HOW SCIENCE FICTION
UNITED SCIENCE
AND THE HUMANITIES
Date & Time
Tue, 13 Oct 2026
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Location
Doha, Qatar
Status
Past event
Registration closed
About the Talk
In 1959, British scientist and novelist C. P. Snow warned of a growing divide between the "two cultures" of science and the humanities. He argued that separating these fields limited our ability to understand and address the world's most pressing challenges. More than half a century later, this divide remains embedded in many education systems.
This Qahwa Talk explored the history of educators who challenged that separation through science fiction. From books like Introductory Psychology Through Science Fiction and The Physics of Star Trek to university courses, museums that used fictional spacecraft, and video games that taught scientific concepts, science fiction became an unexpected tool for interdisciplinary learning.
Far from being mere entertainment, these stories, films, and games opened new ways of engaging with science, society, ethics, and the future. The evening was a conversation on imagination as a learning tool, the power of storytelling in education, and how science fiction helped reunite science and the humanities.
About the Speaker
Associate Editor, Review of Middle East Studies & Journal of Gulf Studies
Dr. Jörg Matthias Determann is a Professor in the Department of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. He serves as an Associate Editor of the Review of Middle East Studies and the Journal of Gulf Studies, and as Book Review Editor of the Journal of Arabian Studies. He previously worked at Zentrum Moderner Orient, Freie Universität Berlin, SOAS University of London, and King Saud University, and was a visiting scholar at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies.
Event Agenda
Good to Know
Coffee/Tea & Dessert
Your ticket includes coffee or tea and a dessert.
First-Come, First-Seated
Arriving early is recommended. We keep this small and intimate.
Open Conversation
This is dialogue, not a one-way lecture. Your questions matter.
Small Audience
We keep the group small enough for real conversation.
What to Expect
Informal, engaged, intellectual. Bring curiosity and an open mind.
Questions?
Email info@qahwatalks.com or DM @qahwatalks.qa on Instagram.
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