BA History and German

Do scientists play God? Is it possible to understand an alien? Will machines rise up and enslave us? Does the rapid pace of scientific and technological change point towards a future paradise – or a hell on Earth? Or just to a different world that seems equally “normal”?

These are questions which authors and film-makers have long explored through fiction, for a wide variety of reasons: to make money by providing popular entertainment; to explore philosophical questions about the nature of humanity, technology or civilisation; to promote possible future projects in real life, or to warn of emerging dangers; to comment on the politics, social issues and cultural assumptions of their own times.

This course uses science fiction literature and film from the nineteenth century to the present day to explore the changing place of science in the cultural imagination. We ask how science fiction has revealed – and sometimes changed – public dreams and anxieties around technology, the power of science, the future of our earth, and what it means to be human.

To explore through science fiction literature and film the cultural responses to science and technology. This course takes a selection of classic texts and films from the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries to explore the popular imagining of science and technology over this period.

On completion of the unit, students will be able to:

• Examine the historical development of approaches to science, technology and medicine (STM) in literature and film.
• Understand science fiction's role in shaping the cultural meanings of STM.
• Analyse science fiction as a genre.
• Understand how scientific images and knowledge are constructed, interpreted, and transformed for and by science fiction.
• Understand the power of storytelling and characterisation to persuade and provoke questions on real-life present and future scenarios.

The exact course content may vary from year to year, depending on staff availability and recent developments in the field, but will typically include the following:

• Introduction
• Creating a monster? Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and its legacy
• Amateurs and professionals: science fiction in the late nineteenth century
• Nuclear fear: hell-bombs and last survivors
• Anxiety in the UK: decline and invasion fears in national context
• From robots to replicants: a history of artificial people
• Reimagining gender and sexuality
• Cyberpunk and virtual worlds
• Worlds beyond white? Diversifying science fiction
• Cloning, eugenics and global pandemic: bodies and medical science fiction
• After the flood: climate fiction and environmental crisis

Each week's teaching will include two main elements:

Around one hour of video from the unit lecturer. This will be pre-recorded for you to view at your own convenience. We use this format because much of the course content is based on film, TV, and online sources: the videos will feature clips of source material, and pointers to resources for independent study, alongside analytical commentary. Each week's videos will also introduce the required reading or viewing, and introduce the wider course unit themes it relates to.

A 50-minute discussion seminar hosted by the unit lecturer or graduate teaching assistant. Each seminar will be themed around the week's required reading or viewing, and will build on the ideas presented in the video through general discussion and group activities and offer a chance to raise questions. Seminar groups will meet face-to-face on campus.

The videos will be available in advance of each teaching week, and can be viewed at any time.

We may be able to offer additional or alternative seminar arrangements, depending on the course unit's overall recruitment. If you would like to sign up but can't make any of these times, please contact the unit lecturer with details of your availability and we'll do our best to include you.

The unit lecturer offers a weekly on-campus office hour drop-in for meetings, and bookable Zoom appointments at various times through the week for advice on coursework and other questions.

Students should/will be able to:

• Examine the historical development of approaches to science, technology and medicine in literature and film. 
• Understand science fiction's role in shaping the cultural meanings of science, technology and medicine.

Students should/will be able to:

• Analyse science fiction as a genre.
• Understand how scientific images and knowledge are constructed, interpreted, and transformed for and by science fiction.

Students should/will be able to:

• Analyse a specific work of fiction in depth, drawing on a survey of the secondary literature.
• Produce a well-structured essay delivering a focused argument that response to the analytical approaches applied during the course. 

Students should/will be able to:

• Understand how scientific knowledge, principles and images are interpreted and transformed for a range of audiences.
• Understand the power of storytelling and characterisation to persuade and provoke questions on real-life present and future scenarios.
• Identify a topic for a research project and produce a critical essay or alternative submission (short documentary, online resource, etc) based on primary and secondary source material.

Source Analysis: 25%

Essay: 25%

Project (Essay, Video or Website): 50%

Detailed feedback is provided online. Teaching staff will be available for one-to-one consultation following return of feedback. 

• Roslynn Haynes, From Madman to Crime Fighter: the Scientist in Western Culture (John Hopkins University Press, 2017)
• Adam Roberts, Science Fiction, second edition (Routledge, 2006)
• David Seed, ed., A Companion to Science Fiction (Blackwell, 2005)
• Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn, eds, The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (Cambridge University Press, 2003)
• David Kirby, Lab Coats in Hollywood: Science, Scientists and Cinema (MIT Press, 2011)
• Patricia Melzer, Alien Constructions: Science Fiction and Feminist Thought (University of Texas Press, 2006)
• Ytasha Womack, Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture (Lawrence Hill, 2013)
• Jutta Weldes, ed., To Seek Out New Worlds: Science Fiction and World Politics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)

HSTM units are designed to be accessible to all undergraduate students from all disciplines. They assume no prior experience.

The Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHSTM) offers a range of 'free choice' units, see The Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine Undergraduate teaching for further information. Led by experienced researchers, our teaching explores science as a part of human culture, demonstrating that history is a valuable tool for understanding the present state and possible future of science, technology and medicine.

If you are unsure whether you are able to enrol on HSTM units you should contact your School Programme and Curriculum team. You may wish to contact your programme director if your programme does not currently allow you to take a HSTM unit.

You can also contact the Academic Lead for Undergraduate teaching at the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine.

The unit is offered in both 10-credit and 20-credit versions to meet the requirements of different programme structures across the University. Students will be able to choose the version appropriate to their programme.

10 Credit - HSTM20301

20 Credit - HSTM20801