|
Welcome to the Frontier
Science fiction is a uniquely modern genre--a vehicle for the
sense of wonder, or of dread, evoked in modern audiences by the promises and
threats of technological development. It is also a vehicle for speculation. Since the nineteenth century,
in particular, it has become one of the major
arenas for exploring the limits of human experience in a world increasingly
driven by technological change--a world with new and often powerful frontiers of
the imagination.
Course Content
|
|
This course will include novels, short stories and films, with
some attention to other graphic and multi-media elements associated with science
fiction. It will also include some non-science-fiction works, as an aid to
understanding the cultural and philosophical contexts in which science fiction
has its roots. About three-quarters of  the
works will be from the twentieth century; about a quarter will be from the
nineteenth century and earlier. The course will focus on the ways in which science fiction writers and filmmakers have used the impact of technological change to explore the limits of human capability and the consequences of ethical choice.
The course is divided into four sections. The sequence of these sections is designed to
move from more limited and focused analysis, in which the structure of the
assignments determines the questions to be considered and the issues to be addressed, through
progressively less structured material in which greater emphasis is placed upon independent inquiry. The final section of the course
(the major project) is
the least structured; I frankly don't know exactly what will happen in that section--its structure will be determined by the
people in the class. For a more detailed description of these sections and
of the course
requirements, please see the Course Syllabus.
|
Links to Class Resources
|
| Site
Map |
|
| Course Syllabus |
The goals, texts, and course requirements
for English 150F1, as well as a day-by-day Schedule of
Assignments. |
| Discussion Forum |
An online threaded discussion for students
to present their critical reactions to the class texts, and to respond
to the reactions of others. |
| Additional Readings |
Online readings to supplement the course's
print texts. |
| Major
Project: |
Guidelines for the major project, with
examples of possible group or individual projects. Includes
additional resources for the World-Building
option. |
| Web Resources:
Science Fiction |
A selection of general Internet resources related to
science fiction, as well as some specifically related to the class. |
| Web
Resources: Science & Technology |
A selection of Internet resources related to
the physical and natural sciences, space
exploration, etc. Divided into four sub-pages:
General Science and
Technology Resources
Space, Physics and Astronomy
Life and Environmental
Sciences
Earth Sciences and Chemistry |
| The Professor |
Office hours, phone numbers, and other such
useful data. |
| Academic Honesty |
Edgewood College policies on academic
honesty and plagiarism: Required reading for anyone in an English
course. |
| English
Department |
The Edgewood College English Department home
page, with links to other course web pages, information on faculty,
student writing, etc. |
| Edgewood
College |
The home page of the Edgewood College web
site. |
Image credit, right hand side of page: Jupiter System Montage,
NASA (Planetary Photojournal)
Page background image credit: Global City Lights, NASA
(Planetary Photojournal)
|
