Dynamic Subspace

Category: Science Fiction

  • Science Fiction, LMC3214: Lecture on Feminist SF and Readings by Zoline, Russ, and Tiptree, Jr.

    For today’s class, my students came prepared to discuss three readings: Pamela Zoline’s “The Heat Death of the Universe” (New Worlds, July 1967), Joanna Russ’ “When It Changed” (Again, Dangerous Visions, 1972), and James Tiptree, Jr’s “The Women Men Don’t See” (Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Dec 1973).

    Before discussion, I treated the class to a lecture on terminology (sex, gender, sexuality, sexism, patriarchy, heteronormativity, and feminism), a short history lesson on Feminism (bringing it full circle with Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women, 1792 and covering First, Second, and Third Waves of Feminism), and a history of Feminist SF (building on our earlier readings by female writers, Dr. Lisa Yaszek’s rediscovery of “women’s SF,” and the New Wave/Second Wave/Feminist SF boom).  We also discussed some of the major figures, including Margaret Cavendish, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Joanna Russ, Pamela Sargent, Ursula K. Le Guin, Marge Piercy, Pamela Zoline, and James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice B. Sheldon). Learn more about Feminist SF on the Encyclopedia of SF entry here and in Ritch Calvin’s Feminist SF 101 article in SFRA Review #294 here.

    Following lecture, my students engaged in another energized debate on the readings that brought up a lot of issues that I could only gloss over in the lecture. I was fortunate to have some students offer personal experiences with their families and others who played devil’s advocate. I believe that our discussion facilitated a much deeper exploration of the stories and the issues surrounding them.

    Tomorrow, we will begin our viewing of James Cameron’s Aliens (1986). I consider this an example of feminist SF film, because unlike most SF film, it revolves around a strong female hero character who charts her own path based on the challenges of her future, corporatized society. However, it was made possible by the earlier work of feminist SF in the 1960s and 1970s. It also accomplishes interesting things with Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), because she is the strong hero who rediscovers her lost motherhood by destroying the mother of the xenomorphs–the Alien Queen. We will watch this through Thursday’s class, discuss it, and review for the second exam (taking place next during Monday’s class).

  • Science Fiction, LMC3214: Concluding New Wave SF with Philip K. Dick and Star Trek’s “The City on the Edge of Forever”

    In today’s class, I lectured on Philip K. Dick’s life (2-3-74) and work (characteristics: ontological, epistemological, entropy, empathy, religion, and the “little man”) to conclude my discussion of New Wave writers began in the last class. Then, I lectured on Star Trek and used Harlan Ellison’s “The City on the Edge of Forever” as a bridge between the New Wave and popular, mainstream SF.

    Tomorrow, we will begin our unit on Feminist SF and we will discuss readings by Pamela Zoline, Joanna Russ, and James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice B. Sheldon).

  • Science Fiction, LMC3214: New Wave Lecture and Three Story Discussion

    Today’s class was like an exclamation point in two ways. First, there was the long stroke of lecture. I lectured on the origins of the New Wave in New Worlds, Judith Merril’s England Swings SF, and Harlan Ellison’s Dangerous Visions. I gave my students background on semiotics, modernity/postmodernity, and modernism/postmodernism to anchor the New Wave (alas, arguing for a grand narrative while saying there ain’t such a thing). I talked more in-depth about the writers whose work we had read for today: J.G. Ballard, Harlan Ellison, and Samuel R. Delany. It was a long lecture, but it was material that I felt was important. Then, the hard dot fell after the pen raised from that long stroke! Students loved, “Repent Harlequin, Said the Ticktockman.” Other students hated it. Students loved, “The Cage of Sand.” Other students hated it. We had a knock-down drag out discussion. It was a beautiful conclusion to a week of lectures, readings, and film viewings. Next week, we continue the New Wave. I will talk about other New Wave writers and we will watch the original Star Trek episode, “The City on the Edge of Forever.” Looking further ahead next week, we will discuss Feminist SF and watch James Cameron’s Aliens (1986).

  • Science Fiction, LMC3214: Forbidden Planet

    Today, I showed my Science Fiction students the Fred M. Wilcox classic film from 1956, Forbidden Planet. Afterwards, I lectured about the tension that I see in the film between Golden Age emphasis on hard SF (space travel, harnessing atomic power, computers, chemistry, and metallurgy) and New Wave focus on inner space (cognition, mental power, exploration of the Freudian mind: id/ego/superego). This is one of my favorite films, and I hope that the students enjoyed the visual/auditory experience, too.

    Tomorrow, we begin our module on New Wave SF with a lecture on New Worlds, England Swings SF, Dangerous Visions, and the assigned readings: J.G. Ballard’s “The Cage of Sand,” Harlan Ellison’s “Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman,” and Samuel R. Delany’s “Aye, and Gomorrah. . .”

  • Science Fiction, LMC3214: Golden Age, Part 2 and SF Film Lecture

    In today’s class, I covered large swaths of background material on Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein, and Tom Godwin. Then, I gave the class a rough sketch of the development of SF film through the SF-film boom of the 1950s as preparation for tomorrow’s viewing of Forbidden Planet. After lecture, we discussed the readings from Monday and Tuesday: Asimov’s “Reason,” Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains,” Heinlein’s “All You Zombies–,” and Godwin’s “The Cold Equations.”

    I was glad to hear that Godwin’s story connected emotionally with some students despite it being “hard SF.” There were also a number of students  who preferred “All You Zombies–” and were already familiar with time travel narratives, which supported my lecture argument about Heinlein’s reliance on reader’s experience with the SF mega-text. One student on Bradbury’s story said, “This was the first story that made me feel sorry for a house.” After class, I had a great conversation with two students about Cold War anxieties and the shifting experiences of SF in film and television via new media.