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Courses - Spring 2026
HNUH
University Honors
HNUH238Q
Surveilled Bodies: Eugenics, Genetics, and Disability in Science Fiction and Society
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Body-based technologies of surveillance-from fingerprinting to genetic testing to facial recognition to biometric scans-are rooted in the "science" of eugenics. In the early twentieth century, eugenicists identified certain bodies as inherently suspect: they were deemed deviants, that is, they were said to deviate from desired physical, social, and political norms. One legacy of this movement is the surveillance and control of disabled bodies, which have been confined, cured, and erased, often in the name of technological and social progress. And we see the influence of eugenic surveillance in concerns over who is and who isn't, or shouldn't be, reproducing. Science fiction as a genre has always been deeply concerned with technologies and social structures of surveillance. In this class, students will analyze science fiction through a disability studies lens to consider what kinds of embodiments, and life experiences, society chooses to monitor.
HNUH238Q is part of the Surveillance thematic cluster and pairs with HNUH238C to complete the cluster. Surveillance courses will be offered through Spring 2026.

Credit only granted for HNUH 238Q or HNUH 258I.