Welcome to SPACE, our adult continuing education program which offers interactive monthly courses for personal enrichment! Learn more here.

Gender Studies Portal

Or view as a table.

Le Guin’s Hainish Cycle: The Left Hand of Darkness

Ground-breaking when it appeared, and profoundly influential in both science fiction and feminist literature, The Left Hand of Darkness, offers an extended meditation on the nature of sex and gender in society. These ideas are explored in the thematic contexts of intercultural contact, language, and identity in a story that emphasizes both political intrigue and individual relationships. Approaching the novel through its literary, philosophical, and anthropological aspects of the work, we will discuss and consider all the above and more.