LIT 386 SCIENCE FICTION    Fall, 2005

 

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]

 

N12       Unit 8      Animal, Machine, Alien: The Nature of Human Nature

            Reading:                CP # 3  Clarke. “The Sentinel”

                Film to rent:           2001

               

N19       Unit 9      Aliens R Us

                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

                Film to rent:           Solaris (2002 George Clooney version)

                In-class film:          Excerpts from Solaris (1971 Tarkovsky version)

 

D10        Course summary and preparation for final exam

 

D 17       FINAL EXAM  [2.5 hours]