This is a course on the genre of literature known as "Science Fiction," "SF," or "scifi." Since this is a genre course, we will spend a bit of time discussing the definition of scifi, how there are many definitions that are not agreed upon, and what that tells us about the type of literature. We'll set the genre within the historical context of Enlightenment Rationalism and Romanticism's response to it, early nineteenth century Industrialism and the rise of machines. Class will consist of a bit of lecture followed mainly by discussions of the stories and books, within the terms set out above. We will read stories from Wells and Verne and novels from Asimov to Butler to see what scifi tells us about ourselves and where we are going. Three papers required plus a midterm and final.
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