The Psychgeist of Pop Culture: Star Trek: The Next Generation, edited by Stephen R. Mallory
“That is the exploration that awaits you. Not mapping stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence.”
– Q to Jean-Luc Picard. From Star Trek – The Next Generation, “All Good Things” (Season 7, Episode 25)
Star Trek is a global phenomenon and continues to represent one of the most enduring science fiction media properties to date, with media produced across sixty years and found as television and streaming series, movies, toys, comic books, novelizations, video games, board games, animation, and more, building and expanding a juggernaut fan community. Since the launch of the original series in 1966, Trekkies and Trekkers alike have continued to imagine a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable future, exploring strange new worlds, seeking new lives and new civilizations, and boldly going. Twenty-one years after the end of the original Star Trek series, a new syndicated series that continued the voyages of a new USS Enterprise with a new crew, Star Trek – The Next Generation (STTNG), came to the airwaves. This crew, extending Gene Roddenbury’s vision of a diverse future, illustrated an evolved understanding of what that meant beyond the Cold War tropes of the original run of Star Trek. Over its seven seasons, it moved beyond the “Alien of the Week” trope the series had become known for to explore complex cultural and psychological themes, including identity, queer relationships, leadership, empathy, humanistic values, utopian idealism, cooperation, nonviolence, and cultural exploration.
While STTNG has carried on the traditions of fantastic technologies, unique alien species, and cultural designs that have always been hallmarks of the franchise, it was STTNG’s evolution that highlighted and foregrounded diversity as the characters’ superpower. The relationships these characters foster and explore are reflected in how they approach the universe around them. These relationships grow and evolve, exploring family dynamics, cultural understanding, and intimacy beyond binaries. The franchise established a foundation that future series, such as Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and Star Trek: Voyager, would continue to expand, explore, and evolve. STTNG created a fertile universe that encouraged explorations and examinations of relationships, identity, family, and community.
This multidisciplinary (e.g., psychology, biology, anthropology, art, linguistics, education, sociology, media studies, ethics) book will explore themes as they appear in the narrative, the universe, the characters, and the fan experience across multiple media formats, centering the original Star Trek: The Next Generation franchise, films, and paratexts as well as the Picard streaming series. Possible topics include nostalgia, radical inclusivity, optimism, reconciliation, family, identity, diversity, gender, intimacy, ethics, learning, found family, and utopianism as a buffer against existential dread.
This volume is part of The Psychgeist of Pop Culture series published by Play Story Press. This book series highlights iconic pop culture content from television, film, literature, and video games by examining the psychological themes that endear us to these stories for a lifetime. We are seeking scholarly contributions presented in a lay-friendly style. We welcome contributions from writers, designers, scholars, and players alike. We especially encourage submissions from underrepresented voices in games, storytelling, and psychology.
Each chapter will focus on a psychological theme related to Star Trek – The Next Generation. Suggested topics are only starting points or sources of inspiration, and contributors are encouraged to propose original ideas or creative approaches.
Potential topics:
- STTNG as a way of revisiting stereotypes and mythologies: Star Trek has always relied on a specific set of stereotypes and shared mythology to situate its stories, particularly in the context of global How does STTNG revisit, revise, challenge, and continue this pattern?
- STTNG exploring facets of Empathy: STTNG situates empathy as an essential trait, either by highlighting its presence or absence through particular characters and stories. How does STTNG explore particular aspects of empathy?
- STTNG as an exploration of human prejudice and its reconciliation: How does STTNG interrogate prejudice? How is that interrogation situated in its particular cultural moment and context?
- STTNG as exploration of Self: The series often explores what it means to be human, with varying success.
- STTND as exploration of Self in Society: Various major species and powers stake different positions of what it means to be a part of something bigger, reflecting darkly “current” power structures.
- STTNG exploring post-scarcity utopia: STTNG is famous for highlighting a post-scarcity economy; how does STTNG’s exploration of post-scarcity serve as a buffer against the existential dream of late-stage capitalism?
- STTNG, empathy, and the mind: An entire species, the Betazoid, as powerful telepaths and empaths, providing a springboard for exploring grief, stress, and
- STTNG Found Family and Family Dynamics: How do the adventures of the senior crew of STTNG (Picard, Riker, Troi, Data, LaForge, Crusher) foreground and explore concepts of found family as well as positive family dynamics?
- STTNG and the exploration of Gender Identity and Sexuality: When STTNG aired, explicitly exploring concepts of gender identity and human sexuality on broadcast television was still considered a social taboo. Consider the broader impact of STTNG’s subversion of these cultural mores and its potential effects on viewers and producers alike.
- STTNG as a lens for radical inclusivity and relationships Across Species or Cultures: Humanity, as portrayed in STTNG, is often depicted as endlessly optimistic in its exploration and interactions with other species. Explore how humans, as represented by characters like Riker, Picard, and LaForge, interact with alien species and cultures, reflecting concepts such as safety, conformity, nature vs. nurture, learning, empathy, motivation, emotion, and more. How are some of the aliens more human than the human examples in the STTNG universe?
- STTNG as an exploration of Failure, Iteration, and Growth Mindset: STTNG consistently highlights a growth mindset, where characters treat failure not as a final setback, but as a crucial, iterative step in learning, growth, and problem-solving. Explore how STTNG emphasizes that true success arises from careful analysis rather than from avoiding problems.
- STTNG as Modern Mythology: STTNG features fantastic species, creatures, and entities that are a modern legendary bestiary, establishing a new format for creating science fiction legends. How does the franchise create these new creatures, what legends form around them, and how does STTNG embrace or resist being a locus for a new type of folklore while also being a contemporary global franchise
- STTNG as Transmedia Storytelling Medium: Star Trek arguably launched a television-based, transmedia Over twenty years later, how did STTNG sustain and expand the franchise? STTNG is a fitting place to reflect on the series’ impact on the broader Star Trek franchise and on the ways it shaped a unified universe of games, literature, streaming, and film.
- STTNG as an exploration of Human Emotion vs. Logic – Spock and Data serve as fulcrums around which the exploration of humanity, human emotion, and emotional exploration holds a mirror up to humanity through the Species such as the Vulcans, Borg, Data (and Lore), Bynars, and many more.
If you are interested in contributing to this edited volume, please submit your proposal to stephenmalloryphd@gmail.com. The submission window will close on 2026 September 30. Please include your name, email address, working chapter title, abstract (max. 300 words), and a copy of your CV/resume. If your proposal is accepted, you will have opportunities to revise the title and abstract, but the overall theme must remain the same.