Schedule

Introduction to Course (Zoom, OpenLab, Science Fiction, & One Another)

Blog/Due

·      Register for OpenLab account, join our course site, and familiarize yourself with its content and navigation

Science Fiction: definitions, genre, history, & key terms

Writing Workshop: active reading + annotation

*Tu 9/1: Last Day to drop without the grade of WD.

*W 9/2: Course Withdrawal Drop Period Begins; A grade of WD is assigned to students who officially drop a class

·      Review Course Materials (especially Syllabus, Schedule, Blogging Grading Rubric / Expectations & Guidelines, Resources)

·      Futurama, S01E01: “Space Pilot 3000” (available on Hulu)

*If you don’t have access to Hulu, you can do a free trial; you should be able to find the episode online elsewhere, such as here on YouTube.

*Make sure you actively/close “read” this TV episode (Futurama) the same way you would for a written text (article, short story, novel). You should take notes as you watch the episode, annotating it (looking up words you don’t know, taking notes, asking questions, noting down elements of fiction, writing down quotes–cited by the time (minute:second), making claims). Bring these notes to class with you, and come ready to discuss specifics of the episode (including pieces of textual evidence). [please note: at times this semester, I will be asking you to show me your notes in class or submit them]

Blog/Due

·       “Introductions” post (due F 8/28) + read/comment on others’ posts (if you need help, refer to OpenLab Help to get started blogging)

Writing Workshop: Making Claims & Supporting with Evidence

·      “Science Fiction Framework” (Professor Belli handout)

·      Watch “Voyage Dans La Lune” (“A Trip to the Moon”), Georges Méliès, 1902

·      “Moon Express Raises 20m for 2017 Voyage to the Moon,” Sam Levin, January 7, 2017

*Make sure to watch these exact versions (follow the links) to the texts, so we are literally all on the same page. **Remember to active close read & annotate all texts (articles, short-stories, films, etc.).

Blog/Due

·      Participate in Class Discussion #1: Moon Tourism

·      “The Machine Stops,” E.M. Forster, 1909

 Blog/Due

·      Student Survey (via GoogleForms) to better help me understand your needs for this course (due Sa 9/5)

·      Sign up for Office Hours (one-on-one conversations, mandatory) for next week (due Tu 9/8)

·      Reading Response #1: The Machine Stops (make a blog post + categorize as “The Machine Stops”)

·      “The Machine Stops” (continued)

·      Literary Present Tense

·      “The Elements of Story or Fiction” 

*The “Elements of Story or Fiction” is there to help you, if you need a review of what the components of fiction are. There are key terms, and examples, and you can read through every word if you find it helpful, or just skim if you already know this stuff.

Blog/Due

·      Class Discussion #2: The Machine Stops (one initial comment by W 9/9 + one additional comment by Th 9/10)

·      People’s Choice Posts #1: The Machine Stops (due: Th 9/10 by 9am) 

*Individual Conferences w/Professor Belli (week of 9/15)

*Tu 9/15: Last day to drop a course without the grade of W; Withdrawal Drop period ends

*W 9/16: Course Withdrawal period begins; A grade of W is assigned to students who officially drop a course.

·      “The Machine Stops” (continued)

*See our Class Annotations from Th 9/10 here

·      Metropolis, Fritz Lang, 1927 (Restored version)–Watch for free through Kanopy, a digital streaming service provided free through City Tech (sign in with your City Tech credentials at home to watch)

 *Remember to use specifics from the text (film) in your response, transcribing the exact quote (or stating accurately the scene) and citing the movie by the time (hours:minutes:seconds)

Blog/Due

·      Annotations: share your annotations of Metropolis with me via this Dropbox link (due Tu 9/15 by 9am)

*Submit as a single PDF file, clearly labeled (e.g., John Smith, Metropolis Annotations). If you are handwriting your notes, you can scan them using a free scanner app on your phone (e.g., CamScanner)

·      Reading Response #2: Metropolis (blog post + categorize as “Metropolis”)

·      Register for the Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival (free, online) by Su 9/13

Writing Workshop: blogging

*Individual Conferences w/Professor Belli (week of 9/15)

·      Metropolis (continued)

Blog/Due

·     People’s Choice Posts #2: Metropolis (due Th 9/17 by 9am)

Writing Workshop: blogging

·     Metropolis (continued)

·      Film selections from the Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival

*Sign up for your category of films by commenting on this post (first-come, first-served!)

 Blog/Due

·      Reading Response #3: Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival

 *Extra Credit Opportunity #1: Attend an “Event” for the Festival & blog about it

Student Presentations (in-class)

·      Brooklyn SciFilm Film Festival (continued)

 Blog/Due

·      People’s Choice Posts #3: Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival (due Th 9/24 by 9am)

·      Mini-presentations on Festival films: in-class (but post presentation file as blog prior to class; categorize as “Presentations” + “Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival”)

In-Class Freewriting

·     The Last Question (Issac Asimov), 1956

*make sure to use this PDF (and please number the pages, and cite accordingly)

Blog/Due

·      Class Discussion #3: Presentations on Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival (one initial comment by F 9/25 + two additional comments by M 9/28)

·     Annotations: share your annotations of “The Last Question” with me via this Dropbox link (due Tu 9/29)

*Submit as a single PDF file, clearly labeled (e.g., John Smith, The Last Question, Annotations). If you are reading/making notes online, you can highlight and annotated in-line in the PDF. If you are handwriting your notes, you can scan them using a free scanner app on your phone (e.g., CamScanner). Either way, notes should be in-line (contextualized).

·     Reading Response #4: The Last Question

·      Westworld (“The Beginning,” Season 1 Episode 1, HBO series)

Blog/Due

·      Class Discussion #4: AI (one initial comment by F 10/2 + two additional comments by M 10/5)

·      People’s Choice #4: The Last Question (due Su 10/4)

·      Reading Response #5: Westworld

·      Westworld (continued)

 Blog/Due

·      People’s Choice #5: Westworld (due Th 10/8 by 9am)

·      Class Discussion #5: What does it mean to be “human”? (one initial comment by Tu 10/6 + two additional comments by W 10/7)

*(Optional) Extra Credit #2: Attend the Brooklyn Waterfront Research Center (BWRC) Breakfast Talk on Brooklyn Utopias: 2020 Exhibit on F 10/9 9am (online) and blog in response (blog due Su 10/11). Registration Link.

*Group Discussion Prompts (in-class)

·     “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” Ray Bradbury, 1950

·      “There will Come Rains,” Nazim Tulyakhodzayev, 1987

·      “There will Come Soft Rains,” Sara Teasdale, 1920

Blog/Due

·      Class Discussion #6: Apocalypse (two comments due)

·      read ahead for next week

 Blog/Due

·      nothing 🙂

*National Day of Writing

·  Destroyer (Victor LaValle), 2020

Blog/Due

·      *(Optional) Extra Credit #3 Post: #whyIwrite for National Day of Writing (due Tu 10/20)

*In-class freewriting (blogging reflection)

Writing Workshop: Paragraph structure and development (topic sentences, transitions, claims, incorporating evidence & quotes)

·      Destroyer (Victor LaValle), 2020

Blog/Due

·      Reading Response #6: Destroyer

·      Destroyer (continued)

Blog/Due

·      People’s Choice #6: Destroyer (due Su 10/25)

*Th 10/29: Faculty to inform students of midterm grades

**STUDENTS: Check OpenLab Gradebook for your midterm grades

·      See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol), 2019 [Netflix]

Blog/Due

·      Reading Response #7: See You Yesterday

Election Day

·      See You Yesterday (continued)

Read/Watch

·      Check your Midterm Grades (in OpenLab Gradebook) and email to schedule individual conferences if you received a “BL” or “U”

·      People’s Choice #7: See You Yesterday (due Su 11/1)

·      Class Discussion #7: World-Building in Political Elections

·      See You Yesterday (continued)

Blog/Due

·      Class Discussion #7: World-Building in Political Elections (optional additional contributions)

Afrofuturism

In-Class Videos Shown:

• Afrofuturism: Sun Ra
• Afrofuturism Explained: Not Just Black Sci-Fi

·      Space is the Place (Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Solar Arkestra); 1974; Director John Coney

·      Excerpts from Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture (Ytasha L. Womack)

*Please read Chapters 1 (Evolution of a Space Cadet) and 2 (A Human Fairy Tale Named Black), both of which should be accessible in full via this Google Books link.

·      “How Long ‘til Black Future Month” (N.K. Jemisin)

 Blog/Due

·      Individual Research on Race and Science Fiction for Class Annotated Bibliography

City Tech Science Fiction Collection

Afrofuturism

Science Fiction Genre + History

Writing Workshop: Research + Annotated Bibliographies

·      Dirty Computer (Janelle Monáe)

·      Afrofuturism: Why Black Science Fiction “Can’t Be Ignored” (Gena-mour Barrett)

Blog/Due

·      Class Annotated Bibliography on Race and Science Fiction: 2 sources per person (1 primary, 1 secondary)

*Make sure to consult the Class Annotated Bibliography Assignment itself before entering your contributions

·      Register for the City Tech Science Fiction Symposium

Mundos Alternos: Art and Science Fiction in the Americas

Writing Workshop: Research + Peer Review of Annotated Bibliographies

·      Individual research on Race + Science Fiction (continued)

·      Racism and Science Fiction (Samuel Delany)

·      Black Science Fiction Writers Face ‘Universal’ Racism, Study Finds (Alison Flood)

·      Science Fiction Publishing Has a Major Race Problem, New Study Shows (Andrew Liptak)

·      Black Lives Matter

·      Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements (Eds. Adrienne Maree Brown and Walidah Imarisha): Foreword + Introduction

[optional]

·      Excerpts from Colonialism and the Emergence of Science Fiction (John Rieder)

·      Excerpts from Speculative Blackness: The Future of Race in Science Fiction (andre m. carrington)

·      Excerpts from Race in American Science Fiction (Isiah Lavender)

Blog/Due

·      Class Annotated Bibliography on Race and Science Fiction:  additional 2 sources per person (1 primary, 1 secondary)

·      (Optional) Extra Credit #4: Attend Becoming Utopian roundtable on F 11/13 (sponsored by the Society for Utopian Studies) and blog in response (blog due Su 11/15)

City Tech Science Fiction Symposium

·      Individual research on Race + Science Fiction

Blog/Due

·      Class Annotated Bibliography on Race and Science Fiction: revised annotations (due W 11/18)

·      (Optional) Extra Credit #5: Attend additional parts of the City Tech Science Fiction Symposium on Th 11/19 (other than our class time, when we’ll all be attending) and blog in response (blog due Su 11/22)

·      Individual Research

 Blog/Due

·          Sign up for Research Conference with Professor Belli for week of 11/30

·      Individual Research

Blog/Due

·      Happy Thanksgiving 🙂

Peer Review of Research Project Draft + Annotated Bibliography

*Individual Research Project Conferences with Professor Belli

·      Individual Research

Blog/Due

·      Research Project Proposal + Annotated Bibliography: DRAFT

*Individual Research Project Conferences with Professor Belli

·      Individual Research

 Blog/Due

·    REVISED Research Project Proposal + Annotated Bibliography

In-Class: Lightning Presentations + Peer Review of Research Project Presentations

*Student Evaluation of Teaching (period 11/30-12/11—we will complete in class today)

·      Work on Research Project

 Blog/Due

·      Research Project “lightning presentation” (post to OpenLab before class begins)

*Su 12/13: Course withdrawal period ends; Last day to drop a course with a grade of W.

·      Work on Research Projects + Final Course Reflections

Blog/Due

·      Complete/submit your Student Evaluation of Teaching, sent to your City Tech email address (if you haven’t done so already)–Due F 12/11

*Check your Spam folder (a lot of students reported having it go there)

·      Work on Research Projects + Final Course Reflections

In-Class: Research Project Presentations

*Final Examinations

·       Blog/Due

·      Individual Research Project (due Tu 12/15)

In-Class: Research Project Presentations

*Final Examinations

*Su 12/27: Final Grade Submission Deadline

·       Blog/Due

·      Final Course Reflection (Final Exam) (extension: now due Sunday 12/20)