English 173 - Summer Sessions II, 2017

Science Fiction

Class Information

Instructor: Ziser, Michael
CRN: 71487
Time: TWR 2:10-3:50
Location: 1130 Bainer

Description

In his despairing book Eaarth, environmentalist Bill McKibben argues that humankind is already inadvertently pioneering life on the “tough new planet” created by generations of ecological exploitation of the “old” earth, no space travel required. Whatever the merits of this particular argument, the rhetorical mix of science-fictional and ecological tropes alerts us to the profound and longstanding entanglement of sf with the environmental imagination. This summer course will explore these connections, connecting classic sf texts with environmental themes like deep time, anthropocentrism, animal minds, ecofeminist futurism, toxic waste, eco-apocalypse and survival, and more-than-natural disaster. As we will see, environmental histories and futures look very different when viewed through the eyes of speculative sf writers—and science fiction becomes a different kind of enterprise when it is understood as fundamentally environmental. Literary readings will be supplemented with secondary materials and in-class screenings of key green-sf films and documentaries.

Grading

 Attendance and Participation: 15%
Discussion Posts: 2.5% x 6: 15%
Creative Response: 10%
First Paper (5pp): 20%
Second Paper (5pp): 20%
Final Exam (in-class): 20%

Texts

The Time Machine (1895; Dover, 1995) ISBN 978-0486284729, H. G. Wells
Last and First Men (1931; Dover, 2010) ISBN 978-0486466828, Olaf Stapledon
Odd John and Sirius (1944; Dover, 1972) ISBN 978-0486211336, Olaf Stapledon
Lilith’s Brood (1987-2000; Grand Central, 2000) ISBN 978-0446676106, Octavia Butler
Earth Abides (1946; Del Ray, 2006) ISBN 978-0345487131, George Stewart
Ecotopia (1975; Heyday, 2014) ISBN 978-1597142939, Ernest Callenbach
The Word for World is Forest (1972; Tor, 2010) ISBN 978-0765324641, Ursula LeGuin
The Water Knife (NY: Vintage, 2015) ISBN 978-0804171533, Paolo Bacigalupi