My research interests include the critical health humanities, disability studies and memoirs by neurotypical parents of neurodiverse children in the US and Germany, 20th and 21st Century German literature and film, transnational film history, Cold War culture, utopian theory, theories of the fantastic, Eastern European science fiction, fairy tale, eco-criticism, women’s studies, Heimat studies.
Recent publications on East German disco films with Melissa Elliot, gender and SF, fascism in Iron Sky, transformative listening in leadership, and Charting a Pathway to Intellectual Leadership model, and Less Commonly Taught Languages as DEI. Look for a new article on teaching Russian and German SF in 2024! Here is a new podcast episode on Metropolis (April 2024) from Ayesha Khan’s Every Single Sci Fi Film Ever and an interview by Nikki Brahm for a piece in Insight into Diversity on Boyer’s model and the Charting Pathways of Intellectual Leadership (CPIL) initiative. Finally our Charting Pathways of Intellectual Leadership video. All Charting Pathways of Intellectual Leadership Initiative work is dedicated to the memory of our colleague and co-creator Bill Hart-Davidson.
See more below……
Submit a manuscript to the World Science Fiction Series with Peter Lang Oxford
Series editors – Sonja Fritzsche and Gerry Canavan
The book series World Science Fiction Studies understands science fiction to be a global phenomenon and explores the various manifestations of the genre in cultures around the world. It recognizes the importance of Anglo-American contributions to the field but promotes the critical study of science fiction in other national traditions, particularly German-speaking. It also supports the investigation of transnational discourses that have shaped the science fiction tradition since its inception. The scope of the series is not limited to one particular medium and encourages study of the genre in both print and digital forms (e.g. literature, film, television, transmedial). Theoretical approaches (e.g. post-human, gender, genre theory) and genre studies (e.g. film shorts, transgenre such as science fiction comedy) with a focus beyond the Anglo-American tradition are also welcome.
Proposals for monographs and edited collections in either English or German are invited.
Forthcoming in the series is the new monograph from Guangzhao Liu The Boom & The Boom. Historical Rupture and Political Economy in Contemporary British and Chinese Science Fiction.
The Routledge Companion to Gender and Science Fiction (2023) co-edited together with Lisa Yaszek, Keren Omry, and Wendy Gay Pearson
The first large-scale reference work of its kind, critically assessing the relations of gender and genre in science fiction, especially—but not exclusively—as explored in speculative art by women and LGBTQ+ artists across the world. This global volume builds upon the traditions of interdisciplinary inquiry by connecting established topics in gender studies and science fiction studies with emergent ideas from researchers in different media. This is an essential resource for students and scholars studying gender, sexuality or science fiction.
Science Fiction Circuits of the South and East (2018) co-edited with Anindita Banerjee
“The first collection of its kind, this anthology documents a radically different geography and history of science fiction in the world. Western, specifically Anglo-American, SF is not the only hub of the global trade of alternative realities and futures. Rather it is but only one of several competing flows and circuits of distribution, contacts, influence, translation, adaptation, and collaboration, across space and time.”
It features chapters by Anindita Banerjee, Jinyi Chu, Antonio Cordoba, Miguel Garcia, Sibelan Forrester, Carl Gelderloos, Pablo Mukherjee, and myself.
The Liverpool Companion to World Science Fiction Film (2014) Now in Paperback and E-book (2021); edited by Sonja Fritzsche
The collection offers critical insights into SF far beyond the more common Anglo-American narratives. Contributors take either a national or transnational approach, and stretch the geographic and conceptual boundaries of science fiction cinema. Film traditions represented include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States plus a chapter on digital shorts. From the dinosaur myth that became Godzilla to Brazilian science fiction comedy, from China’s Death Ray to Kenya’s Pumzi, this book will broaden the horizons of scholars and students of Science Fiction.
It features chapters by Ritch Calvin, Jie Zhang, Jessica Langer and Dominic Allessio, Takayuki Tatsumi, Derek Johnston, Jason Merrill, Evan Torner, Daniel Tron, Katie Moylan, Rafaella Boccolini, Robyn Citizen, Mariano Paz, Alfredo Suppia, and Pawel Frelik.
Science Fiction Literature in East Germany (2006) by Sonja Fritzsche –
This book is open access at the link above. Download the pdf.
East German science fiction enabled its authors to create a subversive space in another time and place. One of the country’s most popular genres, it outlined futures that often went beyond the party’s official version. Many utopian stories provided a corrective vision, intended to preserve and improve upon East German communism. This study is an introduction to East German science fiction. The book begins with a chapter on German science fiction before 1949. It then spans the entire existence of the country (1949-1990) and outlines key topics essential to understanding the genre: popular literature, socialist realism, censorship, fandom, and international science fiction. An in-depth discussion addresses notions of high and low literature, elements of the fantastic and utopia as critical narrative strategies, ideology and realism in East German literature, gender, and the relation between literature and science. Through a close textual analysis of three science fiction novels, the author expands East German literary history to include science fiction as a valuable source for developing a multi-faceted understanding of the country’s short history. Finally, an epilogue notes new titles and developments since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Forthcoming. “The Charting Pathways of Intellectual Leadership Toolkit” from the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University on the Humanities Commons. Check back here. Coming soon later in 2024!!
Forthcoming. Acevedo, Denise, Sonja Fritzsche, Katherine McEwen, and Kayla Wakaryasz. “College of Arts & Letters Inclusive Pedagogy Fellows Toolkit.” Humanities Commons, May 2024. https://calipfprogram.hcommons.org/.
This Toolkit is intended both for the planning of an Inclusive Pedagogy Fellows program at your institution and also for those who want to learn more about inclusive pedagogy.
Elliot, Melissa and Sonja Fritzsche. “The East German Disco Film: An Intermedial Approach to the GDR’s Imagined (Musical) Futures.” German Studies Review, vol. 46 no. 2, 2023, p. 189-206. Project MUSE, https://doi.org/10.1353/gsr.2023.0037.
Between 1975 and 1981, the documentary film group defa-futurum within the state-owned East German film studio DEFA (Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft) made forty-one Discofilme (disco films). This intermedial analysis reveals the films’ full array of metaphor and allusion in portraying imagined (socialist) futures.
“Transformative Listening For Chairs: Navigating Difficult Conversations To Bring About Change.” ADFL Bulletin vol. 47, no. 1, December 2022, pp. 96-106.
One of the most vexing of chairing duties is initiating a difficult conversation or dealing with a faculty or staff conflict. These best practices are designed to help administrators with conflict management and focus on the importance of intentional listening practices to bring about transformational institutional change.
Sonja Fritzsche, Luca Giupponi, Emily Heidrich Uebel, Felix Kronenberg, Christopher P. Long, and Koen Van Gorp. “Languages as Drivers of Institutional Diversity: The Case of Less Commonly Taught Languages.” The Language Educator (TLE) Special Issue “Anti-Racism in the World Language Classroom.” vol 17, no. 1, Winter 2022, pp. 45-47.
For those seeking to cut costs, low enrollment programs such as Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs) may be tempting targets. However, while the savings from such cuts to LCTL programs would be minimal, the costs to institutional diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategic goals would be great. In fact, LCTL programs are critical to efforts to advance and nurture a diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus and culture.
Sonja Fritzsche, Bill Hart-Davidson and Christopher P. Long. “Charting Pathways of Intellectual Leadership. An Initiative for Transformational Institutional Change.” Change. The Magazine of Higher Learning May/June 2022. 19-27. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.2022.2054175
Topped the journal’s “most read article” list with 2026 views on April 14, 2023 (alt metric 17).
The Charting Pathways of Intellectual Leadership (CPIL) initiative was first created to address the disconnect felt by faculty who found the traditional categories of research, teaching, and service pulled them away from a more holistic and meaningful approach to their work. The framework shifts the lens to the more inclusive categories of sharing knowledge, expanding opportunities, mentorship and stewardship designed to expand our understanding of what is valuable university work and empower staff and faculty to put their values into intentional practice.
“Fascist Drag: Race, Laibach, and Playing Nazi in the Iron Sky Universe” in Science Fiction Film and Television vol. 15, no. 1, 2022, pp. 21-39. Project MUSE.
The intersections of race, drag, gender, and fascism in Timo Vuorensola’s Iron Sky.
“Diversifying knowledges – How do we re-imagine annual review and promotion and tenure criteria?” Reimagining the Discipline. German Studies, the Humanities, and the University. Cornell University. May 28, 2020. https://futurehumanities.wixsite.com/re-imagining
The recognition and integration of diverse ways of knowing lead to more innovative, effective, and resilient knowledge creation of the highest quality. While this may be recognized in theory, putting it into practice can be more difficult. Here are some suggested ways that a department and faculty can begin this transformation.
Cara Cilano, Sonja Fritzsche, Bill Hart-Davidson, and Christopher P. Long. “Staying with the Trouble – Designing a Values-enacted Academy.” London School of Economics Social Impact Blog, April 23, 2020.
Academic assessment is predisposed towards measurement and subsequently valuing what can be measured. In this post, we describe the Cultivating Pathways of Intellectual Leadership” (CPIL) framework developed in the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University and how it can help to stimulate a values-enacted model of academic achievement.
Invited blog post. “The Necessity of a Mentoring Program for Fixed-Term Faculty and Academic Specialists.” MSU Academic Advancement Network Newsletter January 9, 2020. https://aan.msu.edu/2020/01/09/the-necessity-of-a-mentoring-program-for-fixed-term-faculty-and-academic-specialists/
See why a College mentoring program for non-tenure track faculty is essential for them and the life of the College.
“Science Fiction Fandom in United Berlin” World Literature Today (November 2014)
This article outlines briefly how central fandom has been to the distribution and translation of contemporary German science fiction.
“German SF” from Lars Schmeink’s “A Virtual Introduction to Science Fiction” Online Toolkit for Teaching SF. (2012).
This is a fabulous Web resource developed by Lars simultaneously for a class he taught on science fiction at the University of Hamburg and for the Internet as well.
See my ORCID site and also Selected Works by Sonja Fritzsche in Bepress.
The latter is a guide to my selected works online. Those that are available via pdf are included and they were compiled by the illustrious Illinois Wesleyan University librarian Stephanie Davis Kahl. Thanks for your dedication Stephanie and the amazing IWU librarians!!!