“Global science
fiction”
First Year Program
St. Lawrence University
“Plenary”: MWF 9:40-10:40 Valentine
107
“Seminar” Tuesday 2:20 - 3:50 Bewkes 232
|
Instructor: Dr. Daniel W. Koon |
Mentor:
Joseph Kurowski Office/Home:
Phone:
x6625 Email: jpkuro03@stlawu.edu Office
Hours: |
This
electronic document (http://it.stlawu.edu/~koon/classes/FYS/GlobalSF2005.html)
is the official syllabus of this course. It will be updated as the course
proceeds. Please bookmark this page and check back frequently.
Last Revised: April 29, 2005.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Science fiction is as American a genre as the Western,
right? Wrong. From Jules Verne to Cuban cyberpunk to Japanese anime, the world of SF is as international as, well,
the crew of the Starship Enterprise. In this course we will sample the
non-English-language science fiction literature and explore the extent to which
science fiction, that literature which strives “to boldly go” beyond the limits
of its earth-bound, human writer, is still tied to the planet, the species, the
culture and the era of that writer. Or perhaps we will decide that it is not.
Each student will write both a short science fiction story and a full-length
research paper for this course, as well as leading discussion of at least one
literary work, author, or country.
MAJOR ASSSIGNMENTS
RESEARCH
PAPER
The major focus of
this course is a final paper, 10-12 pages double-spaced, due at the end of the
semester. It will be the result of your research into a specific research
question based on one of the sub-topics in this course. We will spend time
throughout the semester investigating the issues involved with writing a major
research paper, and the various stages of the paper will be collected and
graded by the instructor at specific dates in the semester. (See Major
Deadlines below.) The theme of this paper will be either
a piece of science fiction (novel, short story, film, etc.) or an
author, country, or movement within global SF.
FICTION STORY
You will also write a short story related to the same theme that you will
be researching for your research paper. Throughout the course of the semester,
I will assign intermediate steps, including development of the science, the
plot, and one or more characters in your story. Unless you prefer not to, your
story may be published online in the SLU SF e-zine, The Android Times.
FICTION PRESENTATION
You will also be expected to lead classroom discussion of some piece or
pieces of fiction. If your research paper theme is a work of fiction, this will
be the subject of this presentation.
How should
you structure class? There are many possibilities. What I don't
recommend is that you simply stand in front of class and lecture us for a half
hour. (particularly reading straight from notes) A
combination of lecture, directed discussion, and other activities is probably
the best approach, but feel free to explore your own ideas of presentation.
Since this is an important part of this course and because I'm asking you to do
a good share of the teaching, it is important that we discuss your intentions
for class well in advance - - two weeks before class and then again one week
before. Handouts are recommended, but I don't want you to hand out a page of
notes with "all the answers" to the students without trying to get
them to work through the issues and come up with their own answers first.
SECOND PRESENTATION
You will
also give a classroom presentation of some author, country, region, or other
topic in global SF. If your research paper theme is not a work of fiction, that will be the
theme of this talk.
PORTFOLIO
Your portfolio is a record of your progress in this course. As such, it needs
to include all drafts of every bit of written work you do during the course,
including the various stages of your research paper including notes, all the
materials associated with the topical projects just mentioned, and in-class
free writes. Part of that portfolio should be the self-assessment, in which you
reflect critically on the work assembled in the portfolio. Your self-assessment
should be a frank, honest analysis of your work. It should neither be filled
with platitudes nor excuses for why your grades were what they were. In fact,
grades are completely irrelevant. What is your assessment of your own
work? How did it improve during the semester?
A three-ring binder, or its equivalent, is recommended for assembling your
portfolio through the course of the semester.
OTHER ASSIGNMENTS
Reading journal: One element of your participation grade will be your
notes from the individual readings. I will ask you to keep a notebook with
extensive notes on all of the readings for this course, including films.
I will occasionally ask you to hand it in, so that I can check that you are
indeed keeping up. I will grade on completeness, not on neatness. You will be
allowed to use these notes, but not the original stories, in the in-class
exams.
Personal
writing mechanics journal: One element of your portfolio grade will be a running inventory of
areas of your own writing that need work. After each assignment, you need to
look through the instructor's, mentor's, or tutor's
marks to see what you ought to add to this list. You should consult this list
when proofreading all subsequent formal assignments. As a writer, it is
important to practice the mechanics of writing, and to be aware of those areas
in which you most need work. If one of these areas is 'homophones', for
example, you may find it useful to compile a list of words that you have
difficulty with ("to", "too", "two", or
"its" and "it's", for example) but which the spell-checker
refuses to help you with.
Miscellaneous writing assignments: Finally, there will be occasional
free-writes and quizzes throughout the semester, as the need arises. I do not
know in advance how many there may be, so I will simply include the results of
these assignments in your 'classroom participation' grade.
ATTENDANCE
Your active participation in class is important. Of course you need to
attend class. I reserve the right to dock you a half-point final letter grade
for each absence beyond the third, in addition to lowering your class
participation grade. But you also need to arrive in class prepared to contribute
to it. Bring any materials that we are planning to discuss that day -- texts,
handouts, and notes from texts or films. Occasionally I will throw an
unannounced quiz to ensure that you’ve come to class prepared. Such quizzes
will usually be open notes, but not open text. Thus, it really pays to take
good notes. Late arrival in class is also distracting, especially when one of
your colleagues is giving his/her oral presentation. I will count every two instances
of five minutes or more of lateness as equaling an absence. Please speak to me
beforehand if you anticipate having to miss or be late for or leave early from
any class.
PLAGIARISM
The SLU
Student Handbook
defines plagiarism as "presenting as one's own work of another person --
words, ideas, data, evidence, thoughts, information, organizing principles, or
style of presentation -- without proper attribution." While we will talk
about the dangers of plagiarism in class, it is your responsibility to be aware
of what is -- and what is not -- plagiarism, whether intentional or not. Your
instructor has a variety of tools at his disposal for testing written work for
plagiarism, ample experience at detecting it, and a low tolerance for it. If
you have questions about whether you are adequately citing or attributing work,
please ask your mentor or instructor. Please see the material below. You are responsible for this material.
ACADEMIC RESOURCES,
SPECIAL NEEDS
If you need
accommodation for special needs, please contact your instructor by the end of
the first full week of classes. Please also contact the Office for Academic
Services for Students with Special Needs (homepage, e-mail) as soon as possible. Another
useful office for all students is the Academic Achievement Office,
which can set you up with tutoring for this and other courses.
GRADING
OF ASSIGNMENTS
|
Research project |
25% |
|
|
Bibliography & annotated
bibliography |
|
|
|
Notecards
& functional outline |
|
|
|
First draft |
|
|
|
Final draft |
|
|
|
SF story |
15% |
|
|
Outline & assorted assignments |
|
|
|
First draft |
|
|
|
Final draft |
|
|
|
Fiction
presentation |
15% |
|
|
Preparation |
|
|
|
Presentation |
|
|
|
Non-fiction
presentation |
15% |
|
|
Preparation |
|
|
|
Presentation |
|
|
|
Quizzes,
exams, classroom participation |
15% |
|
|
Reading
journal |
5% |
|
|
Personal
writing mechanics journal |
5% |
|
|
Portfolio |
5% |
|
MAJOR DEADLINES:
|
Week |
Date |
SF story |
Research paper |
|
1 |
Fri. Jan 21
|
|
‘Grant proposal’ for
3 research topics |
|
2 |
Fri. Jan 28 |
|
Preliminary research
question |
|
3 |
Fri. Feb 4 |
|
Bibliography: first
draft |
|
4 |
Fri. Feb 11 |
|
|
|
5 |
Fri. Feb 18 |
First draft of plot
summary |
|
|
6 |
Fri. Feb 25 |
|
Annotated
bibliography |
|
7 |
Fri. Mar 4 |
First draft of
character sketch |
|
|
8 |
Fri. Mar 11 |
|
Functional outline:
first draft |
|
9 |
Fri. Mar 25 |
Scientific exposition,
aka “Infodump” |
|
|
10 |
Fri. Apr 1 |
|
Functional outline:
second draft |
|
11 |
Fri. Apr 8 |
First draft of
fiction |
|
|
12 |
Fri. Apr 15 |
|
Research paper:
first draft |
|
13 |
Fri. Apr 22 |
Final draft of
fiction |
|
|
14 |
Fri. Apr 29 |
|
Research paper:
final draft, Portfolio & self-assessment |
FINAL EXAM, Tuesday,
May 3, 1:30-4:30
PLUS.....
One week and two weeks before each classroom presentation: Outline of
presentation, list of prior readings for the classmates, meet with instructor
One class before each classroom presentation:
Class handouts for distribution
REQUIRED (BOOKSTORE) TEXTS: (Any links to amazon.com are for
illustrative purposes only and do not represent an endorsement of any sort)
Russom’s Universal Robots -- Karel Čapek (Czechoslavakia:
1920)
Solaris -- Stanislaw Lem
(Poland:1961)
Cosmos Latinos -- Andrea L. Bell & Yolanda
Molina-Gavilán -- WARNING: This book is NOT available
at the bookstore. Please order on-line.
The
Best Japanese Science Fiction Stories -- John L. Apostolou &
Martin H. Greenberg
OTHER CORE READINGS COMMON TO THE
CLASS: (Subject to
change without notice):
Arkadi & Boris Strugatskii
(USSR) -- Hard to be a god (alternate
link) (USSR: 1964)
Yoss (Cuba) -- Social
worker, A performance of death, Chimneys
Other stories TBA
Histories and Introductions to
various international anthologies and novels, many of them out of print
The snail on the slope (Sturgeon’s intro)
Martians in Bartolo’s banana field
Historias
futuras
Cosmos Latinos, The best
Japanese science fiction stories (See above)
Science fiction from China
New worlds from the Lowlands
CORE SF FILMS:
|
La Jetée |
France |
1962 |
30 min |
Fri/Sat/Sun,
Jan. 21-23 |
4/7/10pm |
Ch. 98 |
|
Metropolis
|
Germany |
1927 |
139 |
Fri/Sat/Sun,
Feb 4-6 |
4/7/10pm |
Ch. 98 |
|
Aelita |
USSR |
1924 |
111 |
Fri/Sat/Sun,
Feb 11-13 |
4/7/10pm |
Ch. 98 |
|
Solaris |
USSR |
1972 |
169 |
Fri/Sat/Sun,
Feb 18-20 |
12/4/8pm |
Ch. 98 |
|
Abre los ojos |
Spain |
1997 |
117 |
Fri/Sat/Sun,
Feb 25-27 |
4/7/10pm |
Ch. 98 |
|
Gojira |
Japan |
1954 |
98 |
Fri/Sat/Sun,
Mar 25-27 |
4/7/10pm |
Ch. 98 |
|
Akira |
Japan |
1988 |
125 |
Fri/Sat/Sun,
Apr 1-3 |
4/7/10pm |
Ch. 98 |
|
Ghost in
the shell |
Japan |
1997 |
82 |
Fri/Sat/Sun,
Apr 8-10 |
4/7/10pm |
Ch. 98 |
|
Natural
City |
Korea |
2003 |
113 |
Fri/Sat/Sun,
Apr 15-17 |
4/7/10pm |
Ch. 98 |
|
Wonderful
Days |
Korea |
2003 |
90 |
Tues/Wed,
Apr 19-20 |
4/7/10pm |
Ch. 98 |
|
Koi...mil gaya |
India |
2003 |
170 |
Fri/Sat/Sun,
Apr 22- 24 |
4/7/10pm |
Ch. 98 |
OTHER POSSIBLE TEXTS FOR POSSIBLE RESEARCH
PAPER TOPIC:
The
roadside picnic:
Strugatskiis
The snail on the slope: Strugatskiis
Futurological Conference, Lem (fragment)
War of the newts, Capek
Jules Verne stories
The dead city of Korad (to be available electronically),
Oscar Hurtado
other films
Stalker (USSR: 1979)
Planet of storms (USSR: 1962)
The amphibian man (USSR: 1962)
Voyage to the end of the universe (Czech. 1963)
Witch hunter Robin (Japan)
OTHER RESOURCES:
Science Fiction Studies, particularly #79 & 80 (July
1999, March 2000) Theme: On Global Science Fiction, Part I, II
Ultimate science
fiction guide: countries
Online Russian / Soviet fiction
(Russica)
The instructor’s Cuban SF page
SCHEDULE:
(Films are displayed in red.)
INTRODUCTION TO
MATERIAL, FINDING SOURCES
|
M Jan 17 |
Introduction
to the course & field. First assignment: “Grant proposal” Georges Méliès: A trip to the Moon (France, 1902) |
|
|
T Jan 18 |
SEMINAR:
Library orientation in ODY |
|
|
W Jan 19 |
Exploring
fields for research topic in ODY: Assignment 0.5 |
|
|
F Jan 21 |
Early SF A Voyage To The Moon, Cyrano de Bergerac (1657) [Printable
version] ...Baron von Munchausen, Ch. 6,
18.
Raspé (1785) [Printable
version] Cyrano de Bergerac: Act 3, Scene 11, Rostand (1898). [Printable
version] a little background
on Kepler’s Somnium [1634] |
“Grant
proposal” due for each of 3 topics you might want to research |
|
M Jan 24 |
La Jetée [The Jetty] Fri/Sat/Sun 4/7/10pm on Ch. 98. |
|
|
T Jan 25 |
SEMINAR: Workshop
on oral presentations -- Come in with 3 sources for your first Oral
Presentation. J. Orlin Grabbe’s
homepage. |
|
|
W Jan 26 |
Introductions
to anthologies & translations: Read Sturgeon
on Soviets, Argentina,
Borges
on Bioy Casares, Asimov
on Dutch/Flemish, Pohl
on China, Japan.
Take good notes on each, focusing on thesis (if there is one) and
organizational structure. |
|
|
F Jan 28 |
Introductions
and anthologies: Cosmos
Latinos, Strugatskiis. Outline each. (Start
reading Solaris) No weekend film.
Sorry. |
Preliminary
thesis question due |
EARLY GLOBAL SF
|
M Jan 31 |
Introductions,
The early SF film industry & Europe between the Wars. |
|
T Feb 1 |
SEMINAR: Evaluating
sources The Weekly World News APA
citation style (Look at the section in A
writer’s reference) See
Purdue OWL
on APA Style |
|
W Feb 2 |
Čapek: Rossum’s Universal Robots [R.U.R.] Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovakia,
Čapek,
Kafka, Golem In class:
Laura
and Paula -- Michel Encinosa |
USSR / EASTERN BLOC
|
F Feb 4 |
Stanislaw
Lem: Solaris
(1961) Captions
for Metropolis (restored version) Why not
go to Ottawa for Winterlude? (Two more weekends left) |
|
|
M Feb 7 |
Metropolis and The Weimar Republic. Fri/Sat/Sun 4/7/10pm on Ch. 98.-- Joerg [ppt] |
|
|
T Feb 8 |
Čapek, War
with the newts -- Russell [ppt] SEMINAR: TBA |
|
|
W Feb 9 |
Lem’s Solaris -- Wolfe
[ppt] (Start Hard to be a god: Print-friendly
version) |
|
|
F Feb 11 |
USSR:
politics and art [ppt] Read Soviet art, Socialist realism, Countries:
Russia and skim Soviet History
before class. |
No
assignments due |
|
M Feb 14 |
Aelita and the early Soviet Union. Fri/Sat/Sun 4/7/10pm on Ch. 98. (Keep
reading Hard to be a god). Pulp
Era of SF [ppt] |
|
|
T Feb 15 |
Discuss
La Jetée -- Munt [ppt] (Read Questions to consider handout) The Block
Universe: All you
zombies (Heinlein) (Zombies timeline) Friday’s
assignment |
|
|
W Feb 16 |
French New Wave film
-- Perzanoski [ppt] Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: Hard to be a god -- Golley [ppt] |
|
|
F Feb 18 |
Hard to be a god, Selections from: Roadside picnic, Snail on the slope |
|
|
M Feb 21 |
Tarkovsky’s Solaris Fri/Sat/Sun 12/48pm, Ch. 11. (Note different channel.) Future SF
alert: Hitchhiker’s Guide trailer |
|
|
T Feb 22 |
SEMINAR:
canceled |
|
|
W Feb 23 |
The Annotated bibliography. Bring 3 references
(physically), plus thesis statement. Be prepared to work on both A.B. &
outline (Solaris subtitles) |
|
|
F Feb 25 |
Solaris and Hard to be a god -- Continuation “The
Prime Directive” debate: featuring characters from Solaris, H2BAG |
CUBA / LATIN AMERICA
|
M Feb 28 |
Abre los ojos [Open your eyes]. Fri/Sat/Sun
4/7/10pm on Ch. 98. -- Goodman
[ppt] Jules Verne
(Yes, I know he wasn’t from Eastern Europe or Latin America) From the Earth to the Moon, Ch.1 -- Legnard [ppt] |
|
|
T Mar 1 |
SEMINAR: Character
in fiction: Today’s
exercise [doc] (page one only), some food
for thought [doc] Oral
presentations: Top ten
ways to ruin a presentation [pdf] For your
amusement: Atlas of the Universe
[html] |
|
|
W Mar 2 |
Cuba I: Martians in Bartolo’s banana field [html] Koon’s in-class overview of Cuban
SF [ppt] From Cosmos Latinos: Arango:
Cosmonaut, Chaviano:
Annunciation, |
|
|
F Mar 4 |
Cuba I: Yoss -- Thouin [ppt] |