Reading and Writing Science Fiction

Machine. Read great Sci-Fi, write your own, and explore how technologies, people, and the societies they build are related. Also, we may unexpectedly invent a Time

Teachers: Julia Zimmerman and Paul Kreiner

Want to know how sci-fi writers construct alternate worlds? Why they bother? Want to know whether the enemy’s gate is down, and why the metamorphic vector of the holy sand worm must be appeased? Then strap on your ‘trodes and plug into Reading and Writing Science Fiction.

This class surveys a broad range of Science Fiction drawn from a variety of sub-genres and time periods and is formatted to include lots of discussion and writing. The course takes ideas from within science fiction with the intent of relating them to other genres of literature and to long-debated questions - how people think, what it means to be human, how we should use technology and when or if it ever uses us, how beliefs - religious, political, and cultural - influence the shape of our thoughts and our societies, and how morality relates to science.

Unsure if you love sci-fi enough for this? Don’t be fooled, we’ve taken a liberal stance on what it means to be sci-fi, and if you love to use literature to understand human nature, then this class is still for you.

For the application...

Prerequisites

None

Relevant experience

AP or equivalent level English Language or Literature courses; Any other substantial writing activities

Application Question (Core-specific free response)

Why do people write things down? Do you think there should be a standard or rule for the sort of thing that gets preserved for future generations to read? What would you write down if your last opportunity to write anything was RIGHT NOW? (Note: You can interpret that last question however you like – is it an epitaph? Is it a message from the last human to the new robot overlords? We're curious to see how you want to think about it.)