Strange New Worlds: 21st Century Science Fiction
Fall 2009
3-5:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Nott Hall basement computer-lab classroom (up the ramp)
Teacher: Andy Duncan
Teacher's e-mail: Click here (and via Facebook)
All students in this class must be enrolled in the University Honors Program.
Texts:
Course Description: Many of the tropes of science fiction -- computers, space travel, cloning, genetic engineering, cyberspace -- have become commonplaces of daily discourse and daily life. Yet science fiction persists and thrives as a literary genre, a sociological movement, a marketing category, an extrapolative and speculative way of thinking. This interdisciplinary seminar is designed to deepen your understanding of 21st-century science fiction in all its modes.
Course Objectives: By semester’s end, students will be more sophisticated consumers of science fiction wherever they encounter it, from the aisles of Barnes & Noble to the headlines on CNN. They will be better able to speak and write about it with depth and insight and to understand how science fiction engages with the world, and vice versa. No prior obsession with science fiction is required.
Attendance policy: Attendance and class participation (in class and online) are required. After two absences, your final grade will be lowered one letter for each subsequent absence. After five absences, you will receive an F for this course. Arriving late or leaving early counts as half an absence. In case of illness, injury or crisis, let your teacher know as soon as possible. Don’t just vanish.
Papers: You will write two non-fiction papers, each at least 2,000 words long, on topics of your choosing that are approved in advance by your teacher. Papers should pertain to one or more of the science fiction texts being discussed in this class, but they may extend their focus beyond those texts as well. You will do a five-to-10-minute class presentation on each topic as you are working on it. Papers handed in late will be docked one letter grade for each day they’re late. Format requirements: Both your papers will be handed in electronically. E-mail them as PC-compatible Word attachments to this address. Papers must be in 12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced, with ragged right margins and page numbers in the upper-right corners. Papers that don’t fit this format will be returned unread for correction.
Blog: Each of you will receive (and accept) an invitation to join Blogger and the class blog at http://strangenewworlds2009.blogspot.com/. Here our class discussions will continue beyond Wednesday class meetings. Participating on the blog -- through original posts and replies to others’ posts -- is an important part of your semester grade, so get in the habit of visiting daily and contributing frequently. The minimum class requirement is three posts per week per student, at least one of which must start a new topic or thread, and at least one of which must be a response to a classmate’s post. More frequent posts are highly encouraged. Also chiming in from time to time may be invited guests from the world of science fiction publishing (as opposed to the science fiction world, which we all inhabit).
Other assignments and expectations: You will keep up with all the reading and will participate in all class discussions, orally and online. You will lead at least one class discussion of a text that has been assigned you.
Grade formula:
We will follow the UA guidelines for plus-minus grading.
Disabilities: In accordance with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, your teacher, the University Honors Program and the university are committed to providing appropriate support for students with disabilities, including learning disabilities. Any student who wants to request disability accommodations need only contact UA’s office of disability services at 348-4285 and get the paperwork to me.
Academic misconduct: Academic misconduct includes all acts of academic dishonesty and any knowing attempt to help another student commit academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to: (1) Cheating – using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information or study aids. (2) Plagiarism – representing words, data, works or ideas as one’s own when they are not. (3) Fabrication – presenting as genuine any invented or falsified evidence. (4) Misrepresentation – falsifying, altering or misstating the contents of academic documents such as schedules, prerequisites and transcripts. Cases of academic misconduct will be turned over to the University Honors Program for disciplinary action that could be as severe as suspension from the university.
Schedule of class meetings, reading assignments and due dates.
All readings will be discussed on the days listed. This is a living document, subject to change.
Aug. 19: Getting acquainted.
Aug. 26: Doctorow, Little Brother. Last day to drop without a W grade.
Sept. 2: Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union.
Sept. 9: In Dozois, The Year’s Best: MacLeod, “Lighting Out” (p. 26); Jones, “Saving Tiamaat” (p. 62); Van Pelt, “Of Late I Dreamt of Venus” (p. 76); McCormack, “Sea Change” (p. 101); Silverberg, “Against the Current” (p. 150); Chiang, “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” (p. 202); Baxter, “Last Contact” (p. 270); Reynolds, “The Sledge-Maker’s Daughter” (p. 280); Bear, “Tideline” (p. 452).
Sept. 16: In Dozois, The Year’s Best: Kress, “Laws of Survival” (p. 480); Purdom, “The Mists of Time” (p. 505); Rusch, “Craters” (p. 533); Rosenbaum and Ackert, “Stray” (p. 570); Reed, “Roxie” (p. 579).
Sept. 23: In Dozois, The Year’s Best: Sterling, “Kiosk” (p. 237); Swanwick, “The Skysailor’s Tale” (p. 309); Singh, “Of Love and Other Monsters” (p. 332); Baker, “Hellfire at Twilight” (p. 379).
Sept. 30: Paper-topic presentations.
Oct. 7: No class (fall break).
Oct. 14: Stanton and Reardon, WALL-E. First paper due.
Oct. 21: Kessel, The Baum Plan: “The Juniper Tree,” “Stories for Men,” “Under the Lunchbox Tree,” “Sunlight or Rock.”
Oct. 28: Kessel, The Baum Plan: “The Baum Plan for Financial Independence,” “Every Angel Is Terrifying,” “The Red Phone,” “The Invisible Empire,” “The Snake Girl,” “It’s All True,” “The Last American,” “Downtown,” “Powerless,” “Pride and Prometheus.” Last day to drop with a W grade.
Nov. 4: McDonald, River of Gods.
Nov. 11: McDonald, River of Gods, continued; also, McDonald, “Sanjeev and Robotwallah” (in The Year’s Best).
Nov. 18: Paper-topic presentations.
Nov. 25: No class (Thanksgiving holiday).
Dec. 2: Moffat, “The Girl in the Fireplace” and “Blink.” Semester wrap-up.
Friday, Dec. 11: Second paper due at 9:30 p.m. (when our final exam would end, if we had one).
About your teacher: My collection Beluthahatchie and Other Stories (2000) won a World Fantasy Award, as did my story “The Pottawatomie Giant” (2000). My novella “The Chief Designer” (2001) won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best science fiction story of the year. I’m a six-time Nebula Award nominee who also has been nominated for the Hugo Award, the Bram Stoker Award and the Shirley Jackson Award. I contributed essays to the Hugo Award-winning Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (2003) and the Stoker Award-winning Horror: Another 100 Best Books (2005). With F. Brett Cox, I co-edited the anthology Crossroads: Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic (2004). I have taught at the Clarion and Clarion West writers’ workshops (2004 and 2005, respectively). My latest book, non-fiction, is Alabama Curiosities (2005; second edition, 2009). My latest story is “The Dragaman’s Bride” in the anthology The Dragon Book, edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois (Ace, November 2009). Upcoming books include a novelette, The Night Cache, and a collection, The Pottawatomie Giant and Other Stories, both from PS Publishing. By day, I'm an assistant professor of English at Frostburg State University in the mountains of Maryland.
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