Mission Briefing

Summer of Sci-Fi is a free seasonal project running from May 19 to August 31.

It is part captain’s log, part community experiment, part reading and watching room, and part invitation to think differently about the work of social change.

The mission is not to become a sci-fi expert. The mission is to make room for imagination, connection, and better questions.

How to Serve Aboard

Passenger: Read the emails, browse the posts, lurk kindly, and let the ideas simmer.

Crew member: Comment sometimes, share recommendations, attend an event, or join a discussion.

Co-pilot: Help shape prompts, suggest themes, join a member conversation, or contribute to a community artifact.

You can participate at whatever level fits your summer. All of those count. Reading quietly counts. Showing up once counts. Letting one idea plant a seed for later counts.

Mapping Our Journey Together

After gathering feedback through survey responses, conversations with co-pilots, and casual transmissions from fellow travelers, we have started to chart our course together.

This journey is not a rigid syllabus. It is a shared map. The route may shift as we discover what the crew is most curious about, what conversations need more room, and what strange new worlds appear along the way.

Here is the shape of the mission.

Liftoff

Finding Our Bearings

We begin by getting aligned, using our imaginations, and getting to know each other.

No canon test. No pressure to be profound. Just a first step into the shared universe.

Ascent

Building worlds and ambitions

This phase is about world-building, ambition, and solidarity. We will explore what science fiction can teach us about power, labour, organizing, institutions, care, survival, and collective imagination. We will ask what better systems might look like, and what gets in the way of building them.

Orbit

Going Deeper

In orbit, we slow down enough to look more closely.
This is where we explore deeper ideas, form connections, and map side quests. Some conversations may move into deeper terrain.
The goal is not to cover everything. The goal is to notice what keeps pulling us back.

Mission

Making Meaning Together

This phase is about turning conversation into shared artifacts: reflections, frameworks, reading lists, creative prompts, community experiments, and possible tools.

We will also ask what success looks like for a project like this. Is it connection? A new idea? A small act of creative courage? A future collaboration? The answer may be different for each crew member.

Re-entry

Bringing it Back to The Work

As the summer winds down, we begin translating the journey back into our lives and work.
What did we learn? What did sci-fi help us see differently? What ideas might shape our strategy, communications, organizing, governance, care practices, or creative work? What stories do we want to stop repeating, and what new ones do we want to practice?

Re-entry is about carrying the useful things home.

Landing

Checking in and looking ahead

At the end of the mission, we gather what we found.
We will reflect on the journey, check in with the community, share what we are taking with us, and decide what comes next. Maybe this becomes an archive. Maybe it becomes another season. Maybe it sparks smaller collaborations, conversations, or side quests.
Whatever happens, the landing is not just an ending. It is a chance to ask what this crew made possible, and what future we might still want to chart together.

Community guidelines

Come curious, not to win
You do not have to agree with everyone, but you do need to approach the conversation with care. Ask questions before assuming bad faith. Make room for complexity. Treat disagreement as a chance to learn something, not as a performance.

Speak from your own experience
Use “I” statements where possible. Share what a story, theme, or question brings up for you. Avoid speaking on behalf of entire groups, movements, sectors, or communities unless you have been asked to do so.

No gatekeeping
You do not need to have watched every Star Trek series, read every Ursula K. LeGuin novel, or understand every reference. Newcomers are welcome. Casual fans are welcome. Enthusiasts are welcome. “I have never seen this, but I am curious” is a perfectly good starting point.

Use spoiler notes generously
If you are discussing a major plot point, use a spoiler note at the start of your comment. A simple format is fine:
Spoiler note: This comment includes the ending of [title].

Use content notes when needed
Some of our themes touch difficult material, including structural violence, surveillance, bodily autonomy, and climate collapse. If you are raising something heavy, add a short content note at the top of your comment. Example:
Content note: This comment discusses reproductive control and state violence.

Protect privacy
What is shared in the members-only space should stay in the members-only space unless someone explicitly says otherwise.
Do not share another member’s comments, contact information, screenshots, directory details, or personal reflections outside the space without expressed permission.

Avoid the urge to sell yourself
While we're talking about 'The Work', our work, and our big ideas this is not a networking space, a business development space, or a sales pitch opportunity. I've made the commitment not to upsell you wonderful folks on anything, and I hope that commitment goes both ways. Mentioning your work for context is welcome, using this space to build your personal brand and business is not in the spirit of the project. 

Do not pile on
If a conversation gets tense, pause before replying. If someone has already made your point, consider whether another comment is needed. The goal is not to overwhelm people into agreement. If a thread gets unwieldy, it will get put on pause.

Assume different levels of capacity
People are arriving here with different schedules, workloads, nervous systems, caregiving responsibilities, and relationships to the themes. Lurking is allowed. Taking breaks is allowed. Quiet participation is participation.

Be careful with advice
If someone shares a reflection, do not immediately turn it into a coaching moment. Ask before offering advice. Sometimes people are thinking out loud, not asking to be fixed.

No harassment, hate, or dehumanization
Racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Blackness, anti-Indigenous racism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, classism, xenophobia, and other forms of harassment or dehumanization are not welcome here.
This is grounds for immediate removal.

Terra may remove comments, moderate threads, or remove members if needed to protect the space.