Course Description
A study of science fiction as a narrative mode, giving attention both to print and to film. Focus will be on recent decades of science fiction in the United States and elsewhere.
Athena Title
Science Fiction
Prerequisite
Two 2000-level ENGL courses or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 3000-level ENGL course) or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 2000-level CMLT course)
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students will develop a critical understanding of science fiction as a narrative mode, learning the specific terms and concepts that best describe it. Students will engage in analysis of various science fiction texts, primarily novels and films, addressing their specific qualities as they differ from many other kinds of literary, and cinematic production. Students will produce twenty to twenty-five pages of writing. This requirement may take different forms from one term to the next: short essays followed by a long essay, medium-length mid- term essays, annotated bibliographies, and other research projects. These assignments may or may not be accompanied by final exams. All writing assignments will encourage students to interpret science fiction in a critical manner specific to its particular qualities and sensitive to its implications for aesthetics, culture, ethics, and politics.
Topical Outline
The choice of topics may vary from year to year, but will usually include most or all of the following: the features of science fiction as a distinct narrative mode, its history from the mid-twentieth century onward, current developments in science fiction (both literary and cinematic), the specific ethical and political horizons of science fiction, and the implications of science-fictional aesthetics for mainstream literary and cinematic conventions.