[This schedule has been changed; check the dates]

January 10: First class — introduction; syllabus and assignments; signing up for weblogs.

January 17: Atomic Age post-apocalyptic literature

Reading: John Wyndham, The Chrysalids

For discussion: The Cold War; apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic scenarios and cultural preoccupations; setting; the ending

January 24: SF as genre

Reading: From The Norton Book of Science Fiction: Ursula K. Le Guin, Introduction (15-42); Fritz Leiber, “The Winter Flies” (171-182)

For discussion: tropes and labels; Leiber’s story as case study

Presentation: Laura A. and Lisa C-W.: Leiber and his career

January 31: Aliens

Reading: From The Norton Book of Science Fiction: Samuel R. Delany, “High Weir” (183-200); Gene Wolfe, “Feather Tigers” (280-286); Vonda N. McIntyre, “The Mountain of Sunset, the Mountains of Dawn” (287-299); Harlan Ellison, “Strange Wine” (350-356); Margaret Atwood, “Homelanding” (794-796)

For discussion: Aliens as projections of ?

Presentation: Adair H.

February 7: Women as aliens

Reading: From The Norton Book of Science Fiction: James Blish, “How Beautiful with Banners” (133-141); Sonya Dorman Hess, “When I Was Miss Dow” (151-160); Poul Anderson, “Kyrie” (201-210); Carol Emshwiller, “The Start of the End of It All” (466-476); Pat Cadigan, “After the Days of Dead-Eye ‘Dee” (605-615); Pat Murphy, “His Vegetable Wife” (628-632); Kate Wilhelm, “And the Angels Sing” (797-813)

Extra reading: Andrew Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress“

For discussion: gender as alien

Presentation: Jessie D.

February 14: CLASS CANCELED

February 21: Women as alien/Machines

Reading (from last week): From The Norton Book of Science Fiction: James Tiptree, Jr., “The Women Men Don’t See” (255-279); Joanna Russ, “A Few Things I Know About Whileaway” (337-349); Molly Gloss, “Interlocking Pieces” (571-76); Nancy Kress, “Out of All Them Bright Stars” (647-653); Lisa Goldstein, “Midnight News” (819-829); Joanna Russ, “When it Changed“

Reading: From The Norton Book of Science Fiction: Damon Knight, “The Handler” (45-48); Cordwainer Smith, “Alpha Ralpha Boulevard” (49-73); Robert Silverberg, “Good News from the Vatican” (242-249); Barry N. Malzberg, “Making It All the Way into the Future on Gaxton Falls” (313-316); Philip K. Dick, “Frozen Journey” (386-401)

For discussion: women writing and rewriting SF; human/machine interface

Possible presentations: the careers of any (or more than one) of these writers; robots and machines in SF; Asimov’s laws of Robotics

Presentations: Lisa K. and Katie M. (from last week); Amanda H., Jenn J. and Holly M.

February 28: Cyber*

Reading: From The Norton Book of Science Fiction: David R. Bunch, “2064, or Thereabouts” (93-97); William Gibson, “The Gernsback Continuum” (457-465); James Patrick Kelly, “Rat” (654-664); Candas Jane Dorsey, “(Learning About) Machine Sex” (746-761)

For discussion: Cyberpunk as a subgenre

Possible presentations: the careers of any (or more than one) of these writers; the genesis and development of Cyberpunk

Presentation: Luke M. on Philip K. Dick

March 6: Winter break — no classes

March 13: Putting the “science” in science fiction

Reading: From The Norton Book of Science Fiction: Gregory Benford, “Exposures” (445-456); Greg Bear, “Schrödinger’s Plague” (477-484); Howard Waldrop, “… the World, as we Know ‘t” (485-500); Connie Willis, “Schwarzschild Radius” (689-704); Paul Preuss, “Half-Life” (780-793)

Further reading: Michael Swanwick, “Periodic Table of Science Fiction“

For discussion: scientific discovery and responsibility; “hard” SF

Possible presentations: the careers of any (or more than one) of these writers; science as “Frankenstein”; “hard” SF

Deadline: Bibliographies due

March 20: Language

Reading: From The Norton Book of Science Fiction: Suzette Haden Elgin, “For the Sake of Grace” (211-230); Phyllis Gotlieb, “Tauf Aleph” (427-444); Octavia Butler, “Speech Sounds” (513-524)

For discussion: “soft” SF

Possible presentations: the careers of any (or more than one) of these writers; “soft” SF; SF and the social sciences/humanities

Presentation: Korey M.

March 27: CLASS CANCELED

April 3: Imperialism and conquest/ Millennial post-apocalyptic literature

Reading (from last week): From The Norton Book of Science Fiction: Ursula K. Le Guin, “The New Atlantis” (317-335); Orson Scott Card, “America” (665-688); Mike Resnick, “Kirinyaga” (716-732); Bruce Sterling, “We See Things Differently” (762-779); Diane Glancy, “Aunt Parnetta’s Electric Blisters” (814-818); John Kessel, “Invaders” (830-850)

Reading: Nalo Hopkinson, Brown Girl in the Ring

For discussion: SF and politics; SF as a product of Western culture; apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic scenarios revisited; setting; comparison with The Chrysalids; setting; race/class/gender and SF

Possible presentations: Nalo Hopkinson and her contributions to/position within SFF

Presentations: Simon J.; Mindi H. and Destiny W.

Deadline: Final papers due