NWC INS Summer Lecture Series - Electives Sampler: Science Fiction: Ideations; Film, War and Society
Channel: U.S. Naval War College
Date: 2021-06-30

Join Professor J. Ross Dancy who will speak about "Film, War and Society in America" and Professor Tim Schultz who will speak about his new course “Science Fiction: Ideations and Explorations for Modern Leaders” and what science fiction (or speculative fiction) tells us about technological change, war, politics, ethics, disease and, crucially, what it means to be human. They will speak for 45 minutes and then take questions from you.

From Professor Dancy: Over the past eight decades hundreds of American films have been produced depicting the Second World War. This course explores those films as reflections of the time in which they were made, telling stories of WWII while also engaging with their current events. With the Greatest Generation nearly gone and the percentage of the public serving in the military continuously shrinking, this course helps provide future leaders with insights into the ever more complex world of civil military interaction through the lens of Hollywood and how that has changed over time.

From Professor Schultz: The course explores how science fiction and reality influence each other and how techno-scientific changes—real or imagined—may shape the modern world.  Overall, a study of classic and contemporary science fiction helps rising leaders gain new insights on how to think about the present and shape the future.

J. Ross Dancy is an assistant professor in the Joint Military Operations Department and co-director of the Graduate Certificate in Maritime History at the U.S. Naval War College. His research examines naval administration, policy, and manpower as well as the veterans returning home from war. He is the co-founder and co-editor for the University of Massachusetts Press’s monograph series Veterans. His first monograph was runner-up for the Society for Nautical Research’s prestigious Anderson Medal. In 2020 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society for original contributions to historical study. Professor Dancy holds a doctorate in history from the University of Oxford, as well as degrees from the University of Exeter and Appalachian State University. Formerly a U.S. Marine infantryman, he served in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
 
Tim Schultz is the U.S. Naval War College Associate Dean of Academics.  Prior to joining the Newport faculty in 2012 he served as the Dean of the U.S. Air Force’s School of Advanced Air and Space Studies from 2009-2012 at Maxwell AFB, Alabama.  Tim earned his Ph.D. in the History of Science and Technology from Duke University in 2007.  His research interests include the interaction between technology and strategy and the transformative role of automation in warfare.  He is the author of The Problem with Pilots: How Physicians, Engineers, and Airpower Enthusiasts Redefined Flight (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018) and co-editor of Air Power in the Age of Primacy: Air Warfare since the Cold War (Cambridge University Press, October 2021).  He is a graduate of the USAF Academy, Colorado State University, Air Command and Staff College, and the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies.  Formerly a USAF colonel, he spent much of his aviation career as a U-2 pilot enjoying the view over interesting regions of the globe.  
 
The presentations by Professor Schultz and Professor Dancy highlight two of the nearly 70 diverse courses in the NWC Electives Program.   
 
About the Lecture Series

The Issues in National Security (INS ) lectures are specifically designed to offer scholarly lectures to the spouses, partners and significant others of our students; military/civilian employees assigned to the Naval War College and Naval Station Newport and its tenant activities; NWC Foundation members; and local-area retirees or active/reserve personnel.

Participation is voluntary and neither reading nor writing assignments are required. These lectures will be conducted online using Zoom. 

Lectures will be held approximately every other week on Tuesday afternoons from 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. followed by a 30-minute Family Discussion Group meeting.

Four lectures will be offered for the summer session. No formal academic credit will be awarded.