New Science Fiction Webinar on the Last Decade - TV and Cinema

"It is unmistakably the best webinar presentation, consecutively viewed or singly viewed, that I have ever spent as a participant or a viewer. Ever!" 

Cedar Sarilo Leverett, MFA, Society of Consciousness Studies

Science fiction in the last decade continues to evolve and achieve ever-increasing popularity across the globe. This ongoing flourishing of the genre and its expanding influence is especially pronounced in science fiction TV and cinema. The number of new science fiction movies and TV shows and series has become a deluge. In this latest webinar in my ongoing series on the history of science fiction, I’ll provide an extensive overview and critical analysis and evaluation of the immense amount of science fiction cinema and TV produced since 2011.

Some of the most notable movies to be examined include Cloud Atlas, the new Planet of the Apes series, Ender’s Game, Gravity, Interstellar, Ex Machina, Mad Max: Fury Road, Arrival, Wonder Women, The Ghost in the Shell, the new Bladerunner, Ready Player One, The Wandering Earth, Don’t Look Up, and the dazzling Oscar winning Everything Everywhere All at Once.



Among the many recent TV series discussed in this webinar are Black Mirror, The Expanse, Westworld, The Man in the High Castle, Altered Carbon, The Handmaid’s Tale, Watchmen, Love Death and Robots, 1899, Years and Years, multiple iterations of Star Trek and Star Wars, and the supremely mind-twisting and ominous Dark.

A huge array of topics and themes can be identified within this evolving wave of cinematic science fiction, including alien encounters, space travel, and space operas; destiny and free will; future utopias and dystopias; personal identity and the meaning of life; time travel and dizzying time loops; technological addiction and abuse; alternate realities and alternate universes; authoritarianism and political tyrannies; super-heroes and super-villains galore; racial and gender discrimination; robots, cyborgs, and omnipresent computers and A.I.; adventures and delusions in virtual reality; advancing bio-technologies, genetic engineering, and further evolved humans; self-reflective satires and critiques on our contemporary world; future wars and global disasters; and the transcendence of humanity.

Register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/module-18-the-new-millennium-the-last-decade-tickets-666014957667. 

To complete the history of science fiction offered in this webinar series, this coming fall I will be covering science fiction literature during the last decade. Date to be announced. 

Evolution of Science Fiction

Webinar Series

For those unfamiliar with the Evolution of Science Fiction webinars, here's an introduction to the entire series:

"Combining colorful slide presentations and in-depth analysis, in these webinars, based on my book series Science Fiction: The Evolutionary Mythology of the Future, I examine the evolutionary history of science fiction from ancient to contemporary times. I delve into the mythological origins and dimensions of science fiction; fantasy versus science fiction; the rise of the modern scientific world view; utopias and dystopias through the ages; the Enlightenment, Romanticism, and Gothic horror; the impact of evolutionary theory on science fiction; Wells, Stapledon, and the integration of futures studies and science fiction; robots, techno-intelligence, and aliens; time travel and alternate realities; fantastical adventures, space exploration, and the emergence of Space Operas; the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the New Wave, Feminist Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Steampunk, and the "New Weird;" social, psychological, and religious science fiction; and numerous other key themes and dimensions of science fiction. Covering science fiction literature, art, cinema, and comics, I discuss in depth the appeal, value, and influence of science fiction on the modern world and the impact of intellectual and cultural trends on the evolution of science fiction."

All the previous webinars in this series can be viewed on the Center for Future Consciousness You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIvBA8u8-18QzwxllJrzh6OAKVAUYfNmS 

With the hard work of Tery Spataro, the CFC YouTube Channel has been greatly expanded. Among the sixty available videos and podcasts on the CFC Channel are all the previous Evolution of Science Fiction Webinars—twenty-eight two-hour videos—now free for viewing.

Go to Tom Lombardo YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@tomlombardo75/playlists for the complete listing and links for all CFC videos.

The playlists on the CFC Channel include:

• Introduction to the Center for Future Consciousness
• The Future
• Philosophy
• Contemporary Trends and Theories
• Future Consciousness & the Evolution of Consciousness
• The Evolution of Science Fiction Webinar Series
• Other Science Fiction Presentations

Go to Evolution of Science Fiction Webinars -https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIvBA8u8-18QzwxllJrzh6OAKVAUYfNmS for the complete listing and links for all the previous Science Fiction Webinars. This new online resource provides an easy way to catch up on all the Evolution of Science Fiction Webinars you missed in the series. When you visit the CFC site, please subscribe to the channel. 

“The interesting thing about Tom Lombardo is his ability to combine a futurist perspective with knowledge and wisdom from different professions. This collection of outstanding essays [Essays on the Future of Psychology and Consciousness] address nothing less than the future of human psychology. Overwhelmed by the richness of perspectives and insights combined with a futures approach, you feel honored and grateful at the same time. Just simply a brilliant collection of essays by one of the world leading futurists!”

Dr. Erik F. Øverland, President, World Futures Studies Federation

This last year I published three books addressing a broad range of futurist themes and issues, from science and technology to psychology and society. Among the many diverse topics covered, the books delve into contemporary dystopian trends and global and national social-political affairs; the pandemic; epistemology and freedom; stress, overload, and mental health; evolution and artificial intelligence; science and religion; the future evolution of consciousness; and big-picture cosmic perspectives on the future. All these books are available for purchase on Amazon.

Additional Advance Praise for

Essays on the Future of Psychology and Consciousness

“Essays on the Future of Psychology and Consciousness, together with the other contributions in Tom Lombardo’s wide-ranging oeuvre, stands head and shoulders above most writings by more conventional professional futurists. It is well worthwhile.”

Oliver Markley, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus and former Chair, Graduate Program in Studies of the Future, University of Houston- Clear Lake

“Since the pandemic, the issue of mental health has erupted in businesses, schools, and the healthcare system. At the same time, digitalization, the transformation of work and family, social networks, and the Alien Gen all point to profound changes in the human mind. This new and brilliant book by Professor Lombardo, therefore, arrives at the right time to structure this reflection and it should meet a very large audience, well beyond the thinkers of the future, his usual aficionados.”

Fabienne Goux-Baudiment, CEO of proGective, Research Centre for Futures Studies, Former President of the World Futures Studies Federation

“A superbly written encyclopedia of futures studies approached from the lens of psychology, which opens your mind to the fascinating mystery of consciousness and the epic story of cosmic evolution.”

Victor V. Motti, President and CEO, Alternative Planetary Futures Institute (APFI), Washington DC, and Executive Director of the World Futures Studies Federation