Avoiding the Tokenism in Comics and Sci Fi Cultures — Friday 06:00 pm
3 Eagle's Nest - Re(a)d Mars
Creating actual diversity requires a great effort to avoiding unintentionally tokenizing your characters. Tokenism, even when unintentional, is what leads to adding "diversity" for the sake of diversity. How do we engender true diversity in sci fi and comics?
With: Justin Grays, Rob Callahan, S.N. Arly, Tyler Tork, mod.
How to Fail Gracefully — Friday 09:00 pm
2 Cardinal Perch - Free Mars
The panel from CVG 2017 is back! Everybody makes mistakes sometimes. Maybe you've worded something poorly or were misinformed on a topic. Maybe you just didn't think a decision through and something went the wrong way. It happens. But how we react in these situations is what matters most.
With: Rachel Cleveland, Kyle Andrew, Michelle Chmura, Jennifer Jones, Justin Grays
Polyamory: Perceptions and Realities — Friday 10:00 pm
2 Cardinal Perch - Free Mars
In society and in the media, a number of myths have revolved around polyamory. Though polyamory is becoming more generally accepted, the media shows it as a white phenomenon. Explore and discuss how the polyamorous experience is portrayed and how it differs from reality.
With: Kyle Andrew, Justin Grays
The Prime Directive as Liberal Eurocentric Superiority — Saturday 12:00 pm
Room 1117 - Krushenko's
Starfleet's Prime Directive is evidence that Borg, Dominion, & Klingons are not the only ethnocentric civilizations in Star Trek. Let's talk about how and why deciding what's best for another culture is problematic regardless of intentions, even in space.
With: Justin Grays, Stephanie Stensland
Gem Watch — Saturday 02:00 pm
2 Cardinal Perch - Free Mars
Discussion of the recent episodes of Steven Universe. What are your theories about events on Homeworld? What will this bring to Beach City?
With: Kathryn Sullivan, mod.; Justin Grays
Star Trek — Saturday 03:00 pm
2 Cardinal Perch - Free Mars
A talk about the last 52 years of Star Trek, 6 Shows, and the 13 movies. Yes there will be spoilers for Star Trek Discovery.
With: Tony Artym, Elizabeth Erickson, Justin Grays, Joan Marie Verba, Stephanie Stensland
Cleavage Optional: Gender, Cosplay, and Genderbending Cosplay — Saturday 04:00 pm
1 Blue Heron - Masquerade Lounge
How is the cosplay experience different for women and men? Why is genderbent cosplay so popular? What fans aren't doing it and what characters aren't being genderbent? What does this mean for trans and non-binary characters and fans?
With: Bridget Landry, Justin Grays, Kris Heding
Race and Culture in the Honorverse — Saturday 05:00 pm
3 Eagle’s Nest - Re(a)d Mars
David Weber's Honor Harrington series presents a very diverse gambit of humans in a far future when race does not seem to matter as much as politics. Juxtaposed against our own realities, how does this fundamentally affect our perception of the Honorverse?
With: Justin Grays, Stephanie Stensland
Androids, AI, And Gender Theory — Sunday 1:00 pm
3 Eagle's Nest - Re(a)d Mars
Androids & AI in sci-fi disrupt the idea of a gender binary and play with gender fluidity in a way that implies gender is not essential or passive but a construct in which one must actively participate. How do these narratives translate to other contexts.
With: Michelle Chmura, mod.; Justin Grays, Naomi Kritzer, Lyda Morehouse
Artificial People in Science Fiction — Sunday 2:00 pm
3 Eagle's Nest - Re(a)d Mars
This is about biological people, enhanced or otherwise, who are not conceived and gestated in the normal way. From "Frankenstein" through "Rossman's Universal Robots," "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and "Friday" this has been the topic of many classic, and not so classic, science fiction stories. Why are authors drawn to this idea? Is there any real word reason for artificial people?
With: G. David Nordley, mod.; Justin Grays, Naomi Kritzer, Lyda Morehouse, Kathryn Sullivan
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