Texas A&M University: A graphic that reads “Live to Build a Better World” January 19-June 30

The exhibition will showcase materials found in Cushing Memorial Library’s extensive Science Fiction & Fantasy Research Collection.

The Texas A&M University Libraries announces an upcoming exhibition, “Live to Build a Better World: Despair, Survival, and Hope in Science Fiction’s Response to Environmental Change.” The exhibition will run Jan. 19-June 30 at Cushing Memorial Library and Archives.

The exhibition will showcase materials found in Cushing Memorial Library’s extensive Science Fiction & Fantasy Research Collection and demonstrates how the theme of dramatic environmental change shapes narratives in the genre of science fiction.

The exhibit shows just some of the stories that science fiction has sought to tell, especially in recent years, about how humans respond to massive environmental changes that affect society and the world.

“We’ve always been a species of storytellers,” said Jeremy Brett, curator of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Research Collection, and co-curator of the exhibit. “The stories we tell reflect our perceptions of ourselves and the world around us, including stories we tell of environmental change. In these stories we see human nature in all its facets, from the darkest parts of ourselves to our brightest.”

Shelby Hebert, co-curator of the exhibit, also noted, “The exhibit combines significant works of fiction and climate research to connect the imagined with our reality.”

The exhibition will be open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1 p.m.-4 p.m. No appointment is necessary but the number of visitors allowed at one time will be limited and face coverings are required.