Welcome to English 370!
ENGL 370 is a course on science fiction (SF) offered by the Department of English at California State University, Northridge.
370 is designed for CSUN students who have completed the Lower Division writing requirement and have some experience in critical reading and writing. In the Fall 2013 semester (i.e. August to December 2013), it will be taught by me, Prof. Charles Hatfield.
370 will especially appeal to students who are interested in the ways that fiction interacts with, and influences, science, futurism, and technoculture. By futurism I mean the practice of imagining possible, probable, and desired or undesired futures. By technoculture I mean three whopping big things:
370 addresses these (huge) issues through the study of science fiction—a genre first clearly labeled and marketed as a genre in the 1920s but actually predating the label by centuries. SF is a type of speculative fiction. It is about how we relate to the possibility of change, how change may redefine or displace our worldviews, and how big or small we may feel in relation to the universe. Fundamentally, the SF genre expresses hopes and fears inspired by our understanding that the universe is changeable—that we can change it, or be changed by it. In other words, science fiction is a popular way of thinking about how changes lead to other changes, and how we may remain the same, or not, in the face of unexpected new developments. Depending on how you look at it, SF either affirms or profoundly challenges who we are.
What if we knew we weren't alone in the universe? What if our world, our culture, was organized in some wholly other way? What if everything we take for granted about ourselves and our environment was suddenly taken from us? What if new technologies extended our reach but also made us question who we are? What if humanity itself were redefined? What if we couldn't be sure of our identities as humans, as men or women, as subjects or citizens? What if, simply, all our "givens" were abruptly called to question? If we woke up suddenly, as if from a dream, and found that we couldn't be sure of what we are?
Science fiction is the "what if" genre, so 370 will be about questions like these. Bookmark this page, or visit often, to see how the course syllabus develops over the final weeks of summer!
Image credits: The inset image of circuitry above is a stock photo taken from www.123rf.com. The album cover below was designed by Barney Bubbles; Peter Hammill was photographed c. May 1978 by Brian Griffin.
370 is designed for CSUN students who have completed the Lower Division writing requirement and have some experience in critical reading and writing. In the Fall 2013 semester (i.e. August to December 2013), it will be taught by me, Prof. Charles Hatfield.
370 will especially appeal to students who are interested in the ways that fiction interacts with, and influences, science, futurism, and technoculture. By futurism I mean the practice of imagining possible, probable, and desired or undesired futures. By technoculture I mean three whopping big things:
- The nexus of culture and technology. How do aesthetics, history, criticism, and politics interrelate with technology?
- The mutual influence of science and the arts. How has science shaped the ways we make art and tell stories? Vice versa, how have art and story shaped the way we do science?
- The reception and depiction of science and technology in popular culture. How have popular cultural forms—including literature, film, TV, gaming, comics, social media, and other forms—influenced the way we imagine science?
370 addresses these (huge) issues through the study of science fiction—a genre first clearly labeled and marketed as a genre in the 1920s but actually predating the label by centuries. SF is a type of speculative fiction. It is about how we relate to the possibility of change, how change may redefine or displace our worldviews, and how big or small we may feel in relation to the universe. Fundamentally, the SF genre expresses hopes and fears inspired by our understanding that the universe is changeable—that we can change it, or be changed by it. In other words, science fiction is a popular way of thinking about how changes lead to other changes, and how we may remain the same, or not, in the face of unexpected new developments. Depending on how you look at it, SF either affirms or profoundly challenges who we are.
What if we knew we weren't alone in the universe? What if our world, our culture, was organized in some wholly other way? What if everything we take for granted about ourselves and our environment was suddenly taken from us? What if new technologies extended our reach but also made us question who we are? What if humanity itself were redefined? What if we couldn't be sure of our identities as humans, as men or women, as subjects or citizens? What if, simply, all our "givens" were abruptly called to question? If we woke up suddenly, as if from a dream, and found that we couldn't be sure of what we are?
Science fiction is the "what if" genre, so 370 will be about questions like these. Bookmark this page, or visit often, to see how the course syllabus develops over the final weeks of summer!
Image credits: The inset image of circuitry above is a stock photo taken from www.123rf.com. The album cover below was designed by Barney Bubbles; Peter Hammill was photographed c. May 1978 by Brian Griffin.
Peter Hammill, "The Future Now," from the album of the same name (1978).