Life, the Universe & Everything: The Marion K. "Doc" Smith Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy

Statement of Purpose:

For thirty years, “Life, the Universe & Everything: The Marion K. ‘Doc’ Smith Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy,” has contributed to an enriched BYU education by bringing together the finest local and national authors, editors, scholars, and artists in speculative fiction. It is the only student-run symposium of its type in the U.S., and it proudly maintains a tradition of free admission  for current students and excellent content. Begun by scholar and genre visionary Marion “Doc” Smith in the early 1980s, the symposium now honors his memory and continues his legacy. As the title suggests, there is nothing that falls outside the realms of speculation, and creativity in science fiction and fantasy is not limited to the probable, but extends beyond the possible into the impossible, the improbable, and the imaginative.

The purposes of this symposium are first, to provide a venue for scholarly examination of these genres; second, to accommodate and facilitate personal contact between aspiring and professional practitioners in the field; and third, to combine the depth of an academic symposium with the excitement of a science fiction convention. We are passionately devoted to the premise that the thought experiment of speculative fiction, in its breadth, variety, and color, is a rich personal and social laboratory for exploring the spiritual foundations of our temporal world.

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LTUE Mission Statement written by Zina Nibley Peterse