‘Quantum Steampunk’ Creative Writing Course Explores the Science of Science Fiction
February 14, 2025
Physics, English faculty combine futuristic themes with Victorian-era aesthetics.
By John Tucker | Maryland Today
To help an interdisciplinary group of students channel their internal H.G. Wells, Edward Daschle gave his class a two-part task earlier this week: First, jot down a modern-day appliance and pass the paper to the left. Next, describe a “steampunk” version of the contraption you received.
Steampunk is an artistic genre that incorporates fantastic technologies into Victorian-era settings. Think steam engine-powered submarines surfacing in Sherlock Holmes’s London, or time machines invading the Wild West. The challenge, said the lecturer with the University of Maryland’s English department, was to conceive of machines that were scientifically plausible, albeit weirdly anachronistic.
One creation: a set of headphones powered by steam boilers in a 19th century basement, creating vibrations that send energy into the headphones’ diaphragms.
“People could also play the music on loudspeakers and accompany it with an instrument like a violin,” computer science major Greg Arnold ’25 explained to the class. “I wanted to create a notion of wealthy Victorian people.”
He and other students representing academic backgrounds spanning humanities and sciences have converged in this new course, “Writing Quantum Steampunk: Science-Fiction Workshop.” It offers English majors a peek into the complex world of quantum energy and STEM majors the unique chance to read fantasy fiction from authors like the widely lauded Terp N.K. Jemisin M.Ed. ’97 and write their own short stories with steampunk concepts.
Read more in Maryland Today.