This year, I was invited to speak about “Teaching with Trek” at the Official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas.   The goal of this series was to show how Star Trek could be used to teach media literacy as well as other important themes in the classroom as well as at home and in society.  I spoke about Star Trek as modern myth, its message of diversity, and “Why Klingons Have Ridges and Tribbles Don’t.”  If you were in my Media Criticism or Media and Modern Mythology classes at The University of North Alabama, those are familiar topics.  My son, Chris, and my husband, Randy came along for moral support.  Chris and I have been to conventions before, but this was Randy’s first Star Trek convention.

I have to admit, I was more than a little nervous, but the audiences were so welcoming and supporting, I moved right into “teaching mode”.

    The first presentation was in a large lecture hall.  We were pleased to have approximately 650 people in the audience.   The other two presentations were in a smaller venue, and we had a full house both times.  Trek fans were engaged, interested, and they asked lots of questions.  It was lots of fun to share what I teach with them.  It felt like the best of both worlds: teaching and Star Trek!

We had some other firsts as well.  We all had an opportunity to try VR for the first time and experience a museum of Gene Roddenberry’s keepsakes from Star Trek.  I wish I had a photo of the three of us in headsets.  I kept trying to walk through the hall of the Enterprise D and kept bumping into that table!

The picture above-right is part of the Ten-Forward set from The Next Generation.  You can see it behind the table holding VR equipment for the Virtual Reality demonstration.

There are always lots of interesting things to do and see at a Star Trek Convention.  Discussion about production design, writing, and lot of interviews with ST cast and production team members.

The costume contest is always fun too!

It was really interesting to see the props, costumes, and production art from the Mirror Universe in season 1 of  Discovery. 

Of course the most exciting moment of the entire week was when Patrick Stewart announced  that Jean Luc Picard will be back in a new Star Trek series.

All in all, it was an amazing week! Chris and I had were in our natural element.  Randy is not a big Trekker, but he had a great time too.  We have lots of great memories, and we’re looking forward to next year!

Jan, Chris and Randy ready to go home. Chris and I are wearing our DS-9 25th Anniversary T-shirts.

It’s every Trekker’s dream vacation.  My son Chris and I attended the Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas in August, 2016, for the 50th Anniversary of the franchise. It was an exciting and informative experience.   I watched the very first Star Trek episode in 1966, and I haven’t missed an episode in any series in the franchise since.  Chris began watching with me when he was little, and it’s been “our thing” ever since.  

We went to the convention last year to  celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of Star Trek and learned 2017 would honor the 30^th Anniversary the Star Trek: The Next Generation.   We knew we had to be there.  I’m so glad we did.  I don’t get that much one-on-one time with either of my boys now that they’re grown, and Chris and I had so much fun.  Last year we saw Terry Fador’s show at the Mirage,  enjoyed seafood at the Rio, and Sunday Brunch Buffet at the Bellagio.

This year we ate at Guy Fieri’s restaurant and shared the biggest burrito I’ve ever seen and fried ice cream!!’’

We love checking out the vendor’s room.  It’s absolutely packed with everything Star Trek that you can imagine – Tribbles, T-shirts, jewelry, books, posters, art, backpacks and lots and lots of photos.  Many of the cast members and other celebrities sign autographs there as well, and others just walk around to meet people. Chris found a phaser pillow and those are accent tables in various Federation shapes.

That was just the beginning of an amazing five days!!!