English Professor David Davis reads, A Better World, on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Professor Davis used the book last year in his English classes.  By: Caleb Jeong.

A tradition revived   

What began decades ago as a science fiction convention at Johnson County Community College is finding new life through JoCoCon, a series of events designed to bring students, faculty and members of the local community together through a shared love of literature.  

David Davis, an English professor at the college who teaches literature courses in science fiction and fantasy, helped revive the college’s science fiction programming several years ago after former organizers of a 1970s convention called Foolcon gave him materials from the original event.  

“We had some pretty good names, well, big-name authors, show up. It kind of went away in the late ‘70s, I believe, and several people involved in that, when they retired, brought material to me because I teach a literature of science fiction class, and they said, ‘Here’s this, if you ever want to try to bring it back, here’s all our material,’” Davis said.  

More than a convention  

About three or four years ago, he decided to bring the event back with help from his colleagues in the English department. The first revived event followed a traditional convention format, featuring a former Marvel Comics editor as a keynote speaker. There were also various vendors in the MTC building on the main level and breakout sessions with authors and astronomers. More recently, organizers have expanded the program beyond a single annual convention to include author talks and creative writing workshops.  

“It went really well, but we decided that we wanted to kind of mix it up a little bit, not just do a convention every year,” Davis continued. “We got more people involved. Professors Monica Hogan and Daniel Alexander both jumped on board, and we decided to also make it a speaker series.”  

Davis said the change was partly inspired by the number of students interested in writing science fiction and fantasy. Recent events have featured authors Sarah Langan and Andrea Stewart, who each gave presentations and led writing workshops.  

The response from the community has been encouraging. “I’ve been very happy. Yeah, I mean, we always would love it to be bigger and bigger and bigger, but for just getting started, really, the last couple years, I’ve been very happy,” Davis added.  

The first traditional convention drew more than 100 people and included nine vendors, including local comic shops, artists, booksellers, and a couple of clothing people who did custom jackets and shirts. More recent speaker events have attracted between 50 and 60 attendees. The writing workshops, which are capped at 24 participants, have also filled to capacity, causing a spillover into the CoLab. 

“My colleagues in the English department have been great. They’ve helped out. They’ve manned desks. They’ve spread the word in their classes. It’s been wonderful.”  

For Davis, however, the value of JoCoCon extends beyond introducing students to new authors. He hopes the events can also connect students with academic opportunities.  

“I teach some genre classes. I teach a literature of science fiction class, and I teach a fantasy literature class. And so I’m always promoting the genres. But those genres already have fans, and so part of it, I also hope it becomes a bridge that students become aware that if they like that kind of literature, we have classes that transfer seamlessly to Kansas universities. I was very happy a few years ago, one of my students, that took science fiction here, won the science fiction scholarship at KU.”  

He also sees the event as a way for the college to engage with the wider community.  

“The name of the college has the word ‘community’ in it, and so I like the fact that this just isn’t student-centered. It’s also outward-reaching,” Davis responds. “We’ve reached out to local science fiction clubs, both online and in person, and so it’s a nice way to bring together people with similar interests or even just curiosity. Science fiction has become pervasive; fantasy has become pervasive. It’s not just my old-school geeks hanging out. So it’s nice to be able to use the college to bring them all together.”  

Davis also believes speculative fiction gives students a different way to examine real-world issues.  

He described “estrangement,” a concept discussed in his genre classes, in which familiar human experiences are placed in unfamiliar worlds. Creating that distance can make difficult subjects easier to examine.  

“You can feel a little safety talking about things that might be hard to talk about.”  

He pointed to Star Trek as an example, noting its use of science fiction to present social issues in a setting removed from everyday American life.  

“I always point out to my students, for instance, that the very first interracial kiss on American television was ‘Star Trek.’”  

Looking toward the future  

Looking ahead, Davis hopes JoCoCon will continue to grow beyond his individual involvement. He said he was initially concerned the event might have a limited lifespan if it depended too heavily on one person, but other faculty members have since become involved. When Davis was on sabbatical last semester, professors Monica Hogan and Daniel Alexander continued organizing the event.  

“When it was largely just me, I was afraid it had a shelf life, and I loved that we’ve got more people involved in it,” Davis comments. “I’m really hoping, over the next few years, that we can get some more younger faculty involved so that this can go cross-generational, and I’d love to see this be a regular part.”  

Davis also credited the college’s funding support, which has allowed organizers to bring speakers from around the country.  

Getting the word out  

As JoCoCon continues to develop, one of its biggest challenges may be making sure students know it exists. Davis said students are already surrounded by posters, flyers, emails and other announcements, making it difficult for any single event to stand out. He recalled students telling him they had not known about JoCoCon or even about JCCC’s science fiction classes, despite walking past promotional materials. During the interview, I told him that in a prior semester, my English professor had given me a flyer for the Hare & Bell Academic Writing Competition, and how that physical gesture had made me aware of an event I ended up participating in and, more than that, helped give me the confidence boost I needed as I became a finalist.  

“I think we would have been much better off doing 500 flyers and distributing them so that they went out in classrooms,” Davis told me.  

For Davis, that effort is part of making sure JoCoCon continues to serve both the college and the community.  

“I hope it stays.”  

JoCoCon will be held on Oct. 19, and the guest author will be Scott Eveloff, a local physician-turned-author who has written medical and supernatural novels.