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Several recently published international relations and criminal justice writings, textbooks, and supplements focus on using science fiction and fantasy texts to teach social science theories. This article investigates how science fiction and fantasy examples affect student learning compared to documentary films. We use mixed methods to conduct two studies on the use of science fiction and fantasy in political science and criminal justice classrooms. In the first study, we divide up a large lecture class, comparing how examples from the HBO series Game of Thrones versus documentary films affect student learning about the United Nations and peacekeeping. Our second study uses a combination of interviews and surveys to assess how students apply various criminological theories to the 1997 film Gattaca versus a documentary. Our research reveals that science fiction and fantasy examples neither help nor harm student learning. However, incorporating examples from fictional worlds may alienate some students, affecting their enjoyment of class and perception of preparedness. Most importantly, we find that the use of fictional examples creates an interpretive barrier in the classroom. Thus, we recommend judicious use of science fiction and fantasy examples. When fictional examples are used, we encourage student preparation and extensive debriefing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the art world as a setting for hegemonic status or prestige politics. Powerful states engage in art world status-seeking but appear to face challenges distinct to the art world in so doing. To explain, I adopt a Bourdieusian forms of capital approach, framing the art world as a social field with distinctive contentious dynamics and symbolic politics. I argue states must work through art world networks and institutions to pursue status there, observing local rules in so doing. I frame art world prestige as symbolic capital—the overt, observable pursuit of which tends to undermine any gains. Hegemonic incumbents and challengers face differing such constraints. The existing global art world models rules and standards by homology on that of the current hegemon. A challenger must adapt to this status quo before they can revise it. I unpack these dynamics in the cases of America, China, and India. I focus on their shifting standing in the global art market and performances of national aggrandizement at a recurring global art world event: the Venice Biennale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While games are commonly viewed as frivolous fun, their rapid proliferation across the US defense establishment compels us to think again. Spanning spheres as diverse as total immersion training, near-peer/cyber conflict, and future force strategies, a gaming renaissance is currently underway across the US military. Surprisingly, given international relations' (IR) interest in the production and projection of military power, the discipline has neglected to engage with this revival. This article argues that hyperreal games—that is, games that produce realities—play an increasingly important role in the attraction, production, management, and recovery of warfighters. Drawing upon one hundred hours of interviews undertaken with US military games designers, trainers, trainees, and veterans between 2017 and 2019, the article documents first-hand experiences of hyperreal gaming in warfighter recruitment, training, deployment, and rehabilitation. The core argument developed is that unlike simulations, which model scenarios , games are productive of people , values, and identity. If it is to understand games' use as a tool of warfighter subjectification, the article argues, IR must renew its focus on military gaming disaggregated from the broader hyperrealities of modeling, simulation, and exercises with which it has hitherto been conflated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dr. Strangelove continues to be viewed as one of the most acclaimed films of all-time. Likewise, international relations (IR) experts commonly list the film among the most essential IR-themed movies. The IR scholars who discuss Dr. Strangelove as a text or recommend it for courses generally claim that it can be used to explain nuclear deterrence, the security dilemma, mutually assured destruction, Cold War competition, and various other traditional serious concerns of the field. They also recognize that the satirical film is critical of nuclear strategy. This article considers Dr. Strangelove 's sexual subtext, involving important metaphors and symbols that IR scholars characteristically ignore. Yet, for decades, film critics and scholars from other disciplines have identified and emphasized the importance of the film's comedic "sexual framework" and concluding "wargasm." Director Stanley Kubrick even acknowledged these key elements in private correspondence. The film suggests that the national security establishment's masculine view of the utility of nuclear weapons and deterrence are comparable to absurd male sexual fantasies. Feminist IR scholars frequently note that mainstream scholars largely ignore their critique of masculine views of the discipline and nuclear strategy. The article concludes that scholars in the field should both prioritize Dr. Strangelove 's sexual subtext and rely upon feminist contributions to help understand those elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]