“The event’s success depends on “Science Fiction World” magazine, Baguangfen Culture… Others include Trisolaran Universe and the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)”.

In her speech at the 2023 Chengdu World Science Fiction Conference’s closing ceremony, full-time Chairperson Xiaolan LIANG thanked relevant institutions and units, recognizing SUSTech’s teaching, research, and creative promotion of science fiction.

From October 18 to 22, the 81^st World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) was held in Chengdu.

Worldcon was founded in 1939 and is hosted by the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). This year marks the second time the convention has been held in Asia and the first time in China.

At the annual event, many science fiction writers gathered to discuss the in-depth integration of human imagination and technological innovation, as well as stimulate interdisciplinary exploration of the many possibilities of human imagination and guide the public to think about and explore future scientific trends.

Yan WU, Professor of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at SUSTech, was invited to give a keynote speech and participate in a number of forums. In addition, he also participated in the early stage and preparation process of the convention, providing assistance to the organizers with the program design and conference arrangement.

Professor Yan WU, who is also the Vice Chairman of the Chinese Science Writers Association (CSWA) and a science fiction writer, spoke about the future development of China’s science fiction industry in his report on October 20.

He used relevant data from the 2023 China Science Fiction Industry Report to predict the results of the development of China’s science fiction industry in 2030, and expressed his own views on the various paths for the development of related industries.

In another report on October 21 on new theories recently proposed by Professor WU’s team in imagination research, he discussed the application of this theory in exploring science fiction education and teaching. He noted that the theory analyzes the intrinsic relationship between science fiction creation and imagination.

He believes the imagination device consists of three parts: the material supplier, the imagination generator, and the imagination expresser.

Science fiction works provide rich imaginative materials, use various imagination rules, and express imagination in multiple ways. Therefore, the complete imagination application process of science fiction works is conducive to the imagination development and training of readers, especially teenagers.

“Science fiction education should focus on stimulating students’ imagination and emotions rather than just following a fixed model of teaching scientific knowledge. It should expose students to a vast imaginative space and stimulate creativity and curiosity”, Yan WU said.

Faxiang CHEN, Assistant of the Research Center for Science and Human Imagination, also presented a keynote report at the convention.

The University has attached great importance to the exploration of science, science popularization, and science fiction, and has gradually built a comprehensive, innovative cultural platform that integrates science communication, science popularization education, and science fiction creation.

With the support of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Research Center for Science and Human Imagination at SUSTech has cooperated with the China Science Fiction Research Institute under the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) to publish the Annual Science Fiction Industry Report and the SUSTech Humanities Academic Series (Series 1-3), which contains a large number of science fiction research monographs.

Among them, “The History of Chinese Science Fiction in the 20^th Century” has won the Nebula Award and the Galaxy Award.

Faculty members from the Research Center for Science and Human Imagination at SUSTech have published many monographs and papers. In addition to scientific research, several faculty members from SUSTech, including Professors Qingsong LIU, Yuehong CHEN, Yang LIU, and Yan WU, have published a series of science fiction works.

Shenzhen’s first original science fiction play, Yunshen, co-created by faculty members from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at SUSTech and Shenzhen University, has been performed many times and has been praised by several media outlets such as People’s Daily, Xinhua News, and Guangming Daily.