Student Worker - Undergraduate Research Assistant: Melancholy, Lament, Hope

Job Title: Undergraduate Research Assistant: Melancholy, Lament, Hope:  Envisioning a Christian Prophetic Fiction

Job Classification: Lab and Research Support, Student

Department: Honors College

Hiring Manager: Autumn Henneke

Contact: autumn_henneke@baylor.edu

Work Schedule: 8-10 hrs per week

Desired Length of Employment: Fall 2024 / Spring 2025

Pay Rate: 10/hr

Job Description: Many futuristic speculative fictions are dystopic, telling a story of what our planet and human life might come to if things we are doing in the present persist unabated.  Often the outlook in these stories is bleak and despairing, at times anticipating the anthropocene and even human extinction.  At the same time, much historical fiction looks back to previous events, sees the connection of those events to present times,  and, feeling the impossibility of reconciling the present with the past in order to build a better future, embodies an attitude of melancholy, not hope.  But what might a Christian fiction look like that takes into account the past, the present, and the future?  What role could such a fiction play in our lives?  This research project takes up these questions in three anticipated ways.  First, the project examines samplings of speculative fictions and historical fictions to delineate what sort of philosophical and theological frameworks are being promoted.  To narrow the focus, this study examines two types of novels: a) historical novels focusing particularly on the history of chattel slavery and race in the United States b) speculative novels focusing particularly on climate crisis.  Second, the project reads relevant scholarship in literature, philosophy, and theology to theorize the concepts of melancholy, lament, despair, and hope.  Third, using the theology of Jürgen Moltmann  and others, this project theorizes how the genre of Biblical prophecy might inform a Christian prophetic mode of storytelling, one that considers the whole of time--past, present, and future--in a framework of confession and truthtelling. 

• Provide lab/research support for assigned area of responsibility 
• Assist with various projects, activities and tasks related to University laboratories and research 
• Adhere to and ensure safety procedures and precautions are followed 
• Ability to comply with University policies  
• Maintain regular and punctual attendance 

Employer: Baylor University

Work Location: Draper - Honors Program