Syllabus: ‘Science Fiction and Ecology’

First day of the new semester. Really excited about this one.

Full syllabus [PDF].

This course pairs thinkers and theorists in the ecological humanities with science fiction texts from the 1970s, 1980s, and today. After several early weeks establishing a shared foundation of critical reference points, we focus on five primary texts for the remainder of the semester: John Brunner’s The Sheep Look Up (1972), Ernest Callenbach’s Ecotopia (1975), Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel Swamp Thing (1982-1987), Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake (2003), and Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Wind-Up Girl (2009), with additional attention paid to other films, short stories, scientific readings, and theoretical texts as appropriate. Implicit in the organization of the course is a comparison between the environmental politics of the 1970s and the contemporary situation, as well as new consideration of what the “science” of “science fiction” might entail for the twenty-first century.

These novels are interspersed with films, short stories, scientific readings, and theoretical texts that include readings from contemporary ecological and ecocritical writers like John Bellamy Foster, Vandana Shiva, Imre Szeman, and Ursula Heise. We will also consider more skeptical work from authors like Freeman Dyson, The Skeptical Environmentalist author Bjørn Lomborg, and Freakonomics authors Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt, as well as evaluate environmental denialism on the Internet and in popular media.

DATE	ASSIGNMENTS AND RESPONSES DUE BY 2 PM
R JAN 12	FIRST DAY OF CLASS Charles Stross, “Designing Society for Posterity” (Web)
T JAN 17	CLASS CANCELLED
R JAN 19	Cognitive Mapping Ursula Heise, “From the Blue Planet to Google Earth: Environmentalism, Ecocriticism, and the Imagination of the Global” (Bb) in-class: Fredric Jameson on cognitive mapping (Bb) in-class: Darko Suvin on cognitive estrangement (Bb) in-class: WALL-E (clips); An Inconvenient Truth (clips)
T JAN 24	The Birth of Environmentalism Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (excerpts) John Bellamy Foster, “Rachel Carson’s Ecological Critique” (Bb) Club of Rome, “The Limits to Growth” (excerpt) (Bb) in-class: Soylent Green (clips)
R JAN 26	Futures and Anti-Futures: Ecology and Environmentalism Today Johan Rockstrom et. al, “Planetary Boundaries” (Bb) Imre Szeman, “System Failure: Oil, Futurity, and the Anticipation of Disaster” (Bb) Naomi Klein, “Climate Rage” (Web) in-class: Daybreakers (clips)
T JAN 31	Eco-Apocalypse and the End of the World John Brunner, The Sheep Look Up (December, January, February, March)
R FEB 2	John Brunner, The Sheep Look Up (April, May, June, July)
T FEB 7	CONFERENCES—NO CLASS
R FEB 9	John Brunner, The Sheep Look Up (August, September, October, November, Next Year) SHEEP LOOK UP RESPONSE DUE
T FEB 14	Skepticism and/or Denialism Stephen Levitt and Stephen Dunbar, Superfreakonomics: “What Do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo Have In Common?” Tim Lambert, “Why Everything in Superfreakonomics about Global Warming Is Wrong” Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway, Merchants of Doubt (excerpts) SHEEP LOOK UP RESPONSE DUE
R FEB 16	Utopia Fredric Jameson on utopia (Bb) James Tiptree, Jr., “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” (Bb) in-class: WALL-E (clips)
T FEB 21	Ernest Callenbach, Ecotopia (p. 1-90)
R FEB 23	Ernest Callenbach, Ecotopia (p. 91-181)
T FEB 28	Deep Ecology Bron Taylor, “Deep Ecology” Alan Moore, Swamp Thing (selections) in-class: “Plastic Bag”
R MAR 1	Alan Moore, Swamp Thing (selections) Evan Calder Williams, “Fecund Revenge: Green Geist Screws Us All” (Web) FIRST PAPER DUE
T MAR 6	SPRING BREAK—NO CLASS
R MAR 8	SPRING BREAK—NO CLASS
T MAR 13	Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake (Chapter 1-4) ½ PAGE “PITCH” FOR FINAL PROJECT DUE
R MAR 15	Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake (Chapter 4-8)
T MAR 20	Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake (Chapter 9-11)
R MAR 22	Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake (Chapter 12-end of book)
M MAR 26	AVATAR SCREENING—TIME AND LOCATION TBA NO CLASS
T MAR 27	Avatar and Others Annalee Newitz, “When Will White People Stop Making Movies Like Avatar?” (Web) Slavoj Žižek, “Return of the Natives” (Web) AVATAR RESPONSE DUE
R MAR 29	Globalization and Environmental Justice Paolo Bacigalupi, The Wind-Up Girl (Chapter 1-3) Vandana Shiva, Soil Not Oil! (excerpts) in-class: Jorge Furtado, “Ilha das Flores”; Wanuri Kahiu, “Pumzi”
T APR 3	Paolo Bacigalupi, The Wind-Up Girl (Chapter 4-12)
R APR 5	Paolo Bacigalupi, The Wind-Up Girl (Chapter 13-20)
T APR 10	Paolo Bacigalupi, The Wind-Up Girl (Chapter 21-40)
R APR 12	Paolo Bacigalupi, The Wind-Up Girl (Chapter 41-end of book)
T APR 17	FINAL PROJECT PRESENTATIONS (DAY 1)
R APR 19	FINAL PROJECT PRESENTATIONS (DAY 2)
T APR 24	LAST DAY OF CLASS FINAL PROJECT PRESENTATIONS (DAY 3) FINAL THOUGHTS
M APR 30	SCHEDULED EXAM PERIOD (7-10 PM)
T MAY 1	FINAL PROJECTS DUE VIA DIGITAL DROPBOX BY 8 AM