Fantasy and Science Fiction (sf) is a literature course that focuses entirely on exploring the realm of possibility. Fantasy traditionally builds a magical world that resembles our historical past but creates magical kingdoms and magical laws. Science-fiction peers out into our future and asks how technology and time will change the world we live in. Both genres ask “what if,” but each genre does it in a very unique way. My primary goal is to expose you to this world and to try to create interest in the texts and films that have come to define these genres. You won’t necessarily like all (or maybe any) of the things we cover in class, but if I can get you to go out and read a book or watch a movie out of this genre, then I have done my job.
Perhaps no other genres have influenced the way we tell stories today more than these two—especially when it comes to movies. From classics like The Wizard of Oz and E.T. to this summer's hits like Captain America: Civil War and Independence Day: Resurgence, Fantasy and Sci-Fi films have maintained popularity since film became a major industry. There is something about movies--the ability create magic, to make the unreal real--that makes Fantasy or Sci-Fi a movie genre that will never die. Entertainment value, however, isn't all that these stories have to offer. Some movies (definitely not all) often critique the world we live in or comment on how we act or behave as humans. E.T. is about our struggle to find family in a world that wants to swallow us alive. Harry Potter helps us explore what it must feel like to be an outcast, to be an individual still struggling to find your own place in this world. Star Trek shines a light on what we fear in a universe that we haven't yet even fully uncovered; and even in this "great universe," it is often the fear we have of others that outweighs everything else.
This course gives us a chance to gain a deeper enjoyment of these stories, but it also pushes us to understand what these stories have to offer us beyond entertainment. I hope you are up for the adventure and for the challenge as we dive into the unknown.
HAIKU COURSE SITE!!!
Below this text is a link to our Haiku website, which is where I will have handouts, weekly discussions, group projects and links to online readings. The Sign-up code for the Haiku page is 3JHJV
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