018/01/25/star-trek-social-theory-boldly-go-classroom/; Suzana
Norberg, “Star Trek Professor Teaches a Different Generation at OLLI,” SDSU (San Diego State
University) NewsCenter, February 22, 2018, http://newscenter.sdsu.edu/sdsu_newscenter/news_story.aspx?sid=77113; James Smalls, “A
Teacher Uses Star Trek for Difficult Conversations on Race and Gender,” The Conversation,
July 22, 2015, https://theconversation.com/a-teacher-uses-star-trek-for-difficult-conversations- on-race-and-gender-43098; Alexandra Tisley, “Beam Us Up, Professor!” Chronicle of Higher
Education, June 18, 2010, A5.
Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 15
Technology and Science
Not surprisingly for a long running science fiction franchise, scholars examining popular representations of technology, issues of technology and ethics, and other topics around science, technology development, and space exploration IRL have actively contributed to Star Trek studies. See for example Marine Alainarde, “The Popularization of Space—Links Between
Science, Policy, and Public Perception: Star Trek as an Early Mind-Opener for Space
Endeavors,” Space Policy 41 (August 2017): 36-41; B. Augilere, “A Glimpse Into the Geology of Star Trek: Beyond,” Earth 61, no. 11-12 (November-December 2016): https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/geomedia-film-glimpse-geology-star-trek-beyond; David
Allen Batchelor, “Beyond Star Trek,” Communications of the AMCA 60, no. 5 (May 2017): 104-
105; Victor Grech, “Infertility in Star Trek,” World Future Review 4, no. 4 (Winter 2012): 19-27;
Matthew Kimberly and Jason N. Dittmer, “To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before:
Complexity Science and the Star Trek Reboot,” in Time Travel in Popular Media: Essays on
Film, Television, Literature, and Video Games, ed. Matthew Jones and Joan Ormord (Jefferson,
NC: McFarland, 2015); Mark E. Lasbury, The Realization of Star Trek Technologies: The
Science, Not Fiction, Behind Brain Implants, Plasma Shields, Quantum Computing, and More
(Switzerland: Springer, 2017); Mohamed A. F. Noor, Live Long and Evolve: What Star Trek Can
Teach Us About Evolution, Genetics, and Life on Other Worlds (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2018); Diana M.A. Relke, Drones, Clones, and Alpha Babies: Retrofitting Star Trek’s
Humanism, Post-9/11 (Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2006); Alan N. Shapiro, Star Trek:
Technologies of Disappearance (Berlin: Avinus, 2004).
Geeky Pedagogy, Chapter Five Bibliographic Essay, 16