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This is the Landing Page for Dr. Koke Saavedra's two-module series, Imagination Unhinged at the End of the World:

Module 1 explores the rich Chilean Gothic, where, amidst sublime, disquieting and disjointed physical and cultural landscapes, Poe and Lovecraft continue exerting much influence. Famous works, like The Shrouded Woman by María Luisa Bombal, coexist with many unknown jewels. Given Chile’s extreme and vast geography, and persistent ‘frontier culture’, fantastic ‘lost cities’ and ‘lost worlds’ adventures have abounded here. We will look at local classics of this fun, gripping subgenre.

Module 2 explores how, under dictatorship, Chilean SFF creation mainly moved abroad, together with its exiled creators, such as Isabel Allende, and her The House of Spirits.

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Note: Students can jump in at any month/part of the Series. There are no prerequisites.

Note: Although this is a two-part series, each module stands on its own. Students are welcome to join in for any module of the series. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Surely life at the world's end will unhinge your imagination! See by yourself by exploring the extraordinary, diverse science fiction and fantasy (SFF) of Chile, a remote land barely hanging at the edge of our planet. Boasting a grand literary tradition, and literally zero interest in hard science, Chilean SFF is different, opening unusual vistas into the imaginative landscape.

In the first part of this two-module series, we will first explore the rich Chilean Gothic, where, amidst sublime, disquieting and disjointed physical and cultural landscapes, Poe and Lovecraft continue exerting much influence. Famous works, like The Shrouded Woman by María Luisa Bombal, coexist with many unknown jewels. Given Chile’s extreme and vast geography, and persistent ‘frontier culture’, fantastic ‘lost cities’ and ‘lost worlds’ adventures have abounded here. We will look at local classics of this fun, gripping subgenre.

After losing ourselves on remote places in search of treasure and immortality, we will explore the incisive ‘New Wave’ feminist SFF of the Chilean sixties—in particular Elena Aldunate and Ilda Cádiz Ávila, two remarkable authors whose influence grows every year as female voices are rediscovered and empowered. Perhaps a cautionary tale, Chilean proud 150-year-old democracy burned and crashed on 9/11/1973.

Chile has also produced remarkable SFF comics, creatively expressing (or repressing) changing local moods. We will explore exciting works, little known in the US, including the adventures of Mampato and the extraordinary Guardians of the South, a decolonizing comics depicting indigenous Mapuche as superheroes, precisely at a time of their political uprising.

The module will follow an 8-session structure as follows:

• Lecture 1: Poe & Lovecraft in the South Pacific: At the real mountains of madness' and other awesomely disquieting Gothic stuff.
• Discussion 1: Class discussion on Lecture 1 material.


• Lecture 2: Lost Worlds and Fantastic Cities Aplenty: Why not just grab some horses and go in search of eternal life and gold by the bucketfuls in the foreboding Andes and the forbidding Patagonian fiords?
• Discussion 2: Class discussion on Lecture 2 material.


• Lecture 3: Forget Neruda! The amazing feminist 'New Wave' sixties science fiction of Isabel Aldunate & Ilda Cádiz Ávila.
• Discussion 3: Class discussion on Lecture 3 material.


• Lecture 4: Top comics in the Andes: From time-traveling Mampato and Jodorowsky’s Incal to the decolonizing, native Mapuche superheroes, The Guardians of the South.
• Discussion 4: Class discussion on Lecture 4 material.

Note: Although this is a two-part series, each module stands on its own. Students are welcome to join in for any module of the series. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Surely life at the world's end will unhinge your imagination! See by yourself by exploring the extraordinary, diverse science fiction and fantasy (SFF) of Chile, a remote land barely hanging at the edge of our planet. Boasting a grand literary tradition, and literally zero interest in hard science, Chilean SFF is different, opening unusual vistas into the imaginative landscape.

In the second part of this two-module series, we will explore how, under dictatorship, Chilean SFF creation mainly moved abroad, together with its exiled creators, such as Isabel Allende, and her The House of Spirits.

Since the return to democracy in 1990, Chilean SFF has been shaped by profound, historically unresolved social conflicts, such as colonial and patriarchal legacies, an ambiguous relationship with technology, persisting ‘classism’ and socio-economic inequalities, and the lingering traumas of the military regime.

Post-humanist SF, Cyber- and Steam-Punk, have taken strong roots in Chile by addressing those old conflicts in impactful literary works, such as Alicia Fenieux’s Clone’s Love or Muñoz Valenzuela’s Flowers for a Cyborg. A decade of massive foreign immigration, of over 10% of the national population, compounded social tensions. And the optimism that followed redemocratization and lightning-fast economic growth ended abruptly in 2019 with a dramatic ‘social explosion’, where millions of people took to the streets after a minor rise in the cost of public transportation. Remarkably, SFF is thriving under these unsettling social conditions, as Chilean SFF authors alchemically transform the new anxieties into extraordinary imaginative creations.

A true Chilean Golden Age of SFF is being born as zombies and other dreadful creatures run rampant. Inspired, though dystopian social visions combine with technological nightmares to create some of the best imaginative literature ever created in the country.

Lastly, we will look at the Cyber-Shamanism of Jorge Baradit—Magic Realism 2.0?—an inspired, neo-techno-Gothic expression of the ‘new pessimism’, mixing Cyber-Punk and indigenous spirituality to express the new fears arising from the expansion of organized crime, violence and corruption, threatening social dissolution not only in Chile but in the Americas as a whole.

The module will follow an 8-session structure as follows:

• Lecture 1: Magic Realism & Real Dictatorship: Isabel Allende’s 'The House of Spirits' and other potent exiled imaginations.
• Discussion 1: Class discussion on Lecture 1 material.


• Lecture 2: Posthumanism's alive and well in the South Pacific: From cyborg social justice revenge to clones’ love betrayals.
• Discussion 2: Class discussion on Lecture 2 material.


• Lecture 3: Chilean zombie attacks, vampires on the lose, and other easily preventable catastrophes: Pop goes the future!
• Discussion 3: Class discussion on Lecture 3 material.


• Lecture 4: A pessimist Golden Age and Magic Realism 2.0? Cyber-Punk, Cyber-Shamanism & Jorge Baradit's “Magical Conquest of America”.
• Discussion 4: Class discussion on Lecture 4 material.

Zhuangzi is often presented as the second thinker of classical Daoist thought after Laozi, but in terms of impact on East Asian philosophy and fine arts, Zhuangzi is probably the more significant figure. We will read the text together, taking plenty of time to discuss participant interpretations, all within the framework of the preceptor-provided cultural and historical commentary. Zhuangzi is simply delightful, treating weighty topics with a light and humorous touch. Come join us for Free-and-Easy Wandering through this most idiosyncratic of classical Chinese texts!

Over the course of two modules, we will cover the basics of Japanese religious history. Particular areas of focus will be Shintō 神道 tradition and various forms of Japanese Buddhism, shamanism, and Shugendō 修験道. Time permitting (unlikely) we can also touch upon Japanese New Religions and/or Japanese Christianity.

In an interactive language course, we will explore the grammar, culture, and vocabulary of the largest Scandinavian language spoken today. From Vikings to Volvos to IKEA, Sweden is internationally recognized as a leader of cultural thought and political neutrality. The Swedish language is from the branch of North Germanic languages, meaning a lot of built in cognates exist for speakers of other Germanic languages (including English).

Kom och tala svenska med mig!

This Collaborative Feedback-based peer workshop experience extends over two months, allowing the luxury of more time to read and comment on one another’s work. The cost is one token, the eight hours of class time are simply spread out.

We will meet to blend learning, discussion, and playing games with reading, appreciating, and commenting on one another’s work as it is submitted for peer review. Writers are encouraged—but never required—to submit new pieces in any state of draftiness or readiness up to 2,000 words each week for peer reading and feedback. Our Collaborative Feedback method, developed here at Signum University, asks us to comment at the author's comfort level through a structured reader (not editor) response. We gather to encourage the story that the author wants to tell. Our philosophy of kindness first might just turn around your previous experience of writing groups.

This course is for those who have an interest in Japanese culture and wish to continue our study of Japanese. We will continue using Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji, and covering grammatical structures. Through use of conversational Japanese, we will continue to explore how the language is used in anime, manga, and music.

Japanese is a language of great nuance and depth. This module will open the door to that world and build a foundation for greater insight into Japan's culture and its people.

What is a story worth? Would you value a good story over a brand new diamond ring? A house? How about a whole town? In fact, a story is worth more than all these tangible things… combined. But, how is that possible? How does a completely intangible idea have more value than all these things? Enter the Lord of the Rings. The latest movie adaptation of LOTR, written by JRR Tolkien and adapted to film by Peter Jackson, grossed over $3 billion dollars. $3 billion dollars! The books alone have grossed about $2.5 billion dollars. One copy of the first edition original Hobbit is worth about $150,000. Amazon, ironically, whose sole purpose is to sell tangible stuff, spent $250 million dollars just for the right to make their own adaptation of just a small part of this story.

LOTR fans are one of the largest, most diverse, and intensely loyal audiences in the world. As Steve Colbert likes to say, “Lord of the Rings is the Number One Trilly!” But Why? What could make a fantastical story that takes place in a made-up world, with non-existent elves, silly dwarves, and tiny-hairy-footed hobbits, so incredibly powerful and valuable? Psychology is the answer. Like art and music, certain stories elicit human reaction. And those reactions can change lives in ways that tangible things cannot.

This class will cover what those typical reactions look like and then discuss the psychological mechanisms behind them. We will discuss why Faerie, and Tolkien’s stories especially, are so successful at prompting these psychological functions.

This class is not so much about Tolkien’s work, but rather it is a study of the people who are impacted by his work and why they react the way they do. We will tie the required readings with various psychological studies.

Session Outline Session Outline

• Sessions 1 and 2: Intro to this Class + Psychology of Faerie Stories This is a psychology class! We will talk about the literature, but mostly will focus on what happens to us when we engage with the literature. While we will read some Tolkien, most of what we will be reading are scientific studies. To begin, we will define and discuss the true definition of a faerie story? And HOW does it captivate? Introduce “positive psychology” vs. “traditional psychology” and the concept of Flow State.
• Session 3: Developmental Psychology and Faerie How does Faerie impact the adolescent and child versus the adult. Why are teenagers & adults impacted? Talk about different stages of development specifically moral development
• Sessions 3 and 4: First of two parts on “Fantasy, Recovery and Escape” The first part will focus on “Fantasy” and the difference between Controlled Fantastical Thoughts and being delusional or hallucinating and Tolkien's vies on Lies Vs. Enchantment. We will also talk about Frankl’s theories of logotherapy.
• Session 5: Recovery & Escape What does Tolkien mean by “cleaning our window”? How does the concept of the “Eucatastrophe” allow people to recover from trauma and build resilience mechanisms?
• Session 6: Tolkien and Carl Jung – Symbolism, Imagination and Magic. This class will be based on the lectures given by Dr. Lance S. Owens on the similarities between Carl Jung’s imaginative experiences writing his “Red Book” and Tolkien’s writing
• Session 7: Thinking Strategically (non-linear) vs. linear thinking (cognitive psychology and adult learning) How does Fantasy open up non-linear thinking and learning? Plus, how do Tolkien’s stories allow for safe places to think without bias and repressive tolerance. We will introduce various cognitive psychology theories such as Frederickson's Broaden and Build Theory and Mezirow's theories on adult learning.
• Session 8: Spirituality & Evangelium. The religion of LoTR. SBIMI – SHALL PROVE BUT MINE INSTRUMENT! Faith and Finding grace in LoTR and how that type of spirituality contributes to happiness and well-being.

This module is designed to provide the student with sufficient knowledge of Biblical Hebrew to read the Torah in its original language. The student will progress through four main stages:

1. The students will be acquainted with the Hebrew alphabet, syllabication, and pronunciation.
2. After learning how to read and pronounce Hebrew words students will move on to Hebrew nouns, adjectives, prepositions, etc.
3. In stage the Hebrew verbal stems will be explored.
4. In this final stage the downloadable Logos software will be used and demonstrated to put it all together to assist in translating/reading the Torah.

Session Outline:

• Session 1: Introduction to class objectives and Hebrew alphabet
• Session 2: Hebrew syllabication, pronunciation and practice
• Session 3: Hebrew nouns, adjective, and prepositions, pronunciation and practice
• Session 4: Hebrew verbal stems part one, pronunciation and practice
• Session 5: Hebrew verbal stems part two, pronunciation and practice
• Session 6: Logos software introduction, Hebrew sentence structure
• Session 7: Logos software continued, intro to Hebrew poetry
• Session 8: Using Logos software to translation from the Torah

It has been said that all Western thought comes from Athens or Jerusalem. While the dichotomy raises friction, one often fails to understand that the two thought patterns are often mixed. This module will focus on the history of Western Philosophy/Thought. For didactic reasons, the focus will be on Athens. The dichotomy in Athens’ thought is between Plato and Aristotle. To over simplify things, Plato ‘looked up’. Plato was looking for ‘the truth’, the ‘Real’ behind our existence. Aristotle ‘looked down’ and was less concerned with Plato’s quest.

The goal is to have students understand the time setting of the philosopher and the working out of their view of the world, to experience the ‘rose colored glasses’ of that particular philosopher. That task can be difficult because the study of Philosophy from the historical approach must negate all developments of Western Thought which are subsequent to the Philosopher.

Upon completion the student will be able to understand the development of Western Thought which led to the Western Post-Modern World View. The five philosophers to be visited will be Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, and Nietzsche.

Session Outline

• Session 1: Introduction to module’s approach to the study of philosophy
• Session 2: Plato, his time and contribution to Western Thought followed by discussion
• Session 3: Aristotle, his time, contribution, comparison to Plato’s approach followed by discussion
• Session 4: Descartes, his time, contribution/dilemma, followed by discussion
• Session 5: Kant, his time, contribution, followed by discussion
• Session 6: Nietzsche part one, his time, contribution followed by discussion
• Session 7: Nietzsche part two, his legacy on Post Modern Thought
• Session 8: Epistemology and a visit from our philosophers, followed by discussion

This series of modules introduces the vocabulary and grammar of the Gothic language, the oldest attested body of literature in a Germanic language (4th century AD), not just by talking about grammar, but by doing real translations of real Gothic texts. While no prior language study experience is necessary or expected, it is certainly a benefit to understand basic grammatical terms in English (or equivalent) or have knowledge of learning to read another language.

This series of modules introduces the vocabulary and grammar of the Gothic language, the oldest attested body of literature in a Germanic language (4th century AD), not just by talking about grammar, but by doing real translations of real Gothic texts. While no prior language study experience is necessary or expected, it is certainly a benefit to understand basic grammatical terms in English (or equivalent) or have knowledge of learning to read another language.

Session Outline:

• Session 1: Overview and introduction to the Gothic language, alphabet, grammar, and translation tools and resources
• Session 2: First easy translation exercises. Continued overview of basic grammatical system
• Session 3: First short translation using new tools. Grammatical tips for increasing translation speed
• Session 4: First paragraph length translation
• Session 5: Second paragraph length translation
• Session 6: Two paragraphs of translation
• Session 7: Two paragraphs of translation
• Session 8: Two and a half paragraphs of translation

In the module Tolkien’s Invented Languages in The Lord of the Rings, we exclusively looked at Tolkien's language invention from the perspective of how the languages were used in The Lord of the Rings. In this follow-on module, we will explore the linguistic information in The Road Goes Ever On, The Silmarillion, The History of Middle-earth, the Letters, as well as publications such as Parma Eldalamberon and Vinyar Tengwar. If you've ever wanted to get a handle on the primary sources for information about Tolkien's invented languages beyond The Lord of the Rings, this is the module for you!