Students will be introduced to the major works of speculative fiction in the Western
tradition.  They will become familiar with the history of relations between
literature and science in the West, as well as the shifting cultural values that
shape those relations.  Students will analyze a series of literary works and
improve their skills in textual interpretation, examining works in terms of their
generic, thematic and stylistic characteristics.  They will also improve their
communication skills through oral presentations and various writing assignments.
Students' performance will be evaluated through a variety of means, including 
assessment of oral presentations, objective tests, essays, and the final
examination.

The typical course consists of a series of readings in speculative fiction from
antiquity to the present.  The topics considered correspond to the specific works
studied.  (The issue of technological innovation and its relation to ecological
concerns, for instance, emerges as an important theme in Verne's 20,000 Leagues
Under the Sea.)  The works treated will vary with the instructor.  The following
is a sample syllabus of readings for a single semester:

Cicero.  The Dream of Scipio
Cyrano de Bergerac. Voyage to the Moon
Jules Verne.  20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Jorge Luis Borges.  Collected Stories
Yevgeny Zamyatin. We
Stanislav Lem.  Solaris
Ursula Le Guin.  The Left Hand of Darkness
Octavia Butler.  Dawn
William Gibson.  Neuromancer
Greg Egan.  Teranesia

Students are required to abide by the University of Georgia academic honesty policy.