Course details

Name: ENLT - 378

Title: SCIENCE FICTION

Section: 01

Semester: Fall - 2007

Credits: 3

Description:
This course investigates science fiction and genre-defining works from varying time periods, making this an excellent class for first-time sci-fi readers and enthusiasts alike. We will focus on those qualities that distinguish science fiction (“fiction of the future that speculates and extrapolates from the physical and social sciences”) and its history. Discussion topics include utopias/dystopias, the limits of being human, gender and class relations, and the uncanny. We will examine the ways in which science fiction offers solutions to solve our social problems, and consider what the world would look like if science were employed to address social justice issues such as equality, fairness, and tolerance between diverse races, creeds, and genders. Readings will range from novels and/or novellas from authors such as Zamyatin (We), A. Huxley (Brave New World), Octavia Butler (Parable of the Sower); E.T.A. Hoffmann (The Sandman); short stories by Francis Bacon (New Atlantis), Ursula K. Le Guin, and Philip K. Dick (of Minority Report and Total Recall fame); and polemical texts.

Schedule:

Graduation requirements:

• Any Literature (1e)
• Genre Study (Fiction)
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Teaching Faculty: Nielsen Wendy (nielsenw)

Is course canceled: No