[Englmajors] New section of ENGL 349 (Science Fiction) added

[Sherry Laing]

The English department has just added a new section of ENGL 349 (Science 
Fiction and Fantasy) for Spring 2006.  Registration is open beginning 
March 3.

ENGL 349B
T Th 2:30-4:20
Lysa Rivera (lysar at u.washington.edu)
SLN: 9535

"Black to the Future." This course introduces students to African-American 
science fiction, a genre that has been around, but largely unnoticed, 
since the early 1900s. The fusion of science fiction and black artistic 
expression is particularly vibrant in black popular culture. Musicians as 
diverse as Digital Underground, DJ Spooky, Parliament, and Sun Ra, for 
instance, demonstrate how the motifs of science fiction – including its 
aliens, spaceships, and cyborgs – have been germane for a black aesthetic 
that "remixes" the conventions of the dominant culture for its own 
transformative, often political purposes. In this course we will explore 
this exciting universe, going where few students have gone before, to 
trace the presence of black voices in science fiction. Students will study 
the genre in its literary, cinematic, and musical modes. Required readings 
will include the fiction of Octavia Butler, Steven Barnes, Ishmael Reed; 
and the theoretical work of Kobena Mercer, Kodwo Eshun, and Paul D. 
Miller, a/k/a DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid. Films include John Sayles's 
"Brother from Another Planet," and John Akomfrah's "Last Angel of 
History."