Connecticut Public Radio: A look at how 2024 was imagined
UC speculative fiction expert Cassandra Jones guest speaker on The Colin McEnroe Show
UC’s Cassandra Jones, PhD, was a guest speaker on Connecticut Public Radio’s The Colin McEnroe Show for a discussion about speculative fiction in movies and literature.
Jones is an assistant professor of Africana Studies and an affiliate faculty member in Film and Media Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in UC’s College of Arts and Science.
Along with a panel of experts, Jones contributed to the discussion with a literary analysis of “The Parable of the Sower,” a work of fiction written by the award-winning author Octavia E. Buter (1947–2006).
The book, published in 1993, is set in Los Angeles, around the year 2025, when the world experiences chaotic events very similar to the events of current times.
“Butler is looking around at what is happening in the early 90s: gated communities and the defunding of public institutions…and projecting what will happen if we do not change,” Jones said in the interview.
Topics covered in the book and interview include mass migration, political upheaval, the separation of families and how the underclass are treated.
Jones opined that Butler’s novel is meant to be instructive and provide a set of guidelines, one of which is: “First, listen to Black Women.”
Jones is an assistant professor of Africana Studies and an affiliate faculty member in Film and Media Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in UC’s College of Arts and Science. Her forthcoming book is “Black Speculative Feminisms: Memory and Liberated Futures in Black Women's Speculative Fiction.”
Featured image at top of empty streets in LA. Photo/iStock/BrasilNut1
Impact Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
Connecticut Public Radio: A look at how 2024 was imagined
January 29, 2024
The time is 2024 and society as we know it is breaking down. This was the prediction of Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006). is her 1993 fiction novel: "The Parable of the Sower." UC speculative fiction expert Cassandra Jones joined a panel of speculative fiction experts to talk about Butler's book and the similarities to today.
WCPO: Cincinnati's Lost Year: Pandemic fuels increase in gun violence, anxiety, depression
November 20, 2020
UC’s expert in Africana studies Edward Wallace speaks to how the health crisis has exacerbated issues in minority and low income households in Cincinnati. .
Black FUTURE month is here
February 6, 2024
The University of Cincinnati’s annual Black History Month celebration is back and better than ever. This year’s celebration has been renamed Black FUTURE Month by organizers, and includes something for everyone—from tours of historical Black churches to cosplays to Drink n’ Thinks, field trips and food.
The Verge: The teens making friends with AI chatbots
May 9, 2024
Kelly Merrill, an assistant professor of health communications and technology in the University of Cincinnati's College of Arts and Sciences, was cited in an article on teen use of AI chatbots for friendship and therapy purposes. Merrill, who studies the mental and social health benefits of communication technologies, told The Verge that extensive research has been conducted on AI chatbots that provide mental health support, and the results are largely positive.
Retiring diversity director leaves legacy of compassionate service
July 14, 2020
Trusted confidant. Toughest critic. Mentor. Advocate. These are some of the ways colleagues paid tribute to Marilyn Kershaw, director of the Office of Diversity and Access at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Arts and Sciences, at an online retirement reception last month. Kershaw’s retirement ends an 11-year tenure with the college, where she helped move forward a more diverse and inclusive culture in faculty and staff hiring and graduate student recruitment, working with characteristic grace to change biases and open doors. Kershaw’s influence also helped pave the way for the creation of a dean’s-level diversity and inclusion role at A&S.
Young, gifted and Black
April 4, 2022
A Seat at the Table content series looks to explore the experiences and identities of diverse student populations at UC while shedding light on support, resources and opportunities available at the university.
UC takes center stage in Amazon Prime series
January 19, 2022
Filmed in July 2021, UC’s episode is a crash-course in being a Bearcat, starring a few of the university’s best and brightest students and alumni. Some are lifelong Cincinnatians; others are from across the globe. But they’re all excited to show viewers why they've called UC home: From its beautiful spaces and state-of-the-art facilities to co-op and campus life.
WCPO: UC researcher examines whether extremist groups among protesters here
June 2, 2020
Extremists could be among protesters and instigating violence in Cincinnati.
UC study on police militarizaton re-emerges
June 2, 2020
A 2017 University of Cincinnati study about the militarization of police is getting worldwide attention again.
Cleveland Scene: Man freed by UC OIP waits for new trial
July 24, 2020
Isaiah Washington, who walked free in May with the help of the Ohio Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati College of Law after serving nearly 46 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, continues to await his day in court.