Teaching Toward the 24th Century: Star Trek as Social Curriculum (Pedagogy and Popular Culture) - Softcover

Anijar, Karen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0815325231 ISBN 13: 9780815325239

Publisher: Routledge, 2000

Synopsis

Trekkie popular culture sees Star Trek as a unifying myth. Dr Anijar explores this phenomenon in light of the influences of television in children's lives, and the effects of utopian interpretations of Star Trek on teaching practice.

About this title

Review

Peter McLaren meets Hunter Thompson -- a brilliant book. -- -Thomas Barone, Arizona State University
Karen Anijar brilliantly presents a glimpse into the heart of the ideological in education. Narratives from Trekkers as teachers describe a Trekview/Trekconsciousness that causes one to pause. No longer will we ever be able to look at Captain Kirk and Spock as just space explorers seeking a better universe. Powerful reading for those who dare to venture where no Trekker has dared to go!
From the Afterword by Peter McLaren -- Toni C. Humber, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona From the Afterword by Peter McLaren Anijar's book stands as a landmark investigation of a popular cultural phenomenon that lies at the very center of the structural unconscious of the United States. Her striking and eerie accounts of the world of Trekkdom are of profound significance to educators and cultural workers.
From the Introduction by Joe Kincheloe: The amazing fan reaction/production that Star Trek has elicited in light of the texts of the various incarnations of the TV shows and movies will keep cultural studies scholars, sociologists, media analysts, and educators busy for decades to come. Anijar brings a subtle and critical eye to these often bizarre dynamics, capturing with her unique take profound insights into the cultural pedagogical and social aspects of the spectacle.
It would be wrong to read this book as an analysis ofStar Trekfor teachers. it would be equally inappropriate to read it as journalistic reporting on Trekdom. It is instead a deeply serious contribution to curriculum theory. It situates this theory in a new place - a realm of the popular - in such a way that any reader will be ready to do important curriculum work in response. -- Education Review, July 13, 2001

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0815325231
• ISBN 13: 9780815325239
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 284