Summer 2011
Intensive Institute on Science Fiction

 Available as English 506 / 790 (3 credits)
or as not-for-credit (for teacher professionalization)

Meets daily (M T W Th F Sa Su) 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Room: Templin Hall Dorm 3rd Floor Lounge

Science Fiction Grand Master James Gunn originally designed this course and will join us for lunch at Mrs. E's - and he might drop in occasionally as guest speaker.
Gunn's office: 3039 Wescoe. Gunn's email: jgunn@ku.edu

Meeting Space

Class begins at 1:00pm on Monday, July 11, in the Templin Hall dorm's 3rd floor lounge. Several of us will meet for lunch from noon - 12:50 across the street at Lewis Hall's Mrs. E's cafeteria, where you also have the opportunity to chat with James Gunn. We'll have someone at the front doors to the Lewis Hall to let in those not staying in the dorm, so be sure to arrive between 12:50 and 1:00 - no later! - so we can get you through the doors.

Table of Contents

Course Goals
Daily Reading and Discussion Schedule
Required Books
   Recommended Books
Course Requirements
Class Periods
   Discussants
Papers
   Daily Response Papers
      Daily Paper Scoring
   Final Project
      Option A: Traditional Research Paper
      Option B: Course Outline, Lesson Plan, or Study Guide
      Option C: Creative Work
      Final Project Deadline
Final Grading

Course Goals

To provide an understanding of contemporary and future science fiction through studying the history of the genre and many of its great works. We read a diversity of short SF and excerpts from longer pieces, and then we discuss how the genre got to be what it is today by comparing stories and their place in the evolution of SF, from the earliest prototypical examples through more recent work.

 Daily Schedule

You will find this handy Readings Guide very useful in finding the stories in our various volumes. Be sure to read the short essays that introduce each story, as well as the book introductions whenever we start a new volume.

Monday, July 11

Tuesday, July 12

Wednesday July 13

Thursday, July 14

Friday, July 15

Saturday, July 16

Sunday, July 17

Monday, July 18

Tuesday  July 19

Wednesday, July 20

Thursday, July 21

Friday, July 22

 Readings

The readings all come from James Gunn's wonderful The Road to Science Fiction series of anthologies. When you lead class discussions, you are also expected to do additional research about the day's topics and authors beyond the fiction readings and share what you learn with the rest of the class, as well.

 Required Books

We will read most of the stories in the first four volumes of The Road to Science Fiction, edited by James Gunn. The titles below contain links to online booksellers like Amazon and Powell's; click these links to find the books for sale online:

• The Road to Science Fiction; From Gilgamesh to Wells (editor), 2002 (Scarecrow)
• The Road to Science Fiction #2: From Wells to Heinlein (editor), 2002 (Scarecrow)
• The Road to Science Fiction #3: From Heinlein to Here, 2002 (Scarecrow)
• The Road to Science Fiction #4: From Here to Forever, 2003 (Scarecrow)

Full details about which stories we'll be reading and discussing on each day is available in the syllabus here.

Some of these volumes might be difficult to find, so we urge you seek copies early and, when books are out of print, search used bookstores and online services (we provide links to two major online booksellers after each title, above). The University of Kansas Oread Book Store tries to always have copies of these books on hand. Address:

Kansas Union, Lawrence KS 66045
Phone: 1-800-458-1111
Email: jayhawks@ku.edu
Web: http://www.kubookstore.com/

You can also order the revised editions of the first four volumes directly from Scarecrow Press: http://www.scarecrowpress.com/. Use the Quick Search keywords "James Gunn."

 Recommended Books

For further reading, Gunn has also edited two more volumes (not required reading):

• The Road to Science Fiction #5: The British Way, 1998 (White Wolf)
• The Road to Science Fiction #6: Around the World, 1998 (White Wolf)

Also recommended are the complete works from which we read a number of excerpts. More to come! Check back later....

 Course Requirements

To successfully complete the course and get out of it all you can, you are required to:

• Attend class every day.
• Participate in class.
• Lead at least two daily sessions with a partner.
• Read the required stories.
• Read the essays and introductions to the required stories.
• Write insightful daily response papers.
• Create a final project due at the end of the semester.

 Class Periods

Each day we discuss a variety of stories, their authors, the science fiction genre, and the historical context in which they appeared. Occasionally, we might have guest speakers. Participants are also welcome to lunch from noon - 12:50pm with SF authors Chris McKitterick (your instructor and CSSF Director), James Gunn (SFWA Grant Master who first developed the course and CSSF Founding Director), and Kij Johnson (multiple award-winning author and CSSF Associate Director), as well as dine out in the evenings in lovely downtown Lawrence, attend movies, engage in more discussions, and so forth. Class periods revolve largely around discussion, with some lecture. We meet every day from July 11 through July 22, including the Saturday and Sunday between those two weeks.

Participants are also strongly encouraged to register for and attend the Campbell Conference, July 7 - 10, where you can meet many authors and editors, get books signed, and participate in a unique scholarly event in the field. Attendees of the Conference get 10 bonus points for attending and writing up a response to the event! Register now if you'd like to be a part of this year's event!

Discussants

After an introduction to the topic by your instructor, 1-2 students assigned as discussants for each day lead (not monopolize) the discussions. Everyone is required to act as discussant at least twice during the 12 days we meet. If you have special needs and cannot perform this task, let me know early.

Discussants perform additional research prior to class (further readings on the genre movements at hand and the day's authors, identifying possible multimedia content, and so forth) and come prepared with three or more questions per story to stimulate discussion about the day's topic and readings. I expect all students to participate in discussions, but I also request that you avoid talking too much or talking over others. Be civil: These are discussions about ideas, not arguments!

Your instructor will open each day with some background on science fiction, especially the topics and genre movements relevant to the day's discussions, and some information about the authors. After that, the day's student discussants take over. Bring at least three questions per story to stimulate discussion among your peers. You can split up the tasks among your fellow discussants based on stories, topics, or however you see fit. I simply expect everyone to serve equally.

Graduate students and teachers: I expect you to demonstrate solid pedagogical theory! Pretend you're teaching this course for a day.

 Papers

Much of your grade depends on the short response papers you write on each story covered in the daily discussions and the longer final project. If you use non-standard software to create your projects, be sure to save them in standard formats (for example, most computers can read .doc, .html, .rtf, and .pdf formats). Turn in papers via Blackboard before class begins - and I welcome you to turn them in before the semester begins. They will be graded and returned via Blackboard in a reasonable time.

 Daily Response Papers

Participants taking the course not-for-credit are not expected to turn in daily responses, though you may if you wish. Prior to each class, you will write a short reading-response paper and turn it in via Blackboard. This one- or two-page (300-500 words) paper is a brief but thoughtful response to all of the readings for that day. Insightfulness and clarity are important. Along with participation in the discussion, these papers are scored as an important measure of your engagement with the day's topics.

Tip: Include questions to pose to the other participants as well as some points to stimulate discussion, even if you are not leading the week's discussion. I suggest printing out your paper and especially your questions and bringing them to class to help formulate ideas during discussion. (Also be sure to turn them in via Blackboard in advance of class.) They are usually returned to you via Blackboard, scored, by the end of the second week.

Daily Paper Scoring

Here is how I score the daily papers, based on 0-4 points each:
    0 - no paper.
    1 - paper turned in, but does not convince me that you did all the reading.
    2 - paper convinces me that you did some of the reading.
    3 - paper either has interesting insights on most of the readings or convinces me that you did all the reading.
    4 - paper convinces me that you did all the reading and provides interesting insights.

Missing response papers are due ASAP, preferably before July 11. Responses turned in on the day of the discussions (or afterward) are considered late and will be marked down 1 point if turned in on the day of discussion, 2 points if turned in up to three days late, and 3 points after that. The last day to turn in any paper is Thursday, July 28. Turn them in on time!

 Final Project

The final project can be either a traditional essay, a set of teaching materials, or a creative work. Your project explores a topic in science fiction, preferably topics not listed in the syllabus or discussed in class - though you may pursue those if you select an angle we don't already cover or discuss. Projects must be at least 2000 words for undergraduates, 3000 words for graduate students, with a max of 7500 words.

You must include an annotated bibliography (a list of references with brief notes) at the end of your document, especially if it is a creative work. An annotated bibliography is a set of references that provide a summary of your research. List your sources alphabetically and include a brief summary or annotation of each document that you quoted in the paper or that you list as a reference. Format your bibliography as appropriate for your field of study (MLA for Humanities, Chicago for most other fields, and so forth; here's a good list of style guides). Turn in this project via Blackboard.

References, bibliographies, and endnote pages do not count toward the minimum wordcount.

Participants taking the course not-for-credit are not expected to turn in a final project, though you may if you wish.

 Option A: Traditional Paper

Most participants choose this option. Formal papers are graded on the quality and diversity of research (both fictional and non-fictional), the writing (including grammar and spelling), and the strength of the topic and argument. What I most want is for you to demonstrate what you've learned from the class readings, your outside readings, and class discussions, and how you express this synthesis: Demonstrate your understanding of science fiction. This is not something that you can successfully complete at the last minute. The research paper should represent a summer-long investigation of topics that interest you. If you wish to use stories from the assigned readings that we discussed in class, I expect you to have something new to say that we didn't already discuss.

 Option B: Course Outline, Lesson Plan, or Study Guide

Many participants choose this option, especially teachers and those planning to be teachers. Choose from these three options:

• Course outline: Design a course in science fiction. This can cover any aspect of SF or serve as an introduction to the field. Successful course outlines I've seen before include "Feminist Science Fiction," "Utopian Science Fiction," and others targeted at college undergraduate students, and "Science Fiction: An Introduction" targeted at junior-high schoolers. You can pick any age group you wish, just be sure to specify that when you turn it in. I understand that a complete course plan is a major project, so this can be relatively high-level. Required elements include pedagogy (why teach these materials and how), reading list, and high-level syllabus. If you wish to write a formal, complete course plan, that's great! But it needn't exceed the required word-count. I encourage you to share this project with other teachers via AboutSF.com.
• Lesson plan: Design in detail a single lesson plan on a series of short pieces or a book. This includes the part that students see (from a larger syllabus), plus your teaching notes (lecture comments, questions for student discussion, and so on), and writing prompts.
• Study guide: This is a detailed examination of a single long work or group of short pieces on a single topic. It usually covers plot, character, ideas, themes, setting, and so forth, and often ends with self-study questions. The audience for this ranges from students working independently to teachers looking to develop a lesson plan.

All of these options make wonderful additions to AboutSF.com!

 Option C: Creative Work

A creative work (story, series of poems, play, short film, website, creative nonfiction, and so forth) must dramatize how the changes posed in your work could affect believable, interesting characters living in a convincing, fully realized world in addition to revealing substantial understanding of the science fiction genre. For the purposes of this course, your annotated bibliography (normally not included in creative works) is particularly important if you pursue this option, because I want to see a diversity of readings that help you develop your work (both fictional and non-fictional). Show me your research with a good, well-annotated bibliography, and make your story stand on its own as a story. Be aware that this option is more challenging - especially if you haven't taken formal writing courses - because I expect the same level of research as in the other options plus a good story. Click here to find some useful writing resources.

 Final Project Deadline

Your final project is due TBA (finals week). The completed project is due via Blackboard. If you've created a website, posted a short film to the internet, or otherwise cannot upload the project directly, just provide a link (website URL) to the project in the Notes section of the appropriate Blackboard assignment.

 Final Grading

Your course grade is based upon these factors:

• Class participation = 1/3 of grade. Includes attendance, participation in each day's discussion, and leading at least one discussion with partner(s). Missing three (3) days drops your final grade by one full letter grade; missing one (1) day drops a full grade to a minus grade.
• Daily response papers = 1/3 of grade
• Final research paper = 1/3 of grade

Attendees of the Conference can earn up to 10 bonus points for writing up a response to the event! Register now if you'd like to be a part of this year's event!

updated 8/11/2011