Fall 2005 Courses

English 394: 20th Century Science Fiction (Burt)

TTh 10:10-11:40
HUM 112

What is science fiction? What is it good for? How did it evolve and where is it going? Do its major categories and subgenres have anything in common? What are those major kinds, anyway? Is “first contact story” a literary genre? What about “artificial intelligence story”? Can we use the tools developed for examining realist literary fiction to examine (and to better enjoy) tales of aliens and telepaths? Do these tales imply other tools all their own?

We'll try to answer those questions (and more) with representative and exceptional works of sf from the last hundred-odd years. Authors: H. G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, John Crowley, Alice Sheldon (James Tiptree Jr.), Robert A. Heinlein, Philip K. Dick, Samuel R. Delany, Mary Doria Russell, Richard Powers, Octavia Butler, Ted Chiang...and more. Crowley will also visit the course. (If you have a favorite author who's not on the syllabus, you may get a chance to research that author anyway.)

IF YOU ARE A SENIOR ENGLISH MAJOR WHO NEEDS A SENIOR SEMINAR OR CAPSTONE, AND YOU WANT TO USE THIS COURSE IN THAT WAY, YOU CAN. If you want to do that, you should speak to (or email) Steve Burt beforehand, in order to work out details for your registration.

Fall 2005 Course Listings