This course is built on three pillars: reading fiction, writing fiction, and thinking about future conflict. Fiction provides a valuable—but often overlooked—tool in preparing cadets for what future wars may look like. Fiction uniquely engages imagination and is one of the only art forms that allows an individual to live a life not their own. This ability to imagine and inhabit another person and to see the world from their perspective is essential for strategic and operational military activities, such as developing future war plans, red-teaming, predicting deterrence outcomes, and anticipating an adversary’s actions. In this course, cadets will read and engage with three primary texts which are supplemented by a handful of short stories, poems, and novel extracts. Cadets will learn to write in the world of the novel by utilizing information gleaned from the text to complete their writing assignments.

Students are expected to have read all assigned readings and come to class prepared to discuss them. Students will practice two types of writing in this course: seven short pieces of modeled fiction between 750 and 1,500 words, and one 3,000-5,000 word original short story based on the prompt: “The year is 2035 and the United States is at war. Write a piece of fiction in any genre set in this world.”