2023-2024 Catalog

ENG 374 19th-Century Science Fiction

This course offers a transatlantic survey of science fiction written in the 19th century. Students will understand how the genre emerged alongside historical developments in Europe and around the world. In addition, the course will also examine connections between science fiction and colonialism. Students will study how the popularization of science fiction in the late 19th century became intertwined with histories of colonial expansion. By studying the many ways that science fiction authors responded to technological, political, and social transformations, students will build an understanding of how science fiction first became a popular literary genre.

Credits

1

Prerequisite

ENG 205 or permission of instructor

Offered

Spring

Instructor

Uzendoski

Notes

This course is a late-breaking addition to the English S23 curriculum to ensure that we offer an option for majors in the category of 300-level literature courses focusing between 1700 and 1900. We do not anticipate the course will be regularly offered going forward, but we may revisit that question in the coming years.