Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the use of science fiction and the context of the Star Trek universe as a method to teach anthropology to science and engineering students in France.

Paper long abstract:

A consequence of employment precarity in academia nowadays often means that the traditional context of teaching anthropology through an anthropology or sociology department, and the traditional target audience of undergraduate or graduate students in the social sciences, are changing. This paper focuses on teaching anthropological concepts to non-anthropologists, students of science and engineering at a French grande école for engineers. These students, despite their background in mathematics and the physical sciences, often have a strong interest in philosophical questions; their education is built on interdisciplinary inquiry, where value is placed on solving real-world problems, where it is acknowledged that these need to be understood in context of the social world in which they exist. Many students have a personal interest in questions of cross-cultural understanding and communication as well, since they know they will enter careers that require them to work collaboratively across cultures. I describe in this paper how I use the science fiction genre of literature and film, which is a genre widely read and enjoyed by most of these students, as a context in which to engage with anthropological theory and ethnographic data. Specifically, I focus on the Star Trek television series, which often explores anthropological concepts such as cultural relativism, evolution, identity, language, gender, race and ethnicity and social issues such as inequality, power, and communication across cultures. Students engage in creative writing exercises, modelled on writing ethnography, to further explore these issues.