Women & Science Fiction:  Tiptree Award Authors

“A strong woman is a woman determined to do something others are determined not be done.”  -- Marge Piercy

This course is a special topic, 3 credit seminar featuring major women science fiction authors who have won or been  nominated for Tiptree awards.  The final goal:  to present a paper at WisCon, the women & science fiction “con”ference held every year in Madison, Wisconsin, where the Tiptree award is presented.   All papers will be written as conference style papers; it will be optional to propose and present the papers at the Con as a panel.  We will begin with short stories, read several novels, and explore drama/film adaptations of two Tiptree texts.

From the Tiptree website:  “In February of 1991 at WisCon (the world's only feminist-oriented science fiction convention), award-winning SF author Pat Murphy announced the creation of the James Tiptree, Jr. Award, an annual literary prize for science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender.”  The website explains the origin of the name as for “Alice B. Sheldon, who wrote under the pseudonym James Tiptree, Jr. By her impulsive choice of a masculine pen name, Sheldon helped break down the imaginary barrier between ‘women’s writing’ and ‘men’s writing.’”

Major themes we will explore will include the definitions of gender within texts by male and female authors, authorial voice, the apocalyptic text, feminism-- second and third wave.

Grades:

10%:	Weekly Scholarly Student report.  (Each week, a student will present a summary of a work of scholarly criticism about one of these authors, texts, or themes.
10%	Daily reading journal, due every two weeks
20%	Proposal & annotated bibliography
40%	Conference Style paper
20%	Participation & attendance

Required Texts:   
Sargent, Pamela.  Women of Wonder:  The Classic Years.  Harvest:  1995
Sargent, Pamela. Women of Wonder:  The Contemporary Years.  Harcourt:  1995
Jackson, Shelley. Half Life. Harper, 2007.
Russell, Mary Doria. The Sparrow. Ballantine, 1997.
Johnson, Kij. Fudoki. Tor:  2004.

Reading Schedule:
Week One: WoW Classic, “Introduction” By Pamela Sargent & “The Women Men Don't See”  by  James Tiptree, Jr.
Week Two: “False Dawn”  By Chelsea Quinn Yarbro  & “The Heat Death of the Universe” By  Pamela Zoline,
Week Three: “Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand” By Vonda McIntyre &  “Nobody's Home” Joanna Russ
Week Four: WoW  Contemporary, “Introduction,” By Pamela Sargent & Pat Murphy “Rachel in Love”
Week Five: “The Thaw” By Tanith Lee & “The Cabinet of Edgar Allan Poe” By Angela Carter
Week Six: Kit Reed “The Food Farm” & “Song of Bullfrogs, Cry of Geese” Nicola Griffith. Online at:  http://infinityplus.co.uk/stories/songof.htm
Week Seven: Half Life Shelley Jackson (2006)
Week Eight: The Sparrow Mary Doria Russell
Week Nine: Fudoki  Kij Johnson
Week Ten: movie, The Handmaid’s Tale, from the novel by Margaret Atwood
Week Eleven: movie, The Screwfly Solution:  from the short story by James Tiptree

Please see the following online bibliography of critical texts for suggested readings for your individual report:
http://phobos.ramapo.edu/~kfowler/fsfs04biblio.html