Melzer, Patricia 1970-

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Melzer, Patricia 1970-

PERSONAL:

Born 1970.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Women's Studies, Temple University, 811 Anderson Hall, 1114 W. Berks St., Philadelphia, PA 19122. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, educator, and administrator. Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, assistant professor and director of Women's Studies, 2003—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Carrie Chapman Catt Research Prize, Iowa State University, 2004, for "‘Terroristenmadchen:’ Women in Radical Left Political Groups in Germany and the U.S. in the 1970s."

WRITINGS:

Alien Constructions: Science Fiction and Feminist Thought, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

An assistant professor and director of Women's Studies at Temple University, Patricia Melzer is an academic whose work focuses on feminist thought as represented in science fiction and on how transgender theory has influenced feminist theory and politics, noted a biographer on the Temple University Web site.

In Alien Constructions: Science Fiction and Feminist Thought, a book based on her "Gender and Technology in Popular Culture" course, Melzer looks at science fiction as a "realm for feminist-informed issues and cultural norms," commented a reviewer in Reference & Research Book News. She considers the role of a number of different types of nonhuman constructions, such as cyborgs, and how they represent feminist perspectives on personal and cultural concepts such as otherness, sexuality, power, identity, and science itself. Melzer offers a detailed discussion of how "women's issues, from gender stereotypes to sexuality have been treated through the lens of science fiction, as well as how science fiction writing can be used as a platform from which to experiment with alternative societal organizations," observed reviewer Sheldon Ztvordokov on the Frustrated Writer Web site. She explores these issues as represented in works by three primary authors: Octavia Butler (Survivor, Wild Seed, Dawn, and Imago), Richard Calder (Dead Girls), and Melissa Scott (Shadow Man), with additional reference to films such as The Matrix and the "Alien" series.