Click the links below to go to the appropriate section of this syllabus. Note: This page is undergoing major revision, so check back for a more useful version of the syllabus. Want to see the course offered through the Ad Astra Institute? Let us know and we'll see to it!
Course Goals
Diversity and Disability
Readings
Required Books
Your Instructor
Contact Information
Office Hours
Weekly Schedule
Course Requirements
Class Periods
Discussants
Attendance and Class Participation
Attendance and Class Participation Scoring
Papers
Weekly Response Papers
Weekly Paper Scoring
Mid-Term Paper
Final Research Project
Option A: Traditional Research Paper
Option B: Course Outline, Lesson Plan, or Study Guide
Option C: Creative Work
Final Project Deadline
Group Presentation
Grading
More Good Stuff
Recommended Works
"" - .
By successfully completing this course, you'll become fluent in SF scholarly approaches and the academic side of the field. This course provides an understanding of contemporary and future science fiction criticism by studying the important foundational and current scholarly texts, which do not appear in traditional mainstream literary scholarship courses. You will demonstrate your understanding of the genre by developing your own critical approach (or refining existing one[s]) and creating a substantial final project suitable for publication.
The Academic Achievement and Access Center (AAAC) coordinates accommodations and services for all eligible KU students. If you have a disability for which you wish to request accommodations and have not contacted the AAAC, please do so as soon as possible. Their office is located in 22 Strong Hall; their phone number is (785)864-4064 (V/TTY). Also please contact me privately about your needs in this course.
See the reading list, below, for the most-current set of essays and books we'll read and discuss.
Some of these volumes might be difficult to find, so I urge you seek copies early and, when books are out of print, search used bookstores and online services (I've provided links to two major online booksellers after each title, above). The University of Kansas Jayhawk Ink bookstore often has copies of many of these books on hand.
Christopher McKitterick is an award-winning science-fiction author and scholar, founded the new Ad Astra Institute for Science Fiction and the Speculative Imagination (launch announcement here), directed James Gunn's original J Wayne and Elsie M Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction from 1995-2022, teaches SF and creative writing at KU and elsewhere, and offers workshops and masterclasses around the world. He's been a professional writer and editor for decades, managed a documentation team, freelances for a variety of publishers, worked in the gaming industry, and is a popular public speaker. He writes not just stories and novels, but also nonfiction such as astronomy articles, technical documents, game supplements, journalism (and some poetry, too)... just about every writing genre. He's also edited magazines, developed websites since the 1990s, and more.
His "Ashes of Exploding Suns, Monuments to Dust" won the AnLab Reader's Award. His debut novel, Transcendence, is now in its second edition. He recently finished a far-future novel, Empire Ship, and has several other projects on the burners, including The Galactic Adventures of Jack & Stella. Feel free to mine his experience for tips and advice about writing, editing, and the science fiction field.
Read more about McKitterick here, or check out his personal website.
Feel free to mine his experience for tips and advice about writing and editing in general, as well as about the science-fiction field.
Office: TBA
Email: cmckit.SF@gmail.com
Other contact info:
Personal website
Goodreads
Google+
The Internet Speculative Fiction Database
LiveJournal
Tumblr
Wikipedia
No one critical approach to something as polymorphous as science fiction can suit all scholars, critics, readers, and writers. Each time we get together, come prepared with questions about all the readings (at least one from each, more is great) that you'd like everyone to discuss, plus your thoughts. Be prepared for vigorous conversation!
As you go back over the nonfiction and fiction materials in preparation for our get-togethers, strive to make the mental shift from generalized, emotional response to informed, critical response. That is, attempt to understand or explain your feelings. Here's a guide:
Nonfiction and critical materials:
As much as anything, science fiction is an ongoing conversation: a community where all the writers and other creatives, editors and other publishing professionals, readers, critics, scholars, and fans are in constant communication, especially with so many professional, critical, scholarly, semi-pro, blog, fan, and other SF magazines, websites, and social-networking publications covering so many aspects of the field. As our interconnectedness continues to grow, this sense of community will only grow, even as it continues to specialize, fragment, and sub-genre-ize. Considering this:
Fiction pieces:
In addition to all of the above, consider how you might use the nonfiction materials to approach this piece in a more scholarly or critical way:
Be prepared to answer all of these during discussion! Recommended but not required is a set of notes answering these questions, as well as your own discussion prompts - or perhaps as part of those.
Each day we discuss a variety of readings, their authors, the science fiction genre, and the historical context in which they appeared. Occasionally, we might have guest speakers. Class periods revolve largely around discussion, with some lecture.
After an introduction to the topic by your instructor, two or more students act as discussants for each day and lead (not monopolize) the discussion. Everyone is required to bring at least one discussion question to each seminar get-together.
Optimally, you'll perform additional research prior to class (further readings on the genre movements at hand and the day's authors, identifying possible multimedia content, and so forth) and come prepared with at least 12 questions and discussion prompts to stimulate discussion among your peers about the day's topic and readings. Include your discussion-leader notes as part of your reading response, or in addition to it. I expect all students to participate in discussions, but I also request that you avoid talking too much or talking over others. Be civil: These are discussions about ideas, not arguments or lectures!
Your instructor will likely open each day with some background on science fiction, especially the topics and genre movements relevant to the day's discussions, and some information about the authors. After that, the day's student discussants take over. You can split up the tasks among your fellow discussants based on stories, topics, or however you see fit. I simply expect everyone to serve equally.
Graduate students and teachers: Demonstrate solid pedagogical theory! Act as if you're teaching this course for a day. I expect you to participate every day, providing insightful comments and questions while encouraging those less inclined to participate - but not to dominate the discussions.
This is a discussion course, so class participation is weighed heavily! Coming to class and getting involved in the discussions each week are necessary for getting a good grade, not to mention how much value you get from the course. The discussions aren't just explication of plot or concept, though we will discuss those; I expect you to exercise your critical-reading skills. That is, don't just read the fiction for pleasure, don't just accept the related scholarship or introductions as canon, and don't feel the need to agree with your classmates' ideas - no one scholar can tell you the One True History of Science Fiction. By the end of this course you should possess expertise of your own in the topic. In the discussions, I want to witness your growing understanding of the genre based on the required readings, your outside readings, and your own experience with SF over the years. Of course, be polite and diplomatic if you disagree, but don't be shy either.
If you know you are going to miss a class for an academic event, illness, or other excusable reason, contact me as soon as possible to see if we can work out something so it does not negatively affect your overall grade too much. If appropriate, I can mitigate this loss so your attendance percentage remains unaffected. Otherwise, here is how I score attendance and participation:
Because we only meet once per week, each unexcused absence after the first drops your final course grade by a third; that is, missing two weeks might mean your final grade drops from an A- to a B+, missing three drops it to a B, and so forth. Missing zero classes usually serves to bump most students up a fraction of a grade (for example, from a B to a B+ when points are close), so don't miss classes! The next table illustrates this relationship.
Graduate students and teachers: I expect you to participate every day, providing insightful comments and questions while encouraging those less inclined to participate - but not to dominate the discussions.
During discussions, do not expose yourself or others to distractions such as checking email, Facebook, and so forth. Obviously, turn off your phone ringer/buzzer and put it away. I know it's sometimes a challenge to focus during extended discussion, but recent studies show that the human mind cannot pay attention to more than one thing at a time, and fracturing your attention means you're not getting everything possible out of each discussion. Even worse, monkeying around online also interrupts your neighbors' attention.
Feel free to take notes on your computer or portable device - or pull up your discussion and response notes - if you choose, just stay away from distractions. It's difficult to remain engaged in discussions if your mind is elsewhere, and doing so also bumps down your overall grade. On the other hand, actively participating in class discussions bumps up your overall grade.
I'm sure you have heard this before, but it is as true as ever: You get out of any activity only what you put into it. The more effort and creativity you apply to your projects and to class discussions, the more you will learn and the better the class will be for everyone else, as well. If you do not regularly attend class or do not participate in discussions, you will miss out on a lot of opportunities to learn and grow as a person.
In addition to good participation, much of your grade depends on the research paper you'll develop all semester:
Note: These two deliverables can be one and the same, if redefining critical
approaches is your passion, and you think you can write a publishable piece that
extends the field's understanding of how to best read SF.
If you're a writer, think of these projects as tools or processes to best
understand and analyze what makes good spec-fic so you can do the same.
If you're a scholar... well, these are sort of fundamental studies for doing good SF scholarship.
Submit it to me and your target market as your final
project. Professionalization is about acting like a professional so you can be a
professional, so I want you to think like a pro throughout the semester - and
you get to decide what "pro" looks like for you. Even after the semester's over,
I expect you to keep at it! And I hope everyone continues to collaborate as peer
support for one another's further pursuits.
Note: These two deliverables
can be one and the same, if redefining critical approaches is your passion, and
you think you can write a publishable piece that extends the field's
understanding of how to best read SF.
If you're a writer, think of these
projects as tools or processes to best understand and analyze what makes good
spec-fic so you can do the same.
If you're a scholar... well, these are
sort of fundamental studies for doing good SF scholarship.
If you use non-standard software to create your projects, be sure to save them in standard formats (for example, most computers can read .doc, .html, .rtf, and .pdf formats). Turn in in-process papers via Blackboard on the due dates. They will be commented on and returned via Blackboard in a reasonable time.
Want to enhance your literary-criticism chops by incorporating traditional (or novel) lit-crit approaches into your papers? Check out this overview page about "Literary-Criticism Approaches to Studying Science Fiction."
This paper must be at least 1000 words for undergraduates, 2000 words for graduate students, up to a max of 4000 words for undergraduates or 6000 words for graduates (again, longer is okay, just consider how much your teacher needs to read). They are graded on the quality of writing (including grammar and spelling), the quality of thesis and argument, the quality and diversity of research, and how interesting you make it.
Format your bibliography as appropriate for your field of study (MLA for most Humanities, Chicago for most other fields, and so forth; here's a good list of style guides).
Graduate students: In addition to the basics of writing an insightful paper, I expect you to demonstrate mastery of the form.
This paper takes the place of your regular reading-response paper for one week, but be sure to turn it in to the Blackboard Assignment called "Mid-Term Paper," not the regular weekly response paper slot. You must leave a note in that week's response assignment letting me know that you are turning in your Mid-Term Paper in place of that week's response so I don't think you're missing that response - drop this note into the relevant week's response assignment slots in Blackboard before class so I know what's up.
Due date: Turn in papers via Blackboard. You may turn in your paper as early as Week 2 or as late as Week 12; you need not turn this in on the same week that the reading response would be due, but it's due by Week 12 at the latest. Late papers get -2 points per day late for the first week (that's -10), then -2 points per day late after that. "Late" is after Friday of Week 12. Turn them in on time! Missing papers are due ASAP, at the very latest during Finals Week (at a deduction).
The final project can be either a traditional essay, a set of teaching materials, or a creative work. Your project explores a topic in science fiction, preferably something not listed in the syllabus or discussed in class - though you may pursue those if you select an angle we didn't already cover or discuss. Projects must be at least 2000 words for undergraduates (max of max of 7500 words), 3000 words for graduate students (max of 10,000 words). Non-text-based projects must clearly demonstrate a similar level of effort.
At the very least, answer this question:
How does the work you're analyzing or creating fit into the larger discussion that is science fiction? What does it add? What are its influences? What is it responding to? How does it extend what you think of as "science fiction"? Discuss as usual in a scholarly piece, or define in your creative piece's artist statement.
Some resources you might find useful:
You must include an alphabetized bibliography with a traditional paper or lesson plan, or an annotated bibliography at the end of your document if it is a creative work. An annotated bibliography is a set of references that provide a summary of your readings and research, to give me an idea of where you got your inspiration, scientific or technical resources, and so forth. List your sources alphabetically and include a brief summary or annotation for each work that you quote in the paper or that you use as a reference (or inspiration). Format your bibliography as appropriate for your field of study (MLA for much of the Humanities, Chicago for most other fields, and so forth; here's a good list of style guides). Turn in this project via Blackboard.
Grad students: In addition to the basics of writing an insightful paper, I expect you to demonstrate mastery of the form.
References, bibliographies, artist's statements, and endnote pages do not count toward your word-count.
I grade formal papers on the quality and diversity of research (both fictional and non-fictional), the writing (including grammar and spelling), and the strength of the topic and argument. What I most want is for you to demonstrate what you've learned from the course readings, your outside readings, and in-class discussions, and how you express this synthesis: Demonstrate your understanding of science fiction and the development of the SF novel.
This is not something that you can successfully complete at the last minute. The research paper represents a semester-long investigation of topics that interest you. If you wish to use works from the assigned readings that we discussed in class, I expect you to have something new to say that we didn't already discuss.
Participants who choose this option are often teachers and those pursuing that profession. Choose from these three options or provide another option that fits your pedagogical approach:
All of these options make wonderful additions to AboutSF.org! I encourage you to share this project with other teachers via this educational-outreach program.
A creative work (story, series of poems, play, short film, collection of artworks, website, creative nonfiction, and so forth) must dramatize how the ideas and themes posed in your work could affect believable, interesting characters living in a convincing, fully realized world in addition to revealing substantial understanding of the science fiction genre. For the purposes of this course, your annotated bibliography (normally not included in creative work) is particularly important if you pursue this option, because I want to see the diversity of readings that helped you develop your work (both fictional and non-fictional). Show me your research with a good annotated bibliography, demonstrate your understanding of science fiction, and make your creative work stand on its own.
To be crystal-clear in defining how your creative work displays your understanding of SF, its history, and your response to it, please also include an "artist's statement," as it very much helps me in evaluating creative work. Write this either as an appendix to your document (but don't count this toward your word-count) or paste it into the Submission text box of the Blackboard assignment.
Be aware that this option is more challenging - especially if you haven't taken creative-writing courses - because I expect the same level of research as in the other options plus a good story or other creative expression. Click here for some useful creative-writing resources.
Your final project is due by Thursday, December 18, at 5:00pm. The completed project is due via Blackboard. If you've created a website, posted a short film to the internet, or otherwise cannot upload the project directly, just provide a link (website URL) to where I can find the project online in the Submission section of the appropriate Blackboard Final Project assignment slot.
Want to hang out (at least virtually) with other SF folks? See the Lawrence Science Fiction Club on Facebook.
Check out some of these multimedia offerings. Click here to see them on this site, or click here to see our YouTube channel.
Benjamin Cartwright, former Volunteer Coordinator of the AboutSF.org outreach program, created a wonderful podcast program. Check it out at the AboutSF.org main page or at our Podomatic site!
To learn about more stuff, more quickly, you can also find events and lots of SF-related chat with the Lawrence Science Fiction Club! Info, discussions, and (hopefully soon!) meeting times are regularly posted at our Facebook page. Know of something of interest to like-minded folks? Join and drop a note there!
Here's a cool event each Spring, right after Spring finals:
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live Show
Friday and Saturday, in mid-May
Also the Spectrum Awards Show
Grand Ballroom of Bartle Hall Convention Center
Kansas City, MO
What are you doing on Memorial Day Weekend? Why not attend the ConQuest science fiction convention in Kansas City.
Sticking around for the summer? Don't miss the annual Campbell Conference and Awards weekend.
Want to take more speculative-fiction courses? Check out our growing list of offerings.
Going to be in the Kansas
City area in 2016? Then you're in luck! The KC fan community
won the World Science Fiction Convention bid, so the world of SF is coming to
the KC area in 2016! Details
at the MidAmeriCon II website.
Go here to see lots more SF resources.
Want to read more SF? You've come to the right place!
My lending library holds many books, magazines, and more, so if you are local to Lawrence or are in town for our other summer programs, check with McKitterick to see if we can lend you a copy. These are available on a first-come, first-served basis. We also have a course-specific lending library for the SF Literature course - which is primarily supplied by previous students donating copies after completing their course - so if you want to pass on the love to the next generation rather than keep your books, let your teacher know!
Want more? Check out the finalists for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel of the year, and the finalists for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short SF of the year. Many years, the majority of those works could have won these awards if the juries had just a few different members.
Want lots of free SF ebooks and e-zines? Check out Project Gutenberg's growing SF collection.
Want even more recommendations? My and James Gunn's "A Basic Science Fiction Library" is a go-to internet resource for building reading lists. It's organized by author.
We hold many books, so if you are local to Lawrence or are in town for our other summer programs, check with me to see if we can lend you a copy. These are available on a first-come, first-served basis. This lending library is primarily supplied by previous students donating copies after completing their courses, so if you want to pass on the love to the next generation rather than keep your books, let your teacher know!
Want to take more speculative-fiction courses? You're in luck! Check out our growing list of offerings.
Go here to see lots more SF resources.
If you like novels, or just want to prepare for next year's SF-novels version of this course, here you go:
And here are the books that we removed from the SF-novels version of this course - still important and recommended works for understanding the history of the SF novel, but we only have so much time to discuss:
McKitterick was on Minnesota Public Radio's "The Daily Circuit" show in June 2012, which was a "summer reading" show dedicated to spec-fic and remembering Ray Bradbury. Great to see Public Radio continuing to cover SF after their "100 Best SF Novels" list. Here's what he added to the show's blog:
A great resource for finding wonderful SF is to check out the winners and finalists for the major awards. For example, here's a list of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award winners. And here's a list of recent finalists for the Award. Here's the list of the Nebula Award novel winners. And the Hugo Award winners, which has links to each year's finalists, as well. A couple of books I didn't get a chance to mention include Ray Bradbury's R Is for Rocket, which contains a story that turned me into an author: "The Rocket" (along with Heinlein's Rocketship Galileo and Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time). Bradbury's Dandelion Wine is another, along with books like Frank Herbert's Dune, Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Clifford Simak's City (a Minnesota native), SF anthologies like James Gunn's Road to Science Fiction and the DAW Annual Year's Best SF, and tons more. Personally, my favorite Bradbury short story is pretty much everything Bradbury every wrote. His writing is moving and evocative like Simak and Theodore Sturgeon's - probably why those three made such an impression on the young-me. But if I had to pick only one that most influenced me as a writer, it would probably be "The Rocket," a beautiful story about a junk-man who has to decide between his personal dreams of space and love of his family. It was adapted into a radio show for NBC's "Short Story" series (you can listen to the MP3 audio recording here).
He was also on again in September 2012, when they did a story on "What did science fiction writers predict for 2012?" The other guest was a futurist - an interesting discussion!
Stay tuned for more to come!
* "'History of Science Fiction' is a graphic chronology that maps the literary genre from its nascent roots in mythology and fantastic stories to the somewhat calcified post-Star Wars space opera epics of today. The movement of years is from left to right, tracing the figure of a tentacled beast, derived from H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds Martians. Science Fiction is seen as the offspring of the collision of the Enlightenment (providing science) and Romanticism, which birthed gothic fiction, source of not only SF, but crime novels, horror, westerns, and fantasy (all of which can be seen exiting through wormholes to their own diagrams, elsewhere). Science fiction progressed through a number of distinct periods, which are charted, citing hundreds of the most important works and authors. Film and television are covered as well."
- Ward Shelly discussing this excellent "History of Science Fiction" infographic - now available for purchase!
We believe strongly in the free sharing of information, so you'll find a lot of content - including course syllabi and many materials from our classes - on this and related sites and social networks as educational outreach. Feel free to use this content for independent study, or to adapt it for your own educational and nonprofit purposes; just please credit us and link back to this website. We'd also love to hear from you if you use our materials!
This site is associated with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA), AboutSF, and other organizations, and its contents are copyright 1992-present Christopher McKitterick except where noted, and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License: Feel free to use and adapt for non-profit purposes, with attribution. For publication or profit purposes, please contact McKitterick or other creators as noted.
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updated 10/8/2018