Department of English

This course considers the critical perspectives on our world offered by the imagined worlds in a variety of English-language science fiction literature and film. We will cover a range of common tropes, such as time travel, alien encounters, dystopias, last man scenarios, advanced technology, and artificial intelligence. Our primary texts will likely include novels by Mary Shelley, H. G. Wells, Philip K. Dick, Octavia Butler, and Margaret Atwood and the films 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Primer, Children of Men, and Ex Machina. These primary texts will be paired with theory and criticism that will help us analyze science fiction’s logical and formal techniques, rhetorical purposes, ideological engagements, historical development, and relationship to other genres. The class will be offered entirely online through a mixture of synchronous classes via Zoom and asynchronous content on Canvas. Evaluation will be based on three essays, discussion posts, short group assignments, and regular participation in Zoom classes.​

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