"God, I love science fiction!"
Mar. 5th, 2009 11:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieSo they say stealing is the best method of teaching, and I'm starting to think what I can, er, "borrow" for my classes next year. "Aha!" I think. "I took an entire course on science fiction at Kenyon! Granted, it was in the biology department, but still. What can I steal from that?"
Ladies and gentlemen, I think Norgol will be making an appearance in my classroom next spring. Mwhahahaha.
(I was searching for other courses on SF, and I found this course, which teaches literary theory through sci-fi TV and movies. HOLY CRAP, YOU GUYS. I WOULD TOTALLY TAKE A THEORY COURSE IF IT MEANT WE WERE GOING TO WATCH EPISODES OF STAR TREK AND THE X-FILES.)
Speaking of that course, here are things I've been thinking about putting on the syllabus. The concentration will likely be on space travel and alien worlds/cultures, just because otherwise I'd go crazy with the amount out there.
- Bradbury's Martian Chronicles
- Dune
- Excerpts from Margaret Cavendish's The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing-World
- War of the Worlds?
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Movie version of Contact (the book is arguably better, but if I taught the book it's all we'd get through in a semester)
- Various TV episodes: B5--"Believers" in particular, perhaps--Farscape, Futurama, the "Darmok" episode of TNG, Stargate?, BSG?, X-Files? (TV will feature heavily, I think. Hey, if B is doing an entire class on TV this semester...)
- Serenity?
- Short stories: maybe Willis's "The Soul Selects Her Own Society" for giggles (or Yolen's "Sister Emily's Lightship"? What is it about sci-fi writers and Emily Dickinson, anyway?), uh...my short story-fu is weak. I tend to prefer my reading material in novel-length chunks. There does appear to be a Norton anthology of them, though, so I must check that out over the summer.
I'd sort of like to do Frankenstein, but that doesn't fit my self-imposed theme, and I know most kids read it in high school. (There's some steampunk I'd like to do as well, so I may chuck the subtheme of space opera and alien interaction and just do a mishmash.)
Suggest things to me! If you were a freshman taking this course, what would you like to read? Anything science fiction-related will be considered; don't feel the need to stick to space opera.
*
Speaking of science fiction, I watched more B5 lately. Thoughts:
Oh, IVANOVA. You make me laugh so hard it HURTS.
I watched "By Any Means Necessary" last night, and "Signs & Portents" at dinner today. "Any Means" had the hilarious bit where Sinclair tells her to escort to the brig if they aren't out of C&C in ten seconds, and she starts shouting a countdown and marching on Londo and G'Kar all menancing-like. [I think this is also the episode with, "You will resist, I hope."] And S&P has the following exchange:
Ivanova: "I've always had a hard time getting up when it's dark outside."
Sinclair: "But in space, it's always dark outside."
Ivanova: "I know. I know." *sigh of defeat*
I had to pause the player, I was laughing so hard. (Much of the humor's in the delivery. Claudia Christian is awesome.)
I'm also enjoying the fact that technology in the Bab5 universe obeys the laws of physics much of the time! That's rather exciting. The artificial gravity generators or gravity plating or whatever mojo the Star Trek folks used to keep the budget down always bugged me a bit, and even the first time I watched this show, I recall admiring the use of actual centrifugal force to simulate gravity. (Although I was looking it up last night, and I came across an artist's conception of the interior of a real rotating space station, and whoa. That would mess with my mind like nothing else, seeing plants and buildings and people walking on the ceiling.) They even make an effort at showing how the areas of the station closer to the center of rotation are low gravity! (It does seem to break down on some of the ships, though. I noticed no rotating parts on the raider ship in S&P, but everyone's feet were still firmly on the ground. But E+ for effort on the station!)
The starfuries, weird-looking as they are, are also much more suited to maneuvering in zero gravity than the more airplane-based designs out there. I also think the jumpgates are, you know, more believeable than warp drive--I guess that's why they caught on for every other space opera out there since--and the gates themselves are very nifty when they light up in preparation for making a wormhole. (The wormholes themselves are not as cool-looking, but I've been spoiled by the pretty that are wormholes on Farscape.) Plus, dramatic tension abounds when there are long travel-times between jumpgate locations!
Ladies and gentlemen, I think Norgol will be making an appearance in my classroom next spring. Mwhahahaha.
(I was searching for other courses on SF, and I found this course, which teaches literary theory through sci-fi TV and movies. HOLY CRAP, YOU GUYS. I WOULD TOTALLY TAKE A THEORY COURSE IF IT MEANT WE WERE GOING TO WATCH EPISODES OF STAR TREK AND THE X-FILES.)
Speaking of that course, here are things I've been thinking about putting on the syllabus. The concentration will likely be on space travel and alien worlds/cultures, just because otherwise I'd go crazy with the amount out there.
- Bradbury's Martian Chronicles
- Dune
- Excerpts from Margaret Cavendish's The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing-World
- War of the Worlds?
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Movie version of Contact (the book is arguably better, but if I taught the book it's all we'd get through in a semester)
- Various TV episodes: B5--"Believers" in particular, perhaps--Farscape, Futurama, the "Darmok" episode of TNG, Stargate?, BSG?, X-Files? (TV will feature heavily, I think. Hey, if B is doing an entire class on TV this semester...)
- Serenity?
- Short stories: maybe Willis's "The Soul Selects Her Own Society" for giggles (or Yolen's "Sister Emily's Lightship"? What is it about sci-fi writers and Emily Dickinson, anyway?), uh...my short story-fu is weak. I tend to prefer my reading material in novel-length chunks. There does appear to be a Norton anthology of them, though, so I must check that out over the summer.
I'd sort of like to do Frankenstein, but that doesn't fit my self-imposed theme, and I know most kids read it in high school. (There's some steampunk I'd like to do as well, so I may chuck the subtheme of space opera and alien interaction and just do a mishmash.)
Suggest things to me! If you were a freshman taking this course, what would you like to read? Anything science fiction-related will be considered; don't feel the need to stick to space opera.
*
Speaking of science fiction, I watched more B5 lately. Thoughts:
Oh, IVANOVA. You make me laugh so hard it HURTS.
I watched "By Any Means Necessary" last night, and "Signs & Portents" at dinner today. "Any Means" had the hilarious bit where Sinclair tells her to escort to the brig if they aren't out of C&C in ten seconds, and she starts shouting a countdown and marching on Londo and G'Kar all menancing-like. [I think this is also the episode with, "You will resist, I hope."] And S&P has the following exchange:
Ivanova: "I've always had a hard time getting up when it's dark outside."
Sinclair: "But in space, it's always dark outside."
Ivanova: "I know. I know." *sigh of defeat*
I had to pause the player, I was laughing so hard. (Much of the humor's in the delivery. Claudia Christian is awesome.)
I'm also enjoying the fact that technology in the Bab5 universe obeys the laws of physics much of the time! That's rather exciting. The artificial gravity generators or gravity plating or whatever mojo the Star Trek folks used to keep the budget down always bugged me a bit, and even the first time I watched this show, I recall admiring the use of actual centrifugal force to simulate gravity. (Although I was looking it up last night, and I came across an artist's conception of the interior of a real rotating space station, and whoa. That would mess with my mind like nothing else, seeing plants and buildings and people walking on the ceiling.) They even make an effort at showing how the areas of the station closer to the center of rotation are low gravity! (It does seem to break down on some of the ships, though. I noticed no rotating parts on the raider ship in S&P, but everyone's feet were still firmly on the ground. But E+ for effort on the station!)
The starfuries, weird-looking as they are, are also much more suited to maneuvering in zero gravity than the more airplane-based designs out there. I also think the jumpgates are, you know, more believeable than warp drive--I guess that's why they caught on for every other space opera out there since--and the gates themselves are very nifty when they light up in preparation for making a wormhole. (The wormholes themselves are not as cool-looking, but I've been spoiled by the pretty that are wormholes on Farscape.) Plus, dramatic tension abounds when there are long travel-times between jumpgate locations!
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no subject
Date: 2009-03-06 03:26 pm (UTC)Yes, you should watch Red Dwarf (how the hell have you not already??). Especially the first two series. (They beefed up the budget/effects after that and I never liked it as much afterwards.)
The Left Hand of Darkness is great for alien cultures--the details and mythology she uses to build/back them up/foreshadow are amazing (and were the subject of my long paper last summer).
I've only read two Philip K. Dick novels but they both deal pretty heavily with the idea of reality/unreality. I think I liked Ubik slightly better, but The Man in the High Castle is about a world in which we didn't win WWII, and what happens to the US culturally (we get broken into several pieces that are ruled by the assorted winners, sort of like Berlin was after the war)
How about Brave New World? Not alien culture so to speak, but if future = alien, it could work, especially since it contrasts that future with the "present" so nicely.
I've only just started A Canticle For Leibowitz, but the basic premise is that there's been a nuclear holocaust, and centuries later, someone comes upon this shopping list left by a guy named Leibowitz, and it becomes the central/founding document of this monk-like religious brotherhood. Definitely the basis for some commentary that couldn't be done otherwise, along with some history of the 1950s ("Fallout Shelters and the Fears That Created Them" or some such!).
How about A Wrinkle in Time? Very much a product of its time (Cold War), but short and a commentary on human nature that probably wouldn't work any other way.
Hmm. Not sure if The Golden Compass would work, though elements of it sure are alien. And it definitely contrasts with our own society, if you want to emphasize that. (If you think I'm looking through my grad school bibliography for things that might work, you'd be right!)
Zelazny? Lord of Light? Humans who have figured out how to "reincarnate" into new bodies (Cylons, anyone?) and take on the roles and attributes (via technology) of the Hindu pantheon, re-creating that culture and limiting the growth of technology for their followers because "they're not ready for it"--read: they might steal our power. Until the Buddha comes along... lots of great myth stuff, especially because Sam, aka the Buddha, is such a fabulous trickster hero. And yes, it's QUITE funny.
Well, I seem to be at the end of my list. Dunno how much of that might really apply, but there it is for whatever it's worth.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-07 04:19 am (UTC)*hearts Ivanova so hard*
Yes, you should watch Red Dwarf (how the hell have you not already??). Especially the first two series. (They beefed up the budget/effects after that and I never liked it as much afterwards.)
Hmmm...
The Left Hand of Darkness is great for alien cultures--the details and mythology she uses to build/back them up/foreshadow are amazing (and were the subject of my long paper last summer).
I think this one has gotten the most votes so far. I'm definitely going to check it out this summer.
I've only read two Philip K. Dick novels but they both deal pretty heavily with the idea of reality/unreality. I think I liked Ubik slightly better, but The Man in the High Castle is about a world in which we didn't win WWII, and what happens to the US culturally (we get broken into several pieces that are ruled by the assorted winners, sort of like Berlin was after the war)
Spiffy!
How about Brave New World? Not alien culture so to speak, but if future = alien, it could work, especially since it contrasts that future with the "present" so nicely.
I like BNW, and I've read it several times, so I'm not averse to putting it on the syllabus, but...I dunno. Everyone reads that. I kind of want to do stuff that isn't normally found in an English class, since this is my one opportunity to do so.
I've heard good things about Canticle. I remember trying to read it when I about twelve and being very lost, but perhaps it would be better now.
How about A Wrinkle in Time? Very much a product of its time (Cold War), but short and a commentary on human nature that probably wouldn't work any other way.
God, it's been forever since I read that. I'll have to look at it again.
Hmm. Not sure if The Golden Compass would work, though elements of it sure are alien. And it definitely contrasts with our own society, if you want to emphasize that.
I think the woman who does Inquiry into Fantasy teaches that one, so probably not. The Margaret Cavendish piece I posted is actually the precursor to Pullman's series, and I definitely want to include excerpts from it. (The link goes to the full text if you want to browse through. It was written in 1684, and is really prescient; the author was a noblewoman with a strong interest in science. Pullman stole liberally from it--alternate worlds reached via trips to the Artic, Dust, armored bears...it's all about women and female empowerment as well, which is AMAZING. Cavendish has some overlong descriptive passages, but I still really like it.)
(If you think I'm looking through my grad school bibliography for things that might work, you'd be right!)
Hee!
Zelazny? Lord of Light? Humans who have figured out how to "reincarnate" into new bodies (Cylons, anyone?) and take on the roles and attributes (via technology) of the Hindu pantheon, re-creating that culture and limiting the growth of technology for their followers because "they're not ready for it"--read: they might steal our power. Until the Buddha comes along... lots of great myth stuff, especially because Sam, aka the Buddha, is such a fabulous trickster hero. And yes, it's QUITE funny.
SWEET. Is this part of the Amber series, or something different?
Thanks for all the suggestions!
no subject
Date: 2009-03-07 02:43 pm (UTC)I hear you on BNW. I just love it to bits so I couldn't help but mention it :)
I hope to finally inhale Canticle on my way to FL next week, or shortly thereafter. I've been carting it around for weeks and never manage to get very far, probably because trying to read while eating lunch doesn't always work so well!
Had no idea that Pullman got so much of his stuff from somewhere else. Especially not something from 1684! Good grief! Will have to check that out at some point.
SWEET. Is this part of the Amber series, or something different?
It's a standalone novel, not part of any series. Helps to know some basics of Hinduism, I would think, but I got along just fine without reading the book on the daily life of Joe Hindu that my roommate told me I HAD to read before I read it. ;) Mostly, it's good to be able to remember who the different gods are. Anything else is a bonus.
You're quite welcome and I hope you get something useful out of my random list!
no subject
Date: 2009-03-07 04:41 pm (UTC)Had no idea that Pullman got so much of his stuff from somewhere else. Especially not something from 1684! Good grief! Will have to check that out at some point.
I was pretty surprised too. I read the Cavendish piece without knowing of the connection, and I kept thinking, "My GOD, this sounds like His Dark Materials! Pullman had to have read this!"
Helps to know some basics of Hinduism, I would think, but I got along just fine without reading the book on the daily life of Joe Hindu that my roommate told me I HAD to read before I read it. ;) Mostly, it's good to be able to remember who the different gods are. Anything else is a bonus.
Excellent.