Profs and Pints Online presents: “Faith on Dune,” a look at religion in science fiction and fantasy, with Peter Herman, lecturer of theology and religious studies at Marymount University and scholar of religious and social themes in those genres.

[This talk will remain available online in recorded form at the link given here for tickets and access. ]

Why are we here? What does it all mean? What does it mean to be human?

While many of us no longer consult a member of the clergy with such questions, we still ponder them as we look up into the void.

Come join Peter Herman for a look at how science fiction and fantasy explore the big questions about what it all means, or what religious scholars call “concerns of ultimacy.”

We’ll examine how Frank Herbert’s Dune books represented religious orders like the Zensunni Warriors and Bene Gesserit Sisters.  We’ll take stock of in Philip K. Dick's use of both Ecclesiastes and the I Ching in The Man in the High Castle. And we’ll contemplate how the gods are at work in the world with Ann Leckie's The Raven Tower and Neil Gaiman's American Gods.

More broadly, we'll be looking at how science fiction and fantasy can attempt to answer questions about divinity and humanity. By stepping out of the church and into these fictional worlds, we can become more comfortable asking important questions about our own humanity and our place in this one.

Profs & Pints Online: Faith on Dune