Introductory Topics in Literature
Topic: Science in Literature
Class Information
Instructor: Arkenberg, Megan
CRN: 44491
Time: TR 9:00-10:20
Location: Remote Instruction
GE Areas: Writing Experience
Description
In this course, we will think and write about the _science_ in science fiction. Science refers to both a body of knowledge and a set of knowledge-making practices. This course will explore how science as a practice has been represented in speculative literature from the 17th century to the current decade. While we will consider how literary texts make use of language and ideas that originate in scientific contexts, our emphasis will not be on the accuracy of the represented science by the standards of a text's contemporaries. We will instead ask: To what purposes, and in what forms, does speculative literature incorporate scientific plots and characters? Which practices and fields of inquiry are imagined *as* science in various forms of fiction? How have thinkers in non-scientific fields reacted to the inclusion of scientific language and ideas in literary texts? Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, our class will be conducted entirely online; we will meet synchronously at the regularly scheduled time through Zoom.
Grading
Participation, analysis of and response to academic articles, final essay, final exam
Texts
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
The Island of Doctor Moreau, H. G. Wells
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton
Piranesi , Susanna Clarke