Wes Chapman English House 205 x3090 wchapman@iwu.edu

Office Hours: M W 2 - 3 T Th 10-11 and by appt.

Course Description

Science fiction represents that which does not (or does not yet) exist--and as such has suffered from the reputation of being escapist fare. In this course, we will consider how science fiction uses "that which does not exist"--imagined futures, alternate histories, alien cultures, and the like--to grapple with genuine historical, social and philosophical concerns.

Required Texts

William Gibson, Neuromancer
Ursula K. Leguin, The Left Hand of Darkness
Walter M. Miller, Jr., A Canticle for Leibowitz
Applewhite Minyard, ed., Decades of Science Fiction
Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower