INSTRUCTOR:
Dr. Nancy Steffen-Fluhr, Associate Professor, Humanities Deptartment
OFFICE: 415 Cullimore OR
Murray Center for Women in Technology , 2nd floor of Campus Center
PHONE: Cullimore Office: x3295 Murray Center: x4885 FAX: 642-7205
EMAIL: steffen@njit.edu and steffen@optonline.net
CLASS MEETINGS: Saturdays, 9 am to noon. Kupfrian 210
BRIEF COURSE DESCRIPTION: In this course, we will analyze a set of science fiction novels, stories and Hollywood films in order to better understand the underlying cultural assumptions that the drive the real-life US technological enterprise.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Shelley. FRANKENSTEIN
LeGuin. LATHE OF HEAVEN
Gibson. NEUROMANCER
Lem. SOLARIS
+ Course Pack (CP) of four short stories
COURSE REQUIREMENTS/ GRADING:
Two 5-7 page analytical essays on assigned topics.
Essay #1: due October 15 20 points
Essay #2: due December 3 20
Midterm exam: October 22 20
Final exam: December 17 30
Quizzes 5 [10 quizzes @ 0.5 point each]
Class participation 5
TOTAL 100 points
READING/ DISCUSSION SCHEDULE
NOTE ON READINGS: You should have completed the assigned reading and/or seen the assigned film by the date on which it is scheduled for discussion. i.e. You should have finished the novel Frankenstein by next week, September 10th and have screened the 1994 film Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I’ve interspersed films and novels in the syllabus to allow you time to complete the longer works, but do as much reading as you can early in the semester, before assignments in other courses become pressing.
NOTES ON FILMS: With a couple of exceptions, you are expected to rent and screen the assigned films on your own, at home or in the dorm. The films are widely available at Blockbuster and other rental stores. If you have trouble finding a given film or a DVD/VCR player, please see me.
S3 Unit 1 What is SF?
In-Class Film: "Frankenstein" (1931)
S10 Unit 2 The “Mad Scientist Plot”: Creators & Creations
Reading: Shelley. FRANKENSTEIN
Film to rent: "Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein" (1994)
In-class films: excerpts from various Frankenstein/Golem versions
S17 Unit 3 The Man-Made Man
Film to rent: “Bladerunner”
S24 Unit 4 The Man-Made Woman
Reading CP #1 DelRey. “Helen O’Loy”
In-class film: “Metropolis” [excerpts]
O1 Unit 4 (continued)
In-class film: “Android”
O8 Unit 5 The “White World” Dystopia
Reading: CP #2 Forster. “The Machine Stops”
In-class films: “Things to Come” [excerpts]
O15 Unit 5 (continued)
Films to rent: “THX 1138” and “Gattaca”
ESSAY #1 DUE
O22 MIDTERM EXAM [1 hour]
“Gattaca” [discussion continues from previous week]
O29 Unit 6 Cyberpunk & the Posthuman City
Reading: Gibson. NEUROMANCER
In-class films: “Johnny Mnemonic” and “eXistenz” [excerpts]
N5 Unit 7 Daoism & the Sustainable Planet
Reading: LeGuin. LATHE OF HEAVEN
In-class film: “Lathe of Heaven” (PBS) [excerpts]
Reading: CP # 3 Clarke. “The Sentinel”
Film to rent: 2001
Reading: CP #4 LeGuin. “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow”
Film to rent: Alien
In-class films: Excerpts from Aliens, Alien3, Alien Resurrection
D3 ESSAY #2 DUE
Unit 9 (continued)
Reading: Lem. Solaris
In-class film: Excerpts from Solaris (1971 Tarkovsky version)
D10 Course summary and preparation for final exam
D 17 FINAL EXAM [2.5 hours]