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Syllabus

This online course replicates the content of the Intensive Institute on Science Fiction graduate course that has been held annually at the University of Kansas for twenty-two years. This three-hour course will explore science fiction from an historical perspective.

The target audience for this course includes teachers interested in designing a class on science fiction as well as other individuals who want to explore this dynamic and important genre.

This course explores science fiction in terms of the influences that created it and then affected its subsequent development. It examines what science fiction is, how it differs from other kinds of fiction (fantasies and utopias and "mainstream" stories), how it got to be what it is, and how it achieves its effects.

Science fiction has always been a popular literary form, closely related to the public mind and the state of public awareness. This course is concerned with those stories that influenced the genre and helped develop science fiction, the stories that everyone who is interested in science fiction ought to know. This is a course about a genre, and genres are defined by their types, not by their isolated masterpieces. Great stories, by definition, are unique; and if they launch genres, or cap them, the qualities we value in them are those that transcend their circumstances.

By examining short stories written throughout the centuries-long life of the science fiction genre, we will view the genre in its historical, social, and literary contexts.

Although only a handful of stories are assigned as required reading for each lesson, you are expected to read all of the stories in the four volumes of The Road to Science Fiction and to draw on these materials for historical context when completing assignments. You are also encouraged to read widely within the other required texts for the course, including stories that are not specifically assigned as reading for any lesson. I suggest that you explore the links in the course lessons to learn more about specific individuals, events, and organizations in your study. Please let your instructor know if you try to access links that are not working.

Course Materials

The following texts and multimedia resources are required or recommended for this course.

Required Texts

James Gunn, ed., The Road to Science Fiction #1: From Gilgamesh to Wells, 1977 (New American Library), 2002 (Scarecrow Press).

James Gunn, ed., The Road to Science Fiction #2: From Wells to Heinlein, 1979 (New American Library), 2002 (Scarecrow Press).

James Gunn, ed., The Road to Science Fiction #3: From Heinlein to Here, 1979 (New American Library), 1996 (White Wolf), 2002 (Scarecrow Press).

James Gunn, ed., The Road to Science Fiction #4: From Here to Forever, 1982 (New American Library), 1997 (White Wolf), 2002 (Scarecrow Press).

David Hartwell, ed. Visions of Wonder: The Science Fiction Research Association Reading Anthology, 1996 (Tor Books).

Gardner Dozois, ed. The Year's Best Science Fiction, Twenty-third Annual Collection, 2006 (St. Martin's Griffin).

Recommended Texts

James Gunn, ed. The Road to Science Fiction #5: The British Way, 1998 (White Wolf).

James Gunn, ed. The Road to Science Fiction #6: Around the World, 1998 (White Wolf).

James Gunn, Alternate Worlds: The Illustrated History of Science Fiction, 1975 (Prentice-Hall).

Additional Resources

If you choose the course plan for your final project, you will need to construct a lesson plan for a science fiction short story or novel. You may select any work in the genre (subject to instructor approval), but if you are unfamiliar with science fiction and would like recommendations, consider the works in James Gunn's Basic Science Fiction Library.

You might also consult these lists of past winners of the Hugo, Nebula, Campbell, and Sturgeon Awards, four major annual awards for science fiction:

Hugo Awards
Nebula Awards
Campbell Awards
Sturgeon Awards

Course Procedures

Begin by reading each lesson to learn its specific assignments; then complete the required readings. Next, complete the writing assignment for the lesson.

Writing Assignments

At the conclusion of each lesson, you'll complete and submit a 500-word essay assignment. These assignments need not be formal, but they should demonstrate comprehension of the required readings and a well-developed understanding of how each lesson's material relates to the development of the science fiction genre.

Course Plan or Research Paper

The central writing assignment for this course will be either a lesson plan centered on a major work of science fiction or, alternatively, a research paper that identifies and explores a topic related to the course theme. Completion of either of these projects will require approximately equal amounts of work; your choice of which project to pursue will depend on your personal interests.

Course Plan—The course plan should provide a detailed description of a proposed course on science fiction at the academic level of your choice. It should include an in-depth description of one course lesson (including readings, lesson objectives, instructional material, and sample questions, as appropriate). The course should demonstrate sound pedagogy and present the required readings within the context of the science fiction field.

Course plans will be graded on thoroughness, utility to teachers, and the quality of organization and writing (including grammar and spelling).

Although not required, you are encouraged to post your finished course plan on the AboutSF Curriculum Wiki, which is maintained by the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at KU, where it will be available for teachers to use in their classrooms. You will be credited as the author and might be able to count this as a publishing credit:

Research Paper—The research paper should identify and explore a topic related to the course theme. Papers should be 10 to 15 pages long (2,000 – 3,500 words) typed and double-spaced in a 12‑point font. A list of references must be included, but reference or endnote pages do not count toward the 10‑page minimum (or 15‑page / 3500‑word maximum).

Papers will be graded on the quality of the research and the writing (including grammar and spelling), and the strength of the topic and argument.

Final Exam

The final exam will consist of a combination of short-answer and essay questions. This exam must be taken in a proctored environment. You may not apply to take the final exam until you have completed all other course assignments. You may not use your course texts or any other aids during the exam. You will be allowed three hours to complete the final exam. See preparation for the final exam.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is presenting someone else's words or work as your own. Plagiarism applies to material taken from a book, article, or the Internet, or to material taken from another person without properly citing your sources. Paraphrasing another writer, substituting words, or rearranging sentences from the work of another also constitutes plagiarism. Plagiarism is easily detected with databases and search engines.

Plagiarism is academic misconduct and is a violation of rules and regulations of the University of Kansas. Penalties for academic misconduct range from failure of the assignment to expulsion from the University. In this course, plagiarism on an assignment will result in an F for that assignment, and any additional plagiarism will result in failure of the course and possible further penalties. Plagiarism on an examination will result in failure of the course, regardless of the current status of your grade. If plagiarism is discovered after you complete the course, your instructor may reexamine your work and will notify you of the proposed penalty. If you disagree with a charge of academic misconduct, you may request a review by Continuing Education.

The KU Writing Center provides guidance on academic integrity, incorporating and properly citing reference sources, and how to avoid plagiarism.

Grading Formula

Writing assignments 50%
Course plan or research paper 25%
Final exam 25%

Instructors

James Gunn was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1923. He received his BS in journalism in 1947 after three years in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and his MA in English in 1951, both from the University of Kansas. He also did graduate work in theater at KU and Northwestern.

Gunn has worked as an editor of paperback reprints, as managing editor of KU alumni publications, as director of KU public relations, as a professor of English, and now is professor emeritus of English and director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction. He won national awards for his work as an editor and a director of public relations. He was awarded the Byron Caldwell Smith Award in recognition of literary achievement and the Edward Grier Award for excellence in teaching, was president of the Science Fiction Writers of America for 1971-72 and president of the Science Fiction Research Association from 1980-82, was guest of honor at many regional SF conventions, including SFeracon in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, and Polcon, the Polish National SF convention, in Katowice; was presented the Pilgrim Award of SFRA in 1976, a special award from the 1976 World SF Convention for Alternate Worlds, a Science Fiction Achievement Award (Hugo) by the 1983 World SF Convention for Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction, and the Eaton Award in 1992 for lifetime achievement; was a KU Mellon Fellow in 1981 and 1984; and served from 1978-80 and 1985-present as chairman of the Campbell Award jury to select the best science-fiction novel of the year. He has lectured in Denmark, China, Iceland, Japan, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, Yugoslavia, and the Soviet Union for the U S Information Agency.

Gunn started writing SF in 1948, was a full-time freelance writer for four years, and has had nearly 100 stories published in magazines and books; most of them have been reprinted, some as many as a dozen times. He is the author of twenty-six books and the editor of ten; his master's thesis was serialized in a pulp magazine. Four of his stories were dramatized over NBC radio's "X Minus One"; "The Cave of Night" was dramatized on television's Desilu Playhouse in 1959 as "Man in Orbit"; and The Immortals was dramatized as an ABC-TV "Movie of the Week" in 1969 as "The Immortal" and became an hour-long series in 1970-71. His stories and books have been reprinted in Australia, China, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Scandinavia, South America, Spain, Taiwan, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia.

Chris McKitterick is an author, editor, technical writer, teacher, amateur astronomer, and backyard engineer. He received his BA degree in English from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire in 1991, and his MA in English ( creative writing) from KU in 1996. His minors include astronomy and psychology.

Since his work was first published in 1984, he has written for Analog, Artemis, Captain Proton, E-Scape, Extrapolation, Mythic Circles, NOTA, Synergy SF, Tomorrow SF, Top Deck magazine, various TSR publications, and a bowling poem anthology. His technical-writing publications have included astronomy newsletters, science articles, manuals, and advertising materials. He has also regularly written for the Microsoft Windows Server Resource Kits series, where he was a documentation manager. His contributions to these projects have earned a number of Society for Technical Communication (STC) awards.

McKitterick is nominations director of the Theodore A. Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short science-fiction story of the year, and is a juror on the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science-fiction novel of the year. Since 1992, he has assisted teaching the CSSF Writer’s Workshop for Science Fiction. In addition to his involvement with the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, McKitterick has taught technical communication and science fiction at KU since 2002. Former jobs include planetarian, observatory assistant director, trainer, and game-store promoter.

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