Brenda Gardenour, whose rocket engineer father looked suspiciously like a Vulcan, spent much of her childhood under the sway of Creature Double Feature and Star Trek. Fascinated by science, medicine, and the horrors of embodiment, it only made sense that she would go on to earn a PhD in the history of medieval medicine from Boston University. Since 2008, she has teleported to Saint Louis College of Pharmacy where, as assistant professor of history, she teaches future pharmacists about life, the universe, and everything. She has published widely in the history of the body, medicine, science, and popular culture—forever torn between her lovingly human McCoy and her ever-logical Spock.
Alice L. George fell in love with Star Trek (and Captain Kirk) as a young journalist working odd hours and taping middle-of-the night TV episodes in the late 1970s. Her favorites then and in the later Star Trek incarnations were time-travel tales—perhaps an indicator of her later career as a historian. Time travel always seemed more alluring than space travel—a lesser chance of motion sickness and a greater chance of meeting Teddy Roosevelt or Cleopatra. She was captivated by the thought-provoking idea that a single good deed could have disastrous effects on history. She wondered what might have happened if a time traveler had waylaid Lee Harvey Oswald or if an unexpected sneeze had alerted security guards to the Watergate burglars before they had a chance to break the law. Today, she is an independent historian.
Elizabeth Baird Hardy is a senior instructor of English at Mayland Community College in western North Carolina. In high school, she annoyed her teachers by pointing out connections to Star Trek in history and literature. Now she annoys her students with the same information. There have even been accusations that she makes her selections for student reading based on whether or not a piece was used as an allusion in a Star Trek film or episode. She lives on a side of a mountain with her husband, the award-winning historian Michael C. Hardy, and their two children; they are all avid readers, history fans, and stargazers.
Dolly Jørgensen became intimately familiar with Star Trek dialogue and sound effects listening to episodes recorded on cassette tapes during childhood car trips. Coming from a dedicated Trekkie family—her parents were planning to name their second child Losira (TOS, “That Which Survives”) if it was a girl and did name their last son Scott after the miracle-working engineer—she jumped at the chance to look at Star Trek from an environmental history perspective for this volume. She has a PhD in history and has written on a wide variety of environmental topics, from eleventh-century forestry practices to beaver reintroduction efforts in the twenty-first century.
Alan “Sizzler” Kistler is an author and actor who regularly transports between New York City and Los Angeles. He is considered a comic book historian by publishers and major news media and has spoken at the Paley Center about the evolution and influence of Star Trek on science fiction television shows. He believes that Isaac Asimov should be required reading in schools. His fictional counterpart “Agent Alan Kistler” can be found in the Star Trek: Destiny novels.
Michael Lewis delighted in discovering the original Star Trek series in reruns, and he has since been waiting for beaming technology to be used on Earth so that he doesn’t have to waste time in airports or driving to work. As a sociologist, he is deeply envious of the Enterprise computer’s sociological database, as it would be very helpful to his own research on social movements and politics in American history. He is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia.
Lori Maguire is professor of British and American Studies at the University of Paris 8 (Vincennes–St. Denis), an outpost of the Klingon Empire. She received her doctorate at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University (close enough to Stratford to see Patrick Stewart in numerous Royal Shakespeare Company productions before he commanded the Enterprise) and her habilitation (advanced doctorate) at the University of Paris IV (Sorbonne). She has published a large number of articles and books on the political history of Great Britain and the United States, notably on their foreign policy. She has made it her mission to turn her French students into Star Trek fans, and she has succeeded in teaching some classes on Star Trek.
Brent McDonald holds a BS in computer science. While it is not an A7 expert computer certification like the one earned by Spock, he is still very skilled. Brent does not fancy himself a futurist, but he looks forward to seeing technology advance further, and he hopes and expects to see many technological breakthroughs in his lifetime. He lives by the saying “The future is wild,” and when it comes to technology, he couldn’t be more accurate.
Matthew D. Mingus is a PhD candidate studying European history at the University of Florida. He has published several articles on the historical developments of modern cartography and is particularly interested in the relationship between German and American strains of geographical thought. In his spare time he volunteers for a Cardassian educational nonprofit, teaching Marxian critical theory to small Ferengi children (no small task!). He lives with his wife, Lindsey, and dog, Dixie—both of whom constantly mock his dream of one day compiling a comprehensive atlas of the Battle of Wolf 359, temporal shifts and all.
John Putman began watching the original Star Trek reruns during the 1970s from his living room “captain’s” chair, where he rocked and shook along with the USS Enterprise when it was under attack. When he learned in college that biobeds and tricorder scanners would not likely exist for many years, he switched his major from premedicine to history. He is now an associate professor of American history at San Diego State University, where he teaches classes on the American West, California history, and a new class called “Star Trek, Culture, and History.” Always appreciating a cup of Earl Grey tea, he and his wife, Irene, have collected more than one hundred Star Trek mugs from which to enjoy, like Captain Picard, those quiet moments.
Nancy R. Reagin watched the original Star Trek series broadcasts during the 1960s, and she decided right then that she wanted to be the Enterprise’s historian; seeing the Guardian of Forever only confirmed her suspicion that Starfleet would be a more interesting place to do historical research. Instead, she ended up becoming the chair of the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at Pace University in New York City, where she is also a professor of history. She has written sundry publications on modern German history and European women’s history, and she has firm opinions about how the holodeck and other technologies could be used to teach history at Starfleet Academy.
Alexander H. Robles grew up watching the Star Trek: The Next Generation with his Trek-obsessed mother, who watched Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home on rapid repeat; he’s also an avid fan of the original series and Deep Space Nine. He holds a BA in film and screen studies from Pace University, and he is currently pursuing a career in veterinary medicine. He hopes to be the first to establish a canine division in Starfleet and allow dogs to boldly go where no dog has gone before.
Marcus Schulze is a research director for the Center for Policy Research at the University at Albany and an ABD PhD candidate in the department of political science. His research interests include contemporary political theory, comparative politics, applied ethics, and issues of political violence. He is currently finishing his dissertation research about how soldiers make ethical decisions during wars. Marcus’s favorite part of Star Trek is the holodeck, which he hopes to use someday in the distant future, when someone finally figures out how to prevent it from malfunctioning.
Amy H. Sturgis was born a Trekker after listening to reruns of the original Star Trek series from the womb. She earned her PhD in intellectual history from Vanderbilt University, and she teaches at Lenoir-Rhyne University and the innovative Mythgard Institute. The recipient of the Imperishable Flame Award for Tolkien/Inklings Scholarship, Sturgis is one of the writers and voices behind StarShipSofa, which in 2010 became the first podcast in history to win a Hugo Award. She shares the official website amyhsturgis.com with her evil twin from the
mirror universe.
Karma Waltonen is a geek queen. In 2012 alone, she presented papers on the Whedonverse, graphic novels, and The Simpsons (she is the coauthor of The Simpsons in the Classroom: Embiggening the Learning Experience with the Wisdom of Springfield). She is currently working on a Doctor Who article and planning a costume for her next presentation at Comic-Con. When not watching Star Trek or teaching at the University of California, Davis, she’s working as the editor of Margaret Atwood Studies.
Margaret A. Weitekamp harbored a quiet love for Star Trek for years, even as she pursued studies in history and women’s studies at the University of Pittsburgh and Cornell University. Little did she know that all of that television and movie watching would become a job skill when she applied to become the curator of the Social and Cultural Dimensions of Spaceflight collection at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. In that position, she now counts among the four-thousand-plus artifacts in her care the eleven-foot studio model of the Star Trek starship Enterprise used in the filming of the original television series and five original Tribbles that have not, despite all of her good work, multiplied. She lives outside of Washington, D.C., with her husband, Kevin (whose first gift to her was a small Lt. Worf figurine purchased at a Star Trek convention in Los Angeles), and their three children.
Rick Worland received his MA and PhD in motion picture/television critical studies from UCLA. His teaching has included courses on film history, documentaries, and silent cinema, as well as popular genres including westerns, horror/science fiction, film noir, European cinema, and the films of Alfred Hitchcock. His research has focused primarily on popular film and television in the Cold War period. Dr. Worland has published in various academic journals, including Cinema Journal, Journal of Film and Video, Journal of Popular Film and Television, and Film and History. His first book, The Horror Film: An Introduction, appeared in 2007 from Blackwell Publishing.
Index: Databanks
Abrams, J. J.
Abrom
Adare, Sierra S.
Advanced Research Projects Agency (Department of Defense)
Ahab, Captain
Alexander, son of Worf
American Indian Movement (AIM)
Anderson, Gerry
Anderson, Sylvia
Andorians
Ansatans
Anthwara
Arbiter of Succession
Archer, Captain Jonathan
Armen, Margaret
Asimov, Isaac
Ayelborne
Bajorans
Ba’ku
Barclay, Lt. Reginald
Baris, Nilz
Baroner (Kirk)
Barrett, Duncan
Barrett, Majel
Barrett, Michèle
Bartle, Richard
Bashir, Julian
Bates, Russell
Battle of Bouvines
Battlestar Galactica (television show)
Bell, Joseph
Beltran, Robert
Ben Casey (television show)
Bendii syndrome
Berman, Rick
Bernardi, Daniel
B’Etor
Biophilia (Wilson)
Bird-of-Prey
Bloom, Harold
Borg
Bradbury, Ray
Brahms, Dr.
Braxton
Bumppo, Natty
Bush, George H. W.
Butterfly Effect
Capella IV
Capitularies
Captain’s Log Supplemental (Beltran)
Cardassians
history of
Klingons and
maps and
Native American comparison
Nazi comparison
Soviet Union comparison
terrorism and
Caretaker
Carroll, Lewis
Carter, Jimmy
Celestials (Marvel Comics)
Central Command
Cestus III
Chakotay, Commander
Chang, General
Chapel, Nurse
Charlemagne (Holy Roman emperor)
Charles IV (emperor of Luxembourg)
Chekov, Ensign/Commander Pavel
Children of the Sun
Cochrane, Zefram
Cody, Buffalo Bill
Cold War
Cardassians as Soviets
Klingons and
Old West analogy and
social change and
Vietnam War and
Composicione Sphere Solide, De
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
Coon, Gene
Cooper, James Fenimore
Cornelius (Planet of the Apes)
Crater, Robert
Crusher, Dr. Beverly
Crusher, Ensign Wesley
Custer, George Armstrong
Damar, Gul
Daren, Lt. Nella
Data, Lt.
holodeck and
literature and
technology and
terrorism and
tricksters and
Dawson, Roxann
Dax, Jadzia
Dax, Lt. Ezri
Deadwood (South Dakota)
death
Final Frontier as Old West
genocide and
Klingons and
mortality and trickster mythology
DeCandido, Keith R. A.
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Gibbon)
Deep Space and Sacred Time (Wagner, Lundeen)
Deep Space Station K-7
de Gobineau, Count Joseph Arthur
de Lancie, John. See also Q
Denevans
Detapa Council
Deutsch, David
Devlin, William J.
Dickens, Charles
Diem, Ngo Dinh
Dominion
Dorvan V
Doyle, Arthur Conan
Dr. Kildare (television show)
draco lizards
Dukat, Gul
Durango (Troi)
Duras
Dykstra, John
Ebert, Roger
Eddigton, Michael
Einhard
Ekos
Eleen
Eli
Ellison, Harlan
Eminiar
“engage”
Evek, Gul
Experiment in Criticism, An (Lewis)
Eymorg
Facebook
Farpoint Station
Female Founder
Finn, Kyril
Fisher
Fletcher, James
Forge
Fox, Ambassador Robert
“Frankenstein complex”
Frankenstein (Shelley)
Frederick Barbarossa (Holy Roman Emperor)
Freiberger, Fred
Gagarin, Yuri
gangsters, social change and
Garak
Gem
gender
Bajoran “comfort women” and
gender role portrayal
Klingons and
maps and
Uhura character and
women in technology fields
George (whale)
Geraghty, Lincoln
Gerardus Mercator
Gibbon, Edward
Gill, John
Gillian
gilvo
glommer
Goldberg, Whoopi
Golden Bull of 1356
Gorkon
Gorn
Gowron, Chancellor
Gracie (whale)
Grandfather Paradox
Great Houses
Green, Colonel
Greene, Eric
Greenpeace
greetings, Vulcan
Gre’thor
Guinan
Gulf War (1991)
Gunfighter Nation (Slotkin)
Henry, David L.
Henry the Lion (duke of Saxony)
&nbs
p; Hickok, Wild Bill
High Council
Hill, Dixon (Picard)
“hill people”
Hitler, Adolf
Hollander, Frank
Holmes, Sherlock
Holocaust
holodeck
Holy Roman Empire, Klingons and
Horta
How William Shatner Changed the World (documentary)
Hudson, Lt. Commander Cal
Hunter, Captain
IBM
Incident at Oglala
Independent Television Corporation (ITC)
Indian Civil Rights Act
Indian Self-Determination and Education Act (1975)
“infinite diversity in infinite combinations” (IDIC)
Ingalls, Don
Internet, history of
Iotians
Iran
hostage crisis (1979)
Iran-Contra scandal
Isak
Jackson, Tom
Jameson
Janeway, Captain Kathryn
Final Frontier as Old West
gender roles and
maps and
Native American themes and
technology and
time travel and
Jarada
Jemison, Mae
Jessica (Logan’s Run)
Johnson, George Clayton
Johnson, Lyndon B.
Johnson, Mark
Jonson, Ben
Justman, Robert
Kagan, Janet
Kahless
kahs-wan
Kaiser Broadcasting
kal-if-fee
Kamin
Kang
Kapell, Matthew Wilhelm
Karidian, Anton
katra
Keeler, Edith
Keeve
K’Ehleyr
Kennedy, John F.
Kennelly, Vice Admiral
Kes
Khan Noonien Singh
Khitomer massacre
Khon-Ma
Kim, Ensign
King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Kirk, Captain/Admiral James T.
Cardassians and
Cold War and
creation of character
Final Frontier as Old West
gender roles and
Klingons and
literature and
maps and
medicine and
Native American themes and
Star Trek and History Page 38