Teaching Science Fiction (Teaching the New English Series), edited by Andy Sawyer and Peter Wright
Synopsis: The importance of science fiction to undergraduate literary studies cannot be underestimated. Its capacity to challenge students’ social, political and cultural perspectives makes it invaluable in highlighting the contingent nature of contemporary society and the potential for change. Teaching Science Fiction is the first book in thirty years to address how science fiction might be taught to this effect. It presents comprehensive treatments of the major phases in the development of the genre including the scientific romance, Golden Age science fiction, the New Wave and science fiction’s engagement with the postmodern. The book identifies and explores innovative teaching strategies which will both engage and challenge students whilst providing practical advice on how an sf course can be designed, delivered and evaluated. Sample syllabuses, a detailed chronology, a compact history of the genre and an extensive bibliography make this an invaluable guide for anyone teaching, or considering teaching, science fiction at undergraduate level.
Published: March 2011 | ISBN: 978-0230228511
Mini-bio: Andy Sawyer is librarian of the Science Fiction Foundation Collection at the University of Liverpool Library, UK, and Course Director of the School of Englishs MA in Science Fiction Studies. He is Reviews Editor of Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction. He recently co-edited Plan For Chaos, a previously unpublished novel by John Wyndham. He is the 2008 recipient of the Clareson Award for services to science fiction.
Andy’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/andysawyer_sf
Mini-bio: Peter Wright is a Reader in Speculative Fictions at Edge Hill University, UK. He is the author of Attending Daedalus: Gene Wolfe, Artifice and the Reader (2003), co-editor of British Science Fiction Television (2005) and editor of Shadows of the New Sun: Wolfe on Writing/Writers on Wolfe (2007). He is currently co-editing When Worlds Collide: The Critical Companion to Science Fiction Film Adaptations.
“a provocative, up-to-date guide to the full range of modern science fiction and the challenges it presents to students and teachers. – Patrick Parrinder, Emeritus Professor of English, University of Reading, UK
‘Teaching Science Fiction not only effectively explores what it means to teach sf but also actually teaches the genre to its readers…Teaching Science Fiction is an essential addition to the bookshelves of current or prospective teachers of sf. Its contributors provide the insight that can be found in a teaching narrative, while not losing sight of the critical role of context in making pedagogical decisions. They provide rationales for their course constructino and explain the results achieved. Interestingly, the book is perhaps just as useful to beginning sf scholars, whether or not they intend to teach the genre, as the chapters provide succinct and readable introductions to many iof the critical aspects of the contemporary study of science fiction’ – Craig B. Jacobsen, Science Fiction Studies
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