Ad Astra Institute for Science Fiction & the Speculative Imagination jobs and careers

About Ad Astra Institute for Science Fiction & the Speculative Imagination

The Ad Astra SF Institute brings creators, educators, and fans of SF together to study and create speculative fiction. At its heart, Ad Astra is a community: The people we work with create and teach art that opens minds and imaginations, reaching for the stars and "Saving the world through science fiction!" Our award-winning staff and faculty have been involved in SF for decades – running conventions, conferences, workshops, and research centers, as well as publishing in the field. Ad Astra is the spiritual successor of James Gunn's original Center for the Study of SF, established at the University of Kansas in 1983. Our directors began working with Jim in the 1990s and served his center until shortly after his death, when it was subsumed into a college department. In 2021 we founded the KU Ad Astra Center as an umbrella for our workshops and educational outreach. A new rule in 2023 made us re-establish as the independent, non-profit Ad Astra Institute for SF & the Speculative Imagination, where we're building the comprehensive program we always dreamed of! We believe stories grow empathy – necessary for creating a livable future. Stories touch hearts and souls and bring us closer, and the unique perspectives of SF deepen empathy so the Other becomes someone we can care about. We bring the "two cultures" – STEM and the arts – together to help prepare for what's to come, bridging the divide by showcasing cutting-edge research while helping creatives engage with forces rapidly re-shaping our world. Through expert talks, creative workshops, masterclasses, teacher-education and public-interest courses, social-media outreach, media and textual inspiration, and more, we seek to educate and enrich creatives and the broader public alike.