Prof. Elaine Chang, from U of G’s School of English and Theatre Studies, spoke to Flare magazine about why fantasy TV shows are currently so popular.

She said she believed the major problems of our time — climate change, nationalism and xenophobia – are all “informing the popularity and variety of today’s science-fiction television landscape.”

Science fiction often tries to tackle these real-world themes and allows viewers to look at the issues from the safety of an imaginary world, she said.

Chang is a screenwriter, director and researcher whose scholarly and teaching interests include critical studies of race, ethnicity and gender; contemporary cultural theory; Asian North American cultural studies; and film and media cultures.