Making use of the fannish hive mind
May. 20th, 2009 07:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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wintercreek, I finished The Sparrow the other day, and OMG I WANT TO INCLUDE THIS IN MY CLASS SO BAD. It's exactly the kind of novel I want the course to be about--using science fiction not only to look at ourselves from a different perspective, but on historical personages from a different perspective as well. SO. AWESOME.Andandandandand, best of all, it's not as long as I thought it was! We could get through it in perhaps three weeks, which, if it's the longest work on the syllabus, would be reasonable enough. Ah! Hooray!
So with that on there, I've filled, hmm, perhaps two-thirds of the syllabus. Here's what I'm planning on:
- The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell [Oooh, and excerpts from sixteenth-century Jesuit missionary reports or the conquistadors' relaciones for comparison purposes--holy cow, is my Early Am Lit class coming in handy here?]
- The Martian Chronicles - Bradbury
- "Paradises Lost" - Le Guin*
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Adams
- "Strangers" and possibly "Fortune Hunter" - Poul Anderson
- "The Screwfly Solution" - Raccoona Sheldon
- Stories from Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics (probably some combination of "The Distance of the Moon," "The Sign in Space," "Without Colors," and "The Spiral")
- Excerpts from Margaret Cavendish's A New World Called the Blazing-World
- Radio version of War of the Worlds and the various fabulous historical sources on same that
nickless sent me- Contact (film version) [Comparing and contrasting this to Sparrow would be amazing]
- Serenity (or possibly the episode "Ariel")
- Babylon 5: "Believers" or perhaps "The Geometry of Shadows"
- TNG: "Darmok"
I'm tempted to include the Vorkosigan novella "The Mountains of Mourning," but it would be tricky because you need to read the whole thing to discuss it in any kind of interesting way. Perhaps over spring break... I would also like to include an episode of The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, but that would have to be very bootleg, alas, since there are no DVDs of it. Boooo. Perhaps there is a suitable steampunk short story lying around somewhere... (Recs?
castalianspring?) I also haven't finished reading through all the recommendations y'all gave me last time I posted on this, so there will be more short stories selected from that, I'm sure. (I'm thinking "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" and "Repent, Harlequin!" will be definites, but I probably need four or five more all together.)My main theme is still turning out to be space exploration and alien interaction, but I feel like I should throw in something connected to the other major sci-fi threads out there--time travel, cyberpunk, androids, alternate universes, etc. I think I should probably include a NewWho episode so my film/TV examples aren't all American, but...gah. I'm still ticked off at that show. Maybe I'd better find a time travel short story instead. (There's The Time Machine, but I'm starting to run low on time in the semester. There's Heinlein's "All You Zombies," but I can't see sustaining 50 minutes of discussion on it.) I would like to include something from BSG, but I really don't know how I would manage to find an episode that didn't require yards of explanation for nonfans, so that may be a non-starter. Are there more non-space opera short stories I'm missing that need to be on here and weren't suggested before?
Another question: if you could pick one or two episodes each of Farscape and Futurama to put on this syllabus, which would it be? I haven't seen either series in too long, so I don't recall which would be best. Perhaps "Revenging Angel" for FS? (I need things that aren't too continuity-heavy, but of course the best episodes are the ones steeped in continuity, and I don't really remember a lot of them anymore, sigh.) The two I remember most clearly from Futurama are "Jurassic Bark" (which, come to think of it, would illustrate time travel rather well) and whichever one it is where Fry moves the stars for Leela. I would also like to use that series in a similar manner to HHG, as an example of sci-fi trope parody, so any particularly great examples of that would be welcome.
For you comic/graphic novel folks out there, any short examples to offer? I feel like there's probably good stuff there, but I just don't know about it. It would have to be readable for and discussable in one 50-minute class, because I'm running low on slots in the semester.
And finally, if y'all know some good fandom-related essays, blog entries, or the like, I'd love to hear about them, since one of the three paper assignments is going to be related to fandom. I figure Henry Jenkins is probably the go-to guy for this; anyone know if Textual Poachers is still the gold standard of fandom anthropology-type stuff, or are his newer books just as good? (I see he has a blog as well...I'll have to look through that and see if any entries are particularly relevant to what the assignment will be.)
* If anyone knows how to get copies of this novella not bundled in the collection The Birthday of the World, that would be fantastic. Since it's less than 30% of the book, I should be able to get the library to digitize it and make it available for my students to print out--I would hate to make them buy the book just for a small part of it--but at 100+ pages, I bet most of my students won't bother to print it out, and, if my experience is any indication, read it. I don't know why, but they buy and read the textbooks, but completely ignore the online material. Damned frustrating.
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no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 12:53 am (UTC)For Futurama, I'd go with Jurassic Bark and the one where everyone travels back in time and Fry becomes his own grandfather. Farscape is a tough choice; I suppose it depends on what element of the show you want to focus on?
I haven't read any of Jenkins' new books, but Textual Poachers, although a great book for the history of fandom, vidding, and slash fic, is rather dated now. It doesn't really deal with online fandom at all.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 01:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 03:18 am (UTC)That's "Time Keeps On Slippin'" which is one of my faves. "Roswell That Ends Well" is one of the most time-travel-iest episodes, except maybe the first movie, Bender's Big Score.
There's Heinlein's "All You Zombies," but I can't see sustaining 50 minutes of discussion on it.
How about combining it with another Heinlein time-travel short story like "By His Bootstraps"?
IFSDB (http://www.isfdb.org) seems to say "Paradises Lost" is only found in that one collection, though it's not 100% reliable.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 03:29 am (UTC)Yes, make the kiddies cry!
since one of the three paper assignments is going to be related to fandom.
You are cruel.
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Date: 2009-05-21 04:00 am (UTC)I have a couple more things to send, but via snail mail since they're photocopies of articles. One is from a Social Studies teaching ideas magazine that has the same authentic texts I sent and some other info (can't remember exactly what at the moment) and the other is - ironically - a Q&A column from the paper where someone asked about the name of a tv movie re: alien invasion that freaked people out. The interesting bit? It was in the early/mid-90s. Thus counteracting the whole "pffft, people back then were SO naive, nothing like that would POSSIBLY happen nowadays." Because you know someone's going to bring that up. It was in the paper about a week after I sent you everything, so the timing was quite amusing.
As for FS, you could do Nerve/THM, but I honestly don't know what aspect that would focus on. :) And it needs a lot of backstory. A Human Reaction does the whole - well, how-humans-would-react bit, but from the angle of one native saying "dude, they're safe" rather than just "here they are, do we welcome them or attack them?" And while it's definitely not the greatest episode - or really even a GOOD episode - I, ET has the human-as-alien aspect. Or do both I, ET and AHR and compare/contrast. Time travel - The Locket! (Heh.) Ooooh, ...Different Destinations. Time travel that doesn't work out. (Hi, I'm going through the ep lists.) I'd say Kansas/Terra Firma, but I think they're way too heavy on the continuity. The others are more stand-alone, maybe.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 05:12 am (UTC)I've seen that novel around. I should read it some day, even if I don't have room to include it in my class. (BTW, apparently there is this new book of steampunky short stories out. I've been meaning to get a copy from the library for a couple months now, but haven't gotten to it yet...)
And if you need any SAJV eps, I can supply those, but the quality varies on those (oh, how I covet DVDs of that show)
...Oooh. That could work. I wonder if it's as good as I remember from long, long ago, or if there are better steampunk examples I could use that would be short enough to include...
Futurama: oh, yeah, the Roswell episode! Haha, perfect. That's totally a sendup of the cliche.
Farscape is a tough choice; I suppose it depends on what element of the show you want to focus on?
Yeah, it's a little difficult in that much of what I want to focus on from FS is covered in the other texts I'm using. I guess what's most interesting about the show for my purposes is that John is a lone alien stranger in an alien land, and he has to adapt, but still keep his human side. (That may be why I immediately thought of "Revenging Angel," because he uses Looney Tunes to defeat alien technology, aka Harvey. Well, that and it's the one episode I have really firm memories of.)
I haven't read any of Jenkins' new books, but Textual Poachers, although a great book for the history of fandom, vidding, and slash fic, is rather dated now. It doesn't really deal with online fandom at all.
Yeah, that's my problem with it. I would only be using short excerpts, so I could excerpt relevant sections from both that and the latest one, to have a POV on both the last days prior to online fandom (as well as a bit of general historical "here is what fandom is and how it developed") and on modern online fandom and how things have changed. (I assume his latest one would offer that kind of POV, anyway. The Amazon summary seems to indicate that, anyway. To be honest, it might even work to just use excerpts from that...I'll have to check it out.)
no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 05:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 05:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 05:15 am (UTC)How about combining it with another Heinlein time-travel short story like "By His Bootstraps"?
I'll have to check out "By His Bootstraps," as I haven't read it. Perhaps it would go well with the Futurama collection above... (AYZ, and then "Roswell That Ends Well" as a reinterpretation?)
IFSDB seems to say "Paradises Lost" is only found in that one collection, though it's not 100% reliable.
Alas...
no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 05:18 am (UTC)MWAHAHA!
You are cruel.
Don't talk to me, talk to the department. They make us assign a field research paper. My other option would be having them survey random UT students about why they like sci-fi or something incredibly boring like that. At least fandom is massively entertaining, especially to people who've never run into it before. (And...I have a feeling I'll have at least a few who are fannish in that class, given the subject matter...)
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Date: 2009-05-21 05:25 am (UTC)Oooh, thanks! Do you need my Knoxville address?
Because you know someone's going to bring that up.
YES! That's fantastic!
As for FS, you could do Nerve/THM, but I honestly don't know what aspect that would focus on. :)
Sadly, my topic is not "Leather-clad Peacekeepers." ;)
Or do both I, ET and AHR and compare/contrast.
Hmmm. That has potential... The more I think about it, the more I'm still a bit in love with the idea of "Revenging Angel," though. I used it for a paper in my film class junior year, so it can't be too continuity-heavy. Hmmm...
Thanks!
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Date: 2009-05-21 05:28 am (UTC)Also, I think doing the movie version of Contact and contrasting with The Sparrow is an inspired idea and I heartily approve.
Hurrah! Yeah, I was totally thinking as I read the book, "This is what Contact might have been with Palmer Joss as the main character rather than Ellie. ZOMG."
I really wish I could take/teach this class with you. <3 <3
Eeee.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 05:47 am (UTC)If you make students run away screaming, do you get bonus points?
no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 11:45 am (UTC)Farscape: I think you're right, 'Revenging Angel' is not only one of the best eps, but I think one of the most accessible to people who don't know the show. Who doesn't love Looney Tunes?
NewWho: Despite your complaints, can I recommend 'Blink' from season 3? It's a Steven Moffat Doctor-lite special, completely stand-alone, and one of the most brilliant twists on time travel the show has ever done. Plus, it'll really speak to modern students, I think...there's a whole bit about DVD easter eggs in there that's amazing and hilarious. (If you haven't seen this ep yet, I beg you to track it down and watch it before you finalize your syllabus. :?P)
Comics: If alien interaction is a theme, there's a short Green Lantern story (not even a full issue's worth, I don't think) called "In Blackest Night" by Alan Moore that's collected in a book called "DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore." ( http://www.amazon.com/DC-Universe-Stories-Alan-Moore/dp/1401209270/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242906214&sr=1-1 ) It's about a Green Lantern trying to recruit an alien to the Green Lantern Corps (a group of space police, essentially), only the alien comes from a sector of space where there's no light, and therefore no color, so it can't understand the concept of a Green Lantern. The answer the GL comes up with is ingenious.
I'd also recommend a graphic novel called "Orbiter" by Warren Ellis. It's a complete-in-one-book (and not very long) hard SF story about a missing space shuttle returning to Earth, the ship having been drastically altered by aliens, the pilot alive but catatonic. A group of NASA and civilian specialists try to piece together the mystery of what happened to the ship and crew and what it all means. Some mindblowing ideas in there, fun characters, and the art is gorgeous. http://www.amazon.com/Orbiter-Warren-Ellis/dp/1401202683/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242906157&sr=1-1
no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 05:35 pm (UTC)(Besides, the instructor I TA'ed for this past semester made his students go to celebrity fansites for that assignment. That's like five times more disturbing than fandom could ever be.)
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Date: 2009-05-21 06:39 pm (UTC)Or possibly Heinlein's By his bootstraps (???) and Moorcock's Behold the Man for time-travel paradoxes.
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Date: 2009-05-21 09:49 pm (UTC)I'm pretty sure I have it here, but if not, I'll yell!
Sadly, my topic is not "Leather-clad Peacekeepers." ;)
I was really truly trying for the "achieve the perfect species" bit with Scorpy being all fascinated by something New, but that all kinda fell apart... My reasoning was flimsier than I'd hoped. *g*
no subject
Date: 2009-05-22 01:50 am (UTC)Heh. Exactly.
NewWho: Hmm. Well, it appears to be out on DVD, so I'll Netflix that disc and give it a shot once I'm done with B5.
Comics: Both of those sound good. "Orbiter," depending on how the plot turns out, might be a bit similar to The Sparrow, but then again it might work nicely as a comparison piece. I'll check them out. Thanks!
no subject
Date: 2009-05-22 01:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-22 02:02 am (UTC)Right, right. It had nothing to do with lots of leather uniforms. Nothing at all. ;)
Actually, I do like your reasoning, and I'll keep those episodes in the back of my mind. Thanks!
no subject
Date: 2009-05-24 04:42 am (UTC)Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Hey, I was out of fresh tv tonight (woes, summer!), and I ended up watching some Who. Seriously, about half of S4 is potentially worth your time, death!grudge aside. "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" might come in handy for you - it's a stand-alone about books and fiction and technology and information, and there's space archeology and weird alien contact (it's not even set on Earth for once!!), and as a bonus it is CREEPY AS HELL. Both intentionally and unintentionally, alas. (Did I mention Teh Moff?) There's good stuff about time travel as it affects perspective and interpersonal relationships, too (with ANGST!1!), if you're doing a time-travelly angle.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-24 06:05 am (UTC)Now imagine having to read freshman papers on their findings.
Hey, I was out of fresh tv tonight (woes, summer!)
Yoooou should waaaaatch B-Fiiiiiiiive... *gets Bester to send telepathic mind control messages*
Seriously, about half of S4 is potentially worth your time, death!grudge aside.
Hmmm...I have heard this, and yet...the death!grudge is still strong...
"Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" might come in handy for you - it's a stand-alone about books and fiction and technology and information, and there's space archeology and weird alien contact (it's not even set on Earth for once!!), and as a bonus it is CREEPY AS HELL.
Not-on-Earth (OMG REALLY?!) and creepiness sound promising...
Both intentionally and unintentionally, alas.
Oh, dear.
There's good stuff about time travel as it affects perspective and interpersonal relationships, too (with ANGST!1!), if you're doing a time-travelly angle.
Hmmm...hopefully Rose is not mentioned. (I...think it might actually be her that I can't stand, as well as Rusty?) I do like the idea of time travel affecting interpersonal relationships. All right, you've convinced me; I'll stick that disc in my Netflix queue.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-24 03:45 pm (UTC)AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
Yoooou should waaaaatch B-Fiiiiiiiive...
I am! Slowly... I'd just been watching it for a couple of days, and wanted something different. (Garibaldi and D'whatsherface just came out of their respective comas.)
.the death!grudge is still strong...
Yeah, I'm still trying to gear myself up to watch the Easter special, since I've been burned so many times before by the holiday specials...
(OMG REALLY?!)
I KNOW!! (It's an entire planet made out of a library. You'll like it.)
Oh, dear.
...yeah.....
.hopefully Rose is not mentioned.
Ha! No, she is completely (almost conspicuously) absent, so much so that it made a lot of people mad...
I'll stick that disc in my Netflix queue.
Oh Netflix, how did we live before you?
no subject
Date: 2009-05-24 06:14 pm (UTC)My thoughts exactly.
I am! Slowly...
Yay!
(Garibaldi and D'whatsherface just came out of their respective comas.)
Yay, season two! You'll have to tell me what you think of "The Coming of Shadows" (episode nine, I think), which won a Hugo, and is generally amazing, and has a scene in it that I will remember forever (you'll know it when you see it). Oooh, and the hilarity that is "The Geometry of Shadows"...hehe....
Yeah, I'm still trying to gear myself up to watch the Easter special, since I've been burned so many times before by the holiday specials...
Ooooh, ouch. I don't recall hearing anything about the Easter special, but I haven't been paying attention, obviously. I know there was some kind of kerfluffle involving Rose getting her own copy of the Doctor to live with happily ever after, or something inane like that, but as I recall it was S4... (I'm avoiding those episodes LIKE THE PLAGUE.)
I KNOW!! (It's an entire planet made out of a library. You'll like it.)
Spiffy!
Ha! No, she is completely (almost conspicuously) absent, so much so that it made a lot of people mad...
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
Oh Netflix, how did we live before you?
I do not know!
no subject
Date: 2009-05-27 03:26 am (UTC)I am liking Ivanova...
I don't recall hearing anything about the Easter special, but I haven't been paying attention, obviously.
I just watched it. Ugh. Ugh. That was the most boring Who I've ever seen. It was a mess of dull cliches and plot holes and just plain lazy writing. Poor DT tried to pull it through all by himself, but... no one could save that pile of vomit. I want to unwatch it.
I know there was some kind of kerfluffle involving Rose getting her own copy of the Doctor to live with happily ever after, or something inane like that, but as I recall it was S4...
Haha, yes. She got a Doctor who could talk about his feelings, and we got a Doctor who can have no character development ever. Fail!
I'm avoiding those episodes LIKE THE PLAGUE.
That may be for the best.
On the other hand, didn't somebody else tell you to watch "Blink"? Because it's one of the best episodes of the entire new series, really. The promise of Moffat-y goodness is the only thing keeping me hanging on here for next season...
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
I think Moffat has something against Rose... It could be a nice change of pace... Yet in the Easter special, the Doctor was moping about Donna instead of about Rose.... Oh RTD, can you leave any faster?
no subject
Date: 2009-05-27 05:18 am (UTC)Eeeeeexcellent. I think she may actually be my favorite fictional character ever. So. Much. Love.
I just watched it. Ugh. Ugh. That was the most boring Who I've ever seen. It was a mess of dull cliches and plot holes and just plain lazy writing. Poor DT tried to pull it through all by himself, but... no one could save that pile of vomit. I want to unwatch it.
Sadly, that was what I expected it to be like... (If ever someone invents a "get these hours of your life you wasted ont his TV show/movie back" machine, that person will make a mint.)
Haha, yes. She got a Doctor who could talk about his feelings, and we got a Doctor who can have no character development ever. Fail!
FAILTASTIC! Dude, RTD should just start playing Rose onscreen. She's so obviously wish-fulfillment for him.
That may be for the best.
I think so, yes.
On the other hand, didn't somebody else tell you to watch "Blink"?
Yeees...
Because it's one of the best episodes of the entire new series, really. The promise of Moffat-y goodness is the only thing keeping me hanging on here for next season...
Oooh, nifty.
I think Moffat has something against Rose... It could be a nice change of pace...
I could personally watch her die horribly and not feel too bad.
Yet in the Easter special, the Doctor was moping about Donna instead of about Rose....
*HEADDESK*
Oh RTD, can you leave any faster?
Wasn't this his last episode, though? Maybe? Or is he sticking around for another season?
no subject
Date: 2009-05-27 05:55 am (UTC)Heheheh.
(If ever someone invents a "get these hours of your life you wasted ont his TV show/movie back" machine, that person will make a mint.)
I would pay for that!
Dude, RTD should just start playing Rose onscreen. She's so obviously wish-fulfillment for him.
BWAHAHAHA! Oh, the horrors! Yeah, RTD's parting gift to himself was a special alternate universe for
himRose and the Doctor where nothing bad ever happens and there are unicorns and rainbows!Oooh, nifty.
Plus kinda scary!
I could personally watch her die horribly and not feel too bad.
What, being sucked into a giant plot device wasn't enough for you? : )
*HEADDESK*
Maybe he figures Rose is now too far back for the audience to remember? Seeing as how he seems to be writing for the seven-year-old demographic?
Wasn't this his last episode, though? Maybe?
The intarwebs say three more 2009 specials (TWO of them are Christmas specials!), and then Moffat and Eleven take over sometime in 2010. I don't even know who's playing Eleven. I think I'll wait until 2010 to find out.
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Date: 2009-05-27 08:10 pm (UTC)I'd say I want to be her, but she has a pretty hard life, so maybe not. Perhaps I'll just worship her from afar. Very far. Where she can't hurt me.
I would pay for that!
Soooo many hours I could reclaim...
BWAHAHAHA! Oh, the horrors!
More truthful horrors, though...
Yeah, RTD's parting gift to himself was a special alternate universe for him Rose and the Doctor where nothing bad ever happens and there are unicorns and rainbows!
If only we could introduce something devastating into that universe that kills them both...
Plus kinda scary!
Just as good DW should be!
What, being sucked into a giant plot device wasn't enough for you? : )
Well, you know, that was the cake. Death would be the icing. Tasty, fatal icing.
Maybe he figures Rose is now too far back for the audience to remember? Seeing as how he seems to be writing for the seven-year-old demographic?
Heh.
The intarwebs say three more 2009 specials (TWO of them are Christmas specials!)
Gaaaaaaah.
I don't even know who's playing Eleven. I think I'll wait until 2010 to find out.
I think I knew at one point, but I've forgotten now. I was sad we didn't get a female Doctor, though.