CSH Reading Club

The CSH Reading Club is a collaborative effort between PD Dr. Zoë Lehmann from the English Department and the CSH. The Reading Club focuses on the intersection between science and literature—whether that is science fiction, scientific writing and publications, literature including or about science that would not be classified as SciFi—and brings together interests and expertise from members of the English Department, the CSH and the Space Research and Planetary Sciences (WP) Division.

The Reading Club meets roughly every 8-10 weeks, the next date usually set at the end of the session. The next session takes place on November 09, 2026.

If you are a CSH, WP or English Department member and interested in joining the reading club, please contact Zoë Lehmann (zoe.lehmann@unibe.ch) or Chris Broeg (christopher.broeg@unibe.ch).

Currently Reading

Darko Suvin, "Estrangement and Cognition" in Metamorphoses of Science Fiction (2016)

Previous Readings

Carl Sagan, Contact (1985)

Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower (1993)

Jorge Luis Borges, "The Library of Babel" (1941) and "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" (1947) 

Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary (2021)

Ted Chiang, "Story of Your Life" (2002)