PARACOSM: SURVIVING THE TRIALS OF REALITY BY CREATING WORLDS OF FANTASY

“Imagination is the ignition system for anticipation, empathy, and resilience. Despite the central importance of imagination to individual cognition and collective action, we tend to ignore it until it goes missing. Failures of imagination, often catastrophic, remind us that imagination is not just an abstract concept or ideal but a fundamental tool for making change in the world. We practice and cultivate imagination individually and collectively, but that is only possible when we feel permitted to do so.”

- ASU Center for Science and the Imagination

“C.S. Lewis’s Narnia rose from a paracosm called Boxen. The Brontë siblings played together in Glass Town. Tolkien developed Middle-Earth both as a place to test his beloved languages and to escape and process the horrors of war and the effects of the Industrial Revolution. Without these childhood worlds, we would not enjoy the works of these celebrated authors.”

- Tiffany Trent 

Paracosms are alternative destinations of refuge and revelation, born out of need, desire, or fear. They are a distanced but intimate place to manifest your desires, fears, aspirations and hope; A world where you can discover who you are by the consequence of choices and trials.  The worlds of Paracosm hold a secret: they may be the creation of your mind and imagination, but once brought alive and given form, they will choose their own path through light and darkness and take you where they are going. 

In our digital Social Media culture that thrives on attention and approval by others, what fantastic avatars of ourselves are we neglecting in alternative realities of our own creation? How do these imaginative worlds serve us in our communication and relationship with others in the external world?

In this 6 week program, we will dive deep into the worlds of Paracosm created by writers, filmmakers, poets, and composers, some of whom will join us on our journey.  We will discover the world-building tools they use and the foundations on which their worlds reside. We will experience and share how to use tools and skills within our imagination to construct our own worlds that will serve as destinations of refuge and sanctuary, inspiration and renewal.

Program Duration: 6 Weeks (Jan. 31^st – March 20^th)

Meeting Day & Time: Wednesdays, 5-7pm

Meeting Place: URC Fishbowl

Program Lead: Kiel Shaub, Ph.D. (kshaub@usc.edu)