An aerial view of Singleton Campus and the bay opposite

Dr Chris Pak

Lecturer

English Literature

c.a.pak@swansea.ac.uk

Office - 106A
First Floor
Digital Technium
Singleton Campus

Available For Postgraduate Supervision

Research Links

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5079-5727

About

Chris Pak specialises in the study of Science Fiction and was an Arthur C. Clarke award judge from 2018-2020. He obtained a BA in English Language and Literature, an MA in Science Fiction Studies and a PhD at The University of Liverpool’s Department of English. His first postdoctoral appointment was as a researcher on the Leverhulme-funded Corpus Linguistics project, “‘People’, ‘Products’, ‘Pests’ and ‘Pets: The Discursive Representation of Animals’” (Lancaster University), his second on the Volkswagen-funded Digital Humanities project, “Modelling Between Digital and Humanities: Thinking in Practice” (King’s Digital Lab). He is the author of Terraforming: Ecopolitical Transformations and Environmentalism in Science Fiction (Liverpool University Press, 2016), a contribution to the Environmental Humanities, Utopian Studies and Postcolonialism that analyses how transformations to environments in science fiction interrogate the global politics of climate change and the Anthropocene.

Areas Of Expertise

Science Fiction and Popular Culture
Speculative / Fantastic Fiction
Science and Literature
Environmental Humanities
Digital Humanities
Medical Humanities
Human-Animal Studies
Utopia

Publications

Research Highlights

Pak, C. (2023). Visions of the Future, Farming and Land Use in Welsh Science Fiction. Revista Helice, No. 33
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61210
https://www.revistahelice.com/revista_textos/n_33/Helice-33-Reflexiones-Pak-Farming-WelshSF.pdf
Pak, C. (2021). Magic: The Gathering (Wizards of the Coast, 1993–Present) - Author and User in Evolving Worlds. Transmedia Cultures: A Companion (pp. 99-106). Peter Lang
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56866
https://www.peterlang.com/view/9781789971811/html/21_Magic__The_Gathering__Wizards_of.xhtml
Pak, C. (2016). Terraforming: Ecopolitical Transformations and Environmentalism in Science Fiction Liverpool University Press.
https://doi.org/10.5949/liverpool/9781781382844.001.0001, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44462
https://liverpool.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.5949/liverpool/9781781382844.001.0001/upso-9781781382844
Sealey, A. & Pak, C. (2018). First catch your corpus: methodological challenges in constructing a thematic corpus. Corpora, 13(2), 229-254.
https://doi.org/10.3366/cor.2018.0145, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44459
Pak, C. (2014). ‘All energy is borrowed’ – terraforming: a master motif for physical and cultural re(up)cycling in Kim Stanley Robinson’sMarsTrilogy. Green Letters, 18(1), 91-103.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14688417.2014.890527, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44464
Pak, C. (n.d.) ‘The shadow of the future made all the difference’:. Literature and sustainability (pp. 159-176). Manchester University Press
https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1wn0s7q.15, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44468
Pak, C. (2019). Planetary Climates: Terraforming in Science Fiction. Climate and Literature: Part II - Evolution (pp. 196-211). Cambridge University Press
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108505321.013, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44776
Chris Pak, . & Pak, C. (2018). Terraforming and Geoengineering in Luna: New Moon, 2312, and Aurora. Science Fiction Studies, 45(3), 500-514.
https://doi.org/10.5621/sciefictstud.45.3.0500, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa51935
Pak, C. (2019). ‘It Is One Story’: Writing a Global Alternative History in Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Years of Rice and Salt. Sideways in Time: Alternate History and Counterfactual Narratives (pp. 54-70). Liverpool University Press
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa51934
https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/books/isbn/9781789624328/
Pak, C. (2017). “Then Came Pantropy”: Grotesque Bodies, Multispecies Flourishing, and Human-Animal Relationships in Joan Slonczewski's A Door Into Ocean. Science Fiction Studies, 44(1), 122
https://doi.org/10.5621/sciefictstud.44.1.0122, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44461

All Research

Journal Articles

Pak, C. (2023). Visions of the Future, Farming and Land Use in Welsh Science Fiction. Revista Helice, No. 33
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61210
https://www.revistahelice.com/revista_textos/n_33/Helice-33-Reflexiones-Pak-Farming-WelshSF.pdf
Chris Pak, . & Pak, C. (2018). Terraforming and Geoengineering in Luna: New Moon, 2312, and Aurora. Science Fiction Studies, 45(3), 500-514.
https://doi.org/10.5621/sciefictstud.45.3.0500, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa51935
Sealey, A. & Pak, C. (2018). First catch your corpus: methodological challenges in constructing a thematic corpus. Corpora, 13(2), 229-254.
https://doi.org/10.3366/cor.2018.0145, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44459
Pak, C. (2017). “Then Came Pantropy”: Grotesque Bodies, Multispecies Flourishing, and Human-Animal Relationships in Joan Slonczewski's A Door Into Ocean. Science Fiction Studies, 44(1), 122
https://doi.org/10.5621/sciefictstud.44.1.0122, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44461
Pak, C. (2017). Red Marble. Science Fiction Film and Television, 10(1), 105-114.
https://doi.org/10.3828/sfftv.2017.5, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44460
Pak, C. (2015). ‘The goal of Martian economics is not “sustainable development” but a sustainable prosperity for its entire biosphere’: science fiction and the sustainability debate. Green Letters, 19(1), 36-49.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14688417.2014.984316, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44463
Pak, C. (2014). ‘All energy is borrowed’ – terraforming: a master motif for physical and cultural re(up)cycling in Kim Stanley Robinson’sMarsTrilogy. Green Letters, 18(1), 91-103.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14688417.2014.890527, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44464
Pak, C. (2011). 'A Fantastic Reflex of Itself, An Echo, A Symbol, A Myth, A Crazy Dream': Terraforming as Landscaping Nature's Otherness in H. G. Wells's The Shape of Things to Come and Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men and Star Maker.
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44466

Authored Books

Pak, C. (2016). Terraforming: Ecopolitical Transformations and Environmentalism in Science Fiction Liverpool University Press.
https://doi.org/10.5949/liverpool/9781781382844.001.0001, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44462
https://liverpool.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.5949/liverpool/9781781382844.001.0001/upso-9781781382844

Book Chapters

Pak, C. (2021). Magic: The Gathering (Wizards of the Coast, 1993–Present) - Author and User in Evolving Worlds. Transmedia Cultures: A Companion (pp. 99-106). Peter Lang
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56866
https://www.peterlang.com/view/9781789971811/html/21_Magic__The_Gathering__Wizards_of.xhtml
Pak, C. (2019). ‘It Is One Story’: Writing a Global Alternative History in Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Years of Rice and Salt. Sideways in Time: Alternate History and Counterfactual Narratives (pp. 54-70). Liverpool University Press
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa51934
https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/books/isbn/9781789624328/
Pak, C. (2019). Planetary Climates: Terraforming in Science Fiction. Climate and Literature: Part II - Evolution (pp. 196-211). Cambridge University Press
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108505321.013, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44776
Pak, C. (2012). Discovering a Higher Plane: Dimensionality and Enlightenment in Flatland and Diaspora. In Jessica K. Sklar and Elizabeth S. Sklar ; foreword by Keith Devlin (Ed.), Mathematics in popular culture : essays on appearances in film, fiction, games, television and other media McFarland
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44465
https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/mathematics-in-popular-culture/
Pak, C. (2011). Computers in Science Fiction: Anxiety and Anticipation. In David L. Ferro and Eric G. Swedin (Ed.), Science Fiction and Computing: Essays on Interlinked Domains (pp. 13-38). McFarland
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44467
https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/science-fiction-and-computing/
Pak, C. (n.d.) ‘The shadow of the future made all the difference’:. Literature and sustainability (pp. 159-176). Manchester University Press
https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1wn0s7q.15, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44468

Supervision

''Am I Normal Yet?' Exploring Disability, Illness, and Normativity in Contemporary YA Romantic Fiction'.' (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Prof Kirsti Bohata
Working Title: Communication breakdown: re-establishing human/non-human connection to achieve sustainability in climate fiction (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Alice Barnaby
Transnational Chinese Masculinities: Consumerism and Commercialization in ‘The Untamed’ 陈情令 (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Yan Wu
Hauntings in 21st Century Fiction (awarded 2024)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Sarah Gamble
Slipped Seemings (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Alan Bilton
Using Creative Writing to Imagine and Explore a Sustainable, Optimistic Path into the Futurer (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Anne Lauppe-Dunbar
Beyond Elf Queens and Shieldmaidens: The Depiction of Women in Tolkien Fanfiction (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Nicko Vaughan
Modes of Human Plasticity in Science Fiction (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Anne Lauppe-Dunbar
Ink Slinger: exploring body art, tattooing, and alternative subcultures in contemporary literature (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Nicko Vaughan
Untitled (current)

MA

Other supervisor: Dr Sarah Gamble

Taught Modules

EN-3055 Graphic Novel

What are graphic novels, and how do they relate to their component terms, ¿graphic¿ and ¿novel¿? How do we read graphic novels? What are their antecedents, and how do contemporary works speak to the development of the form? Through an examination of two key texts, Bryan Talbot¿s Alice in Sunderland and Carol Swain¿s Gast, this module combines a focus on the literary and visual to equip students with the skills to analyse and understand how graphic novels signify, and how they explore and challenge a range of themes and ideas. In addition to an attention to form and the visual, students will apply critical and theoretical approaches to consider themes and concepts such as distinctions between ¿high¿ and ¿low¿ art, storytelling, identity, history and psycho-geography.
EN-M31 Dissertation

Individual project devised and defined in discussion between supervisor and student.
EN-M41 Research Practice in English / Contemporary Writing / Welsh Writing in English

Supervised project on research methodology in practice. Students build a detailed bibliographical plan for their MA dissertation project.
MS-100 Introduction to Media Communication

The module will consider approaches to the study of media and communication which focus variously on institutions, technologies, texts, audiences and policy issues. It will also introduce discussion of what power or powers are wielded through use of media in our culture. The module builds to an examination of the effects of new media technologies on 'co-present' and interpersonal communication. The module provides a detailed consideration of media institutions, media 'texts' and media audiences. Here it will focus on issues surrounding the analysis of the power of media institutions; the interpreting or 'reading' of media 'texts'; the study of how media are used and interpreted by audiences/consumers; and attempts by the state and other policy agencies to use, control and censor the media. Finally, basic issues in the implications of the 'new media'/media convergence will be addressed. Please note, students are also expected to attend four film screenings.
MS-120 Introduction to Media History

This module critically explores the history of modern media from the birth of printing to the internet. It traces the rise of mass-media and analyses the cultural, economic, social and political dimensions of the major broadcast forms and their impact. The module concludes with an exploration of the rise of computing and the internet, the digital transformation of all older media forms and the end of the dominance of the broadcast model of informational production, distribution and consumption.
MS-345 Science Fiction and Media

Science fiction has become ubiquitous in the twenty-first century. Whether conceived of as a genre, a mode, a language, an outlook or otherwise, science fiction has become instantiated in a range of media, from short stories and novels, film, TV, games, graphic novels, theatre, performative art, activism and more. But what is science fiction? How can we account for fictions and other cultural productions that range widely across themes and form? This module introduces students to a range of science fiction media and the key themes, concepts and debates of science fiction studies. It will take students on a journey through a variety of media that challenge popular conceptions of science fiction and to address issues of power, identity, technology and notions of the human.
MS-M10 Dissertation or Project

An innovative practice-based alternative to a Masters dissertation. Students are encouraged to develop projects across more than one area of media practice and to do so with dual supervision that embraces both theory and practice. Work produced should be at a professional level, accompanied by a reflective essay and presentation exploring the contextual, theoretical and practical issues raised by the project.
MSDM00 The Digital Revolution (VR)

Through close analysis of digital media/new media texts, this module will examine the theoretical and practical issues of new media technologies and the implications for social, political and economic spheres.
MSDM01 The Digital Revolution

Through close analysis of digital media/new media texts, this module will examine the theoretical and practical issues of new media technologies and the implications for social, political and economic spheres.

Dr Chris Pak

Email address

Twitter Account

Research Links

About

Areas Of Expertise

Publications

Research Highlights

All Research

Journal Articles

Authored Books

Book Chapters

Supervision

''Am I Normal Yet?' Exploring Disability, Illness, and Normativity in Contemporary YA Romantic Fiction'.' (current)

Working Title: Communication breakdown: re-establishing human/non-human connection to achieve sustainability in climate fiction (current)

Transnational Chinese Masculinities: Consumerism and Commercialization in ‘The Untamed’ 陈情令 (current)

Hauntings in 21st Century Fiction (awarded 2024)

Slipped Seemings (current)

Using Creative Writing to Imagine and Explore a Sustainable, Optimistic Path into the Futurer (current)

Beyond Elf Queens and Shieldmaidens: The Depiction of Women in Tolkien Fanfiction (current)

Modes of Human Plasticity in Science Fiction (current)

Ink Slinger: exploring body art, tattooing, and alternative subcultures in contemporary literature (current)

Untitled (current)

Taught Modules

EN-3055 Graphic Novel

EN-M31 Dissertation

EN-M41 Research Practice in English / Contemporary Writing / Welsh Writing in English

MS-100 Introduction to Media Communication

MS-120 Introduction to Media History

MS-345 Science Fiction and Media

MS-M10 Dissertation or Project

MSDM00 The Digital Revolution (VR)

MSDM01 The Digital Revolution