Teaching Science Fiction at Georgia Tech Dr. Jason W. Ellis

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Introduction Prof. Bud Foote taught Science Fiction at Georgia Tech for the first time in 1971—six year before I was born. Following his retirement, he donated over 8,000 SF books to the Georgia Tech Library and inaugurated what is now called the Georgia Tech Science Fiction Collection. Some of you have donated to it, and we have contributions from David Brin, Dr. Patrick Thomas Malone, and Dr. Richard Erlich, too. Today, Prof. Lisa Yaszek helms Georgia Tech’s science fiction initiatives, which includes overseeing the SF Collection and the development of a graduate-level SF degree. When I was a Tech student from 1995-2006, I never could get into Prof. Foote’s SF class—it was always full! In 2002, I took SF from Prof. Yaszek, but I did get to meet Prof. Foote and speak with him in 2004. When he passed away in 2005, I made a video presentation for his campus memorial service. Before I graduated from Tech, I took Prof. Yaszek’s SF-infused Gender Studies course, researched the theme of AI in SF as a member of the SciFiLab, and performed research for Prof. Yaszek’s Galactic Suburbia book. Before returning to Georgia Tech as a Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, I earned my MA in Science Fiction Studies from the University of Liverpool, where I took literature and philosophy courses focused on SF, and my PhD in English from Kent State University, where I wrote a dissertation on SF’s function to prepare us for a present and future more quickly than our cognitive evolution.

Historical and Cultural Approach

• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein • Jules Verne’s Voyages Extraordinaires • H.G. Wells’ Scientific Romances • Hugo Gernsback and the Pulps • SF Film Serials

o Flash Gordon • John W. Campbell, Jr. and the Golden

Age o Isaac Asimov o Ray Bradbury o Robert A. Heinlein o Tom Godwin

• Midcentury SF Film o Forbidden Planet

• SF New Wave o Michael Moorcock o Harlan Ellison o Philip K. Dick o Samuel R. Delany

• Television SF o Star Trek

• Feminist SF o Pamela Zoline o Joanna Russ o James Tiptree, Jr. o Ursula K. LeGuin o Stepford Wives o Aliens

• Cyberpunk o Bruce Sterling o William Gibson o Pat Cadigan

• Global Perspectives: Taiwanese SF o Huang Fan o Chang His-Kuo

Teaching Science Fiction at Georgia Tech Dr. Jason W. Ellis

[ Blog: dynamicsubspace.net | Email: dynamicsubspace@gmail.com | Twitter: @dynamicsubspace ]

Evolution of Assignments Prof. Foote had his students read a novel each week followed by a quiz. Throughout, he lectured on the development and writers of SF. Prof. Yaszek lectures on the development of the SF genre and discusses novels, short stories, and films with students. Building on three exams during the semester, students may choose to write either a five-page research essay analyzing a work of SF not discussed, or an original SF story and five-page analysis of their own story. My expanded historical approach is based in large part on what I learned in her class. My SF class builds on these classes that have come before, the 20-pages of graded writing requirement for literature classes at Tech, and my belief in developing additional literacies—including digital and haptic. Now, I am piloting Science Fiction for the Summer Online Undergraduate Program. SOUP gives students at home, abroad, or work the opportunity to earn course credit through distance learning. 1/3 of students meet face-to-face in a camera-equipped classroom. 2/3 of students watch class recordings. Both groups of students complete the same assignments and discuss class topics using digital tools. Online Discussion To facilitate class discussion for all 35 students, I have students use Twitter. Students write a minimum of 10 tweets per week on course content: 6 observations, 2 questions, and 2 replies to the questions of others. I engage with students on Twitter and raise new questions based on their responses. Twitter bridges class sections and it gives students opportunities to explore how to use and understand social media as multimodal and rhetorical. Discussion Essays Instead of having students sit for exams, I assigned three 900-word discussion essays. I instruct students to teach me what I have taught them in summary form. Their discussions should identify important figures, describe major phases/characteristics, and summarize the

readings. Since these are essential open-book exams, I hold students to a higher standard for accuracy and grammar. Final Paper Using a list of SF definitions with MLA citations provided to students, I ask students to discuss a few of these definitions, develop their own definition of SF based on them, and analyze a work of their choosing against their definition in a 1,250 word argument-based essay. They may choose a short story, novel, television series, film, music, or video game. Haptic Assignment On the last day of class for on-campus students, I bring a large container of Lego bricks and give students 15 minutes to build an SF icon or object. Then, students tell us about their creation and why it resonates with them. I expand on their thoughts by talking through the lineage of the object and connecting it to the SF mega-text. This assignment gives students an opportunity to use their hands and imagination to create something in three dimensions that we then discussion orally and connect to the overall historical development of SF. Useful Teaching Resources The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, third edition, http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com Georgia Tech Science Fiction Collection, http://www.library.gatech.edu/scifi/ Gunn Center for the Study of SF, http://www.sfcenter.ku.edu The Internet Speculative Fiction Database, http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/index.cgi SFRA Review, http://sfra.org/sfrareview Teaching Science Fiction, http://us.macmillan.com/teachingsciencefiction/PeterWright A Virtual Introduction to Science Fiction, http://virtual-sf.com