You are expected to have completed the reading or viewing assignment before coming to class. Please bring a copy of the reading assignment with you. The readings and films will be listed below as the course progresses.

Outlining the readings can improve your understanding of the readings. A guide to outlining is provided at the bottom of the page.

Date Reading/Viewing

9/6
  • American Science Fiction Film :An Overview by Vivian Sobchack
  • Chapter 1 in A Short Guide to Writing About Film
  • Course Policy

9/8
  • Chapters 2 in A Short Guide to Writing About Film
  • Pages 55 to 59 in "Inquiry Matters"
  • Presentations

9/13

9/15
  • Library Day

9/20
  • Watch Them!(1954)
  • "Imagination of Disaster" by Susan Sontag

9/22
  • Watch The Thing From Another World (1951)
  • "The Russians are coming, aren't they? The Thing and Them!" by Peter Biskind
  • Reviews Due

9/27
  • Watch The Thing (1982)
  • "'You've got to be fucking kidding!':Knowledge, Belief and Judgement in Science Fiction"by Steve Neale
  • "Who goes there?" by Joseph Campbell

9/29
  • Watch Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
  • "Don Seigel on Pod Society" by Stuart M. Kaminsky
  • "You're Next!": Postwar Hegemony Besieged in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) by K. Mann

10/4

10/6
  • Watch Alien (1979)
  • p 131-147 in From Alien to Matrix by Roz Kaveney
  • "Feminism and Anxiety in Alien" by Judith Newton

10/11
  • Watch Bladerunner
  • "Technology and Politics in the Bladerunner Dystopia" by Judith B. Kerman

10/13
  • Library Day
  • Abstract due

10/18
  • "Ramble City: Postmodernism and Bladerunner" by G. Bruno

10/27
  • Watch Gattaca in class

11/1

11/3

11/8

11/10
  • Watch Solaris (2002)
  • "Love, Loss and Identity in Solaris" by Christopher Grau

11/15
  • Watch Dark City
  • "Man, Machine, Memory and Movies" by Tim Mitchell

11/17
  • Watch 12 Monkeys
  • Nietszche's Eternal Return: An excerpt from The Gay Science
  • "In the Twinkling of an Eye: Nietzschean Undercurrents in Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys" by Sean Cridland

11/22
  • Peer Editing Day

11/29
  • Paper Due

12/1
  • Watch Back to the Future
  • "Back to the Future: Oedipus as time traveller" by Andrew Gordon

12/6
  • Watch Primer
  • Come with your "timeline" of events in the film.

12/8
  • Presentations

12/13
  • Presentations
  • Last Day for Revisions

 

GUIDELINES FOR OUTLINES
Outlining and other forms of careful note taking provide for better understanding of readings, a guide for in-class work and point of reference for future study.
When you compose outlines:

  1. Keep track of main line or argument (or plot structure if a novel)
  2. Situate secondary and tertiary lines of argument with respect to the main argument.
  3. Note difficult passages [copy them down if short, or note what page].
  4. Formulate questions for discussion and further inquiry (2 questions are required for each outline).
  5. Record your reflections on contemporary issues, problems, etc. connected to key issues in the readings. Craft a rationale for your opinion.
  6. Modify your outline style to fit the text. Novels differ from dialogues and treatises. At certain points, a paragraph summary may be more appropriate or helpful than phrases or short sentences.
  7. Insert quotes sparingly.

In addition, you are asked to revise your outlines given what you learn in class and in discussion with others. You should look over your outline before class as a way of refreshing your memory. You should form a regular study group. You may even consider discussing the readings and your outlines as you enter the classroom.

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