Science Fiction (26:350:553) Fall 2012
Professor H. Bruce Franklin Office: Hill
515. Phone: 973-353-5444.
Office hours: Mon. 1:00-2:00; Wed. 2:30-3:30; and by appointment.
E-mail: hbf@andromeda.rutgers.edu
Home page: http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~hbf
REQUIRED TEXTS (Editions listed are available at New Jersey Books and Bradley Hall. Except where indicated, it's o.k. to substitute other editions):
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; Or the Modern
Prometheus. Bantam. [This is the 1831 edition,
which
differs considerably from the 1818 edition.]
H. Bruce Franklin, Future Perfect: American Science Fiction of the 19th
Century.
University Press, 1995. [Do not use earlier
editions.]
William Gibson, Burning Chrome. Ace Books.
H. G. Wells, The Time Machine. Bantam.
Octavia Butler, Kindred. Beacon.
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Word for World Is
Stanislaw Lem, Solaris. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
[Be sure to get the Twenty-Ninth
Collection, published in 2012.]
James Gunn, ed., The Road to Science Fiction #3: From Heinlein to Here. Various publishers. [Any edition is o.k., but be sure you get
“#3: From Heinlein to Here,”
not any of the other five volumes of this series. A few used copies of this book will also be
available for purchase in class.]
Assigned readings must be completed by the indicated date:
September 10 Organization, description, and methodology of the seminar. Prehistory of science fiction.
September 17 Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus (1818; 1831).
September 24 Octavia Butler, Kindred (1979).
October 1 In Future Perfect: Introduction; Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Birthmark" (1843) and "The Artist of the Beautiful" (1844); Fitz-James O'Brien, "The Diamond Lens" (1858); "Automata"; "Herman Melville and Science Fiction"; Melville, "The Bell-Tower" (1855); "Space Travel"; Washington Irving, "The Men of the Moon" (1809); "Dimensional Speculation as Science Fiction"; "Four-Dimensional Space" (1885); "From `Four-Dimensional Space'" (1896); Edgar Allan Poe, "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" (1845); "Thomas Wentworth Higginson and His Dreamer"; Higginson, "The Monarch of Dreams" (1886); Edward Bellamy, "The Blindman's World" (1886); Jack London, "A Thousand Deaths" (1899).
October 8 In Future
Perfect: "Women's Work"; Annie Denton Cridge, "Man's
Rights" (1870);
H. G. Wells, The Time Machine (1895).
Scenes from Metropolis (1927) and Things To Come (1936) to be shown in class.
October 15 In Road to Science Fiction: Isaac Asimov, “Reason” (1941); Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore) “Mimsy Were the Borogoves” (1943); Arthur C. Clarke, "The Sentinel" (1951); Tom Godwin, “The Cold Equations” (1954); Robert Sheckley, “Pilgrimage to Earth” (1956); Harry Harrison, “The Streets of Ashkelon” (1962); Gordon R. Dickson, “Dolphin’s Way” (1964); Philip K. Dick, “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” (1966). In William Gibson, Burning Chrome: "The Gernsback Continuum" (1981).
October 22 Stanislaw Lem, Solaris (1961).
Scenes from Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972) to be shown in class.
October 29 In Road to Science Fiction: Theodore Sturgeon, “Thunder and
Roses” (1947); Judith Merril, "That Only a Mother" (1948);
William Tenn (Philip Klass), “
November 5 Ursula K. Le Guin, The Word for World Is
November 12 In William Gibson, Burning Chrome:
"Fragments of a Hologram Rose" (1977); "Johnny Mnemonic"
(1981); "New
Scenes from Blade Runner (1982) to be shown in class.
November 19 In Year's Best SF (in this order): Elizabeth Bear, “Dolly”; Alastair Reynolds, “Ascension Day”; Ken MacLeod, “Earth Hour”; Pat Cadigan, “Cody”; Maureen McHugh, “After the Apocalypse”; Carolyn Ives Gilman, “The Ice Owl”; Chris Lawson, “Canterbury Hollow”; Jim Hawkins, “Digital Rites” (all these stories were published in 2011).
By this date, everybody should have at least one meeting with me to discuss your essay.
November 26 Discussion of essays by members of the seminar.
December 3 Discussion of essays by members of the seminar.
December 10 Discussions of essays by members of the seminar. Final day for submission of original essay (minimum length 3,500 words). Extensions without penalty will be granted only for medical or other emergencies.
The essay must be an original work relating to one or more of the issues or works explored in the seminar. It should have something significant to communicate, and it should be worth its readers' time. Please note that after November 15, there is no assigned reading. This allows four weeks to finish your essay, which is your only major project for the course. Your aim should be to produce a work of potentially publishable quality in both form and content.
The physical appearance of your work should be attractive and professional looking. Citations and format should follow the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers or The Chicago Manual of Style.
Presentations by Members of the Seminar
During the last three meetings, each member of the seminar will lead a discussion relevant to his or her essay. When leading this discussion, you will be entirely in charge of the seminar. You may use this as an opportunity to develop your essay and get feedback on that project. You may use the time to pose problems you have encountered in developing your essay, to explore the subject of your essay more deeply, to present a brief version of your essay, or whatever you think most valuable. Or you may simply explore some issue, concern, or work we are studying. Before your presentation, you should supply all other members of the seminar with any written materials to be read in preparation. The easiest way to provide these materials is by e-mail through the listserve we’ll set up. Everybody needs to prepare for each discussion by studying the appropriate materials before that seminar meets.
Tests and Responsibility to Complete the
The success of the seminar depends on
each member reading each assigned text on time and then contributing to our
discussion on a level to be expected of a graduate student. If it becomes apparent that some people are
not adequately prepared, it may be necessary to resort to brief tests on the
readings the date they are due.
Let’s try to avoid that.
There will be no midterm or final examination.
Listserv As soon as possible, please provide your e-mail address for our listserv. In the past, the listserv has been quite a valuable asset for the seminar. Please use it to continue discussions from the seminar, to raise interesting issues about the readings due for the next class meeting, and to bring resources and information to our attention.