DePauw University
UNIV 197: First-Year Seminar

Science Fiction

Dr. Arthur B. Evans
EC L-06, aevans@depauw.edu
home page: http://academic.depauw.edu/~aevans
(site last updated: 15 Dec. 03)

Course description:
In contemporary literature and cinema as well as on the cyberspace frontier of the Internet, the genre of science fiction seems omnipresent. Whether it be called “sci-fi” or “SF,” the visions of science fiction have generated a new mythology for today’s world. Further, some of the most interesting recent SF is by women who have, in the past 20 years, helped to revolutionize the genre. In this course, students will examine representative SF stories from a variety of historical periods--from Jules Verne, “space opera,” and futuristic utopias to women-only worlds, Octavia Butler, and cyberpunk. Accompanying the readings will be stills and movie clips from SF cinema, ranging from classic films such as Frankenstein and Forbidden Planet to more contemporary SF cinema such as Bicentennial Man and The Matrix. Highly interdisciplinary and thematic in nature, this course does not require a strong science background. It will focus on topics such as humanity vs. technology, morality vs. scientific progress, feminism and gender roles, portrayals of the alien, and the dynamics of imagining the future, among others.

Class materials:
- The Prentice-Hall Anthology of Science Fiction & Fantasy
- coursepack of photocopied stories (marked with * in syllabus)
- weekly online readings (marked with ** in syllabus)
- Blackboard website