For several years I’ve regularly taught an honors seminar on philosophy and movies that is exclusively for incoming first-year honors students in Lloyd International Honors College at UNC Greensboro where I currently teach. Ever since I started teaching that course, I’ve had honors students ask me to develop a similar course, but one that was open to all honors students. I thought a bit about how I could do that, but also how I could avoid some of the built-in restrictions of my movies course. I wanted to be able to incorporate television, short-stories, graphic novels, and movies. I also thought a lot about the idea of honors students always being considered the “nerds” and “geeks” and how I could combine that too. I first thought of offering a philosophy and science fiction course, but I didn’t want to be limited to science fiction. There were things I wanted the class to read and watch that wouldn’t really be captured by limiting the course solely to the science fiction genre. Plus, I wanted to explore issues that I’ve found to be atypical in philosophy and science fiction courses. So, I decided to focus on the philosophy of speculative fiction so I could bring in fantasy, horror, and alternative history, in addition to science fiction.
Since this would be an honors course and needed to satisfy general education requirements, my goal was to create an accessible course with no prerequisites, but also one that could serve first-year through senior honors students with few, if any, philosophy majors in the course. I also wanted to mix both fiction that the students had likely watched or read with fiction that probably would be completely new to them. I think this helps students understand that the blockbusters they may have watched dozens of times have lessons they have overlooked while also introducing them to new works. I wanted the course to be fun, after all we are studying monsters, psycho killers, and robots. But I also wanted the students to understand why those monsters deserved a serious, critical examination.
With this likely being the students’ first philosophy course, I wanted to begin with a foundational discussion that would help them throughout the course. So, I started with a set of readings that focused on the nature of speculative fiction: the role of thought experiments in philosophy and how speculative fiction might improve thought experiments; how to define various subgenres in speculative fiction and how these subgenres have developed and continue to develop; and, finally, the role of emotion in speculative fiction. I think this section was particularly important for the students, although it meant we didn’t get to any fiction until approximately a month into the course. We then moved to a section on what it means to be human, a traditional topic in this type of course. The rest of the semester was spent on exploring the impact of race, gender, and sexuality on relationships between self and other. I wanted to have this as a focus because so much within speculative fiction serves as an allegory for the real-word issues we face every day.
The fiction becomes an easier way for students to explore what can be complex issues for them.
I just finished teaching this course for the first time and I’ll likely make some tweaks to the content, especially as I find new works that fit my goals. The students enjoyed the course, but I was surprised very few were well-versed in any area of speculative fiction. There was a horror geek or two and one fantasy fan, but most of the students only were familiar with major franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, and Harry Potter. Perhaps this is just reflective of geekdom today. When I asked the students on the last day what I should change, they kept making suggestions for what to add and couldn’t point to anything they disliked. They did suggest adding more animated films or TV, not necessarily anime, but animation generally. For those of you who might use this syllabus as a guide, it is an excellent honors course in my opinion, but it would need some editing for a non-honors general education course. There is probably too many assigned readings and films/TV. For non-honors students it would best serve as an upper-level course potentially with more advanced philosophical readings for the sections on race, gender, and sexuality.
Here is the syllabus.
Unicorns, Vampires & Aliens:
Philosophy & Speculative Fiction
T/U 2:00 – 3:15
Dr. Angela Bolte
Spring 2019
Course Description:
Philosophy is not necessarily the first thing that springs to mind when thinking about speculative fiction and its various sub-genres, which include science fiction, fantasy, and horror. After all, what’s philosophical about robots, wizards or an ax-wielding killer? But, speculative fiction can inspire an audience to consider the same sort of questions that philosophers have pondered for centuries and also those questions that philosophers have only recently begun to explore in earnest. Both the subtle and the ‘in your face’ messages of speculative fiction make the entire genre ripe for philosophical exploration. The distance speculative fiction provides its audience to its underlying subject matter allows us to explore from a safe distance questions and subjects that might otherwise cut us too deeply, subjects like race, gender, sexuality, and conceptions of the self. This class will look at speculative fiction in an assortment of forms including film, television, and literature in order to explore a variety of philosophical questions. Thus, students will be required to view speculative fiction not just as pure entertainment, but as offering a new way to look at serious philosophical questions.
Teaching Methods and Assignments:
This class will be run in a seminar-style discussion format. Students should come to class having carefully read the assigned articles. Students should bring questions and comments about the readings to class and be prepared to engage in thoughtful, critical analysis of the authors.
Participation & Attendance:
Given the nature of this course, attendance is extremely important. You are allowed two total absences for the semester. Any absences over the total allowed and your attendance grade will drop 10% for every missed class. One exception allowed to these general rules will be those who have extraordinary circumstances that can be documented by a campus official or an off-campus official such as a doctor.
Your grade for participation will be based on both quality and quantity of participation (with an emphasis placed on quality). If you do not come to class, you will receive a zero for participation. If you come to class, but do not participate, you will not receive higher than a C- for your participation grade.
Short Story & Presentation:
Due: April 23 at Noon via Canvas
Length: 8-12 pages
Write and present a speculative fiction short story or script that explores a philosophical question in a fictional context. Please work in groups no larger than four. Submissions must be from at minimum two people. You will present your story to the class. Your presentation can be a standard short story reading, a script acted out as a live play or a script presented as a video. We will view these presentations on April 25 & 30.
As an appendix to your story, I’ll ask you to include a paragraph or two that describes what you think you’re up to, philosophically speaking. More details will be provided later in the semester. Presentations will be peer graded in addition to being graded by the professor with the professor having the final grade determination.
Reaction Papers:
You are required to write 5 reaction papers to the assigned philosophy readings. These papers should not be summaries of the readings, but instead should be critical reactions to the reading focusing on critiquing the author(s) position and arguments. These papers are due via Canvas by Noon on the day we are reading the article you are writing about. If we are scheduled to read more than one article on that class session, you need only write on one.
Due Dates for Reaction Papers:
Reaction Paper 1: Due between January 17 – February 12
Reaction Paper 2: Due between February 14 – February 28
Reaction Paper 3: Due between March 12 – March 21
Reaction Paper 4: Due between March 29 – April 9
Reaction Paper 5: Due between April 11 – April 23
Length: 1.5 – 2 pages. Papers should be double-spaced, 1-inch margins and have a standard font.
Mid-term Paper:
Due: March 1 at Noon via Canvas
Length: 6-8 pages. Papers should be double-spaced, 1-inch margins and have a standard font.
Paper Topics: More information on Topics will be provided later in the semester. Papers cannot be rewritten.
Final Paper:
Due: May 3 at Noon via Canvas
Length: 9-11 pages. Papers should be double-spaced, 1-inch margins and have a standard font.
Paper Topics: More information on Topics will be provided later in the semester. Papers cannot be rewritten.
Submitting Written Assignments:
All written assignments MUST be submitted via Canvas unless otherwise noted. Assignments must be uploaded when they are due or they are late. I will not accept late assignments.
Evaluation and Grading: Your grade will be based on the following:
Reaction Papers 1-5: 35%
Story & Presentation: 10%
Midterm Paper: 20%
Final Paper: 25%
Participation & Attendance: 10%
Honors Credit: To receive Honors credit for this course, you must earn a minimum of a B in the course. Receiving a B- or lower will mean that, while you receive credit for the course, you do not receive Honors credit.
Topics and Readings
Setting the Scene
January 17: Introductions
January 22: De Smedt & De Cruz, “The Epistemic Value of Speculative Fiction”
January 24: Cameron, “Improve Your Thought Experiments Overnight with Speculative Fiction!”
January 29: Trifonova, “Mind and Body Snatchers: The Evolution of the Sci-Fi Film Genre”
January 31: Laetz & Johnston, “What is Fantasy?”
February 5: Kreitman, “Fantasy, Fiction, and Feelings”
February 7: Carroll, “The Nature of Horror”
February 12: Clover, “Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film”
The Human? Condition
February 14-28:
Fiction Readings:
Asimov, “Robot Dreams”
Del Rey, “Helen O’Loy”
Films/TV:
Terminator (1984)
“Measure of a Man,” Star Trek: The Next Generation (season 2, episode 9) (1989)
Her (2013)
The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)
Philosophy Readings:
Clark, “A Brain Speaks”
Clark, “Cyborgs Unplugged”
Chalmers, “The Singularity: A Philosophical Analysis”
Schneider,” Alien Minds”
March 1: Mid-Term Paper Due @ Noon
March 5 & 7: Spring Break
Exploring Relationships: Race & Power
March 12-21:
Fiction Readings:
Butler, Duffy, & Jennings, Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation
Films/TV:
District 9 (2009)
Get Out (2017)
Black Panther (2018)
Philosophy Readings:
Appiah, “Race, Culture, Identity”
Mills, “Racial Equality”
Haslanger, “The Social Construction of Race”
Oluo, “The Heart of Whiteness”
Exploring Relationships: Final Girls & Dystopias
March 26-April 9:
Fiction Readings:
Lee, “Northern Chess”
Carter, “Fall River Ax Murders”
Okorafor, “The Palm Tree Bandit”
Films/TV:
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Ginger Snaps (2000)
Teeth (2008)
“Offred,” Handmaid’s Tale
Philosophy Readings:
Lugones & Spelman, “Have We Got a Theory for You!”
Lorde, “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House”
hooks, “Theory as Liberatory Practice”
Haslanger, “Gender & Social Construction”
Exploring Relationships: Queering the Expected
April 11-23:
Fiction Readings:
Sargent, “Fears”
Tanzer, “The Thing on the Cheerleading Squad”
Cipri, “The Shape of my Name”
Films/TV:
Orlando (1992)
Let the Right One In (2008)
The Babadook (2014)
Philosophy Readings:
Dembroff, “What is Sexual Orientation?”
Bettcher, “Trans 101”
Ozturk, “The Negotiative Theory of Gender Identity & the Limits of First Person Authority”
Hall, “Thinking Queerly about Sex and Sexuality”
April 25: Presentations
April 30: Presentations
May 3: Final Paper Due @ Noon
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Angela Bolte
Angela Bolte is Assistant Dean in Lloyd International Honors College at UNC Greensboro. She earned her PhD in Philosophy and Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies from Washington University in Saint Louis. She also earned a MA in Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an Honors BA in Philosophy from Kansas State University. Her research interests include issues in ethical theory such as autonomy, philosophy of emotions, philosophy of law, applied ethics, and feminist philosophy.
