Do Androids Dream of a Revolution?

Introduction

This expedition will take students through the tagged units using Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049 and Frankenstein as trampolines to ask questions and explore relevant themes; we will focus on the questions of individual identity, search for meaning in life, purpose, the characteristics of human nature, natural vs artificial landscapes, the settings and motivations for rebellions (small and large), as well as their consequences, good and bad.

For the Age of Revolutions we will focus on the parallels between the actions of Replicants and Replicant Corporations (Tyrell and Wallace corporations) in both movies and the uprising of slave and colonized groups in real history, studying how slavery was motivated by colonial greed that led to the Scramble of Africa as well as the subjugation of Latin American land; and how the consequent rebellions were driven by discontent with economic, political, and social conditions. 

For romantic literature students will read the classic “Frankenstein, or The modern prometheus” to explore the characteristics of a romanticism novel, highlighting the individual’s struggle for meaning, isolation and melancholy while expanding on the philosophies of individualism. Then we will explore how these themes have leaked into modern media, comparing Frankenstein and its monster to Deckard and the Replicants. 

As students develop their projects, they will have photography based tasks that explore the aesthetics and concepts of romanticism, while registering modern day expressions of rebellion in their community.

Essential Questions

• How did Romantic writers respond to the rapid social, political, and technological changes of their time?

• In what ways does Romantic literature reflect a longing for nature, emotion, and the past in the face of modernization and industrialization?

• How do science fiction and fantasy challenge traditional beliefs in times of social, political, and technological change?

• What caused imperialism?

• How did colonialism plant the seeds of the modern world economy? 

• When does conflict lead to revolution? 

• How does technological and political change affect people, places, and regions?

Learning Objectives

1. Examine how Romantic writers responded to industrialization, imperial expansion, and political upheaval.

2. Analyze Romantic literature for its critique of modernization and its nostalgic idealization of a pre-industrial past.

3. Students will explore how science fiction and fantasy genres reflect and critique cultural anxieties about technological change, authoritarianism, and the loss of tradition, especially in relation to colonialism and globalization.

4. Analyze the political, economic, and ideological causes of imperialism by evaluating primary and secondary sources.

5. Explain how colonial systems contributed to the development of the modern global economy, particularly through the extraction of resources, labor systems, and trade routes.

6. Evaluate historical revolutions to determine the conditions under which conflict escalates into revolution.

7. Investigate how technological innovations have reshaped societies, economies, and environments.