Adventures in Teaching: Space Opera Course Recommendations?

In the upcoming fall semester, I will be teaching an upper division modern science fiction course on American space opera.  That's right.  A whole entire course just on American space opera.  Though I have a few ideas for texts to teach, I realize that space opera is a massive field and that I would be remiss not to poke the infinite knowledge of other science fiction fans for works I might otherwise have missed or which might serve my needs better than the things in my head.

With that in mind, I'm looking for space opera recommendations!  As of right now, I'm strongly considering teaching E.E. "Doc" Smith, Joe Haldeman, Tobias Buckell, Alfred Bester, Samuel R. Delany, Lois McMaster Bujold, and C.J. Cherryh.  I have a lot of titles, but I'm not sure what I will choose to focus on just yet.  Given the scope of the course, I may be limited in how much I can actually explore.

So what am I looking for?

Ideological Rigidity (With a Side of Genre)(Adventures in Teaching)

Several semesters ago, I experienced what I'm going to call the indoctrination of young Americans.  No, I am not necessarily referring to a specific political indoctrination, though one of the examples I will describe below falls along a left/right political spectrum.  Rather, I am talking about the odd absence of critical thinking skills among college-age (or transitioning high school/college) students, whether derived from a neutered public education system or something else entirely.  What I've discovered through my teaching in Florida is a hard shift to ideological rigidity, by which students verbally or mentally refuse to consider the multiple sides of issues about which they have already developed an opinion.

I don't want to suggest that this is an absolute ideological rigidity, though; there are always exceptions.  However, when this rigid view of the issues rears its ugly head, it proves devastating to the ability to develop a relatively sound argument.  In most cases, those with the most rigid ideological stances were less able to imagine counterarguments, even when the most obvious ones were available by a quick Google search, more likely to assert claims without evidence or reasoning, and less willing to engage with stances contrary to their own.  Granted, what I'm saying is largely anecdotal, so take what I present here for what it is.

To demonstrate what I mean, I'd like to provide the following examples:

American Literature Syllabus: Suggestions Open!

For those that don't know, the syllabus I had designed for an American Lit. survey course got rejected.  The reasoning behind that rejection makes sense, and I've been told point blank that if I want to teach that same course in the Spring (under a World Literature heading), it'll happen.  But that means I've got to put together an entirely new syllabus.

As of this moment, I am thinking about framing this survey course with the loose theme of "American identity."  I want to have as wide an exploration of this question as possible, both to show the breadth of such concerns within American lit and to avoid having too narrow of a focus (i.e., one segment of identity).  There are a number of novels, short stories, and plays I am considering for the syllabus, including some that I've taught before (such as Black No More by George Schuyler).  But I'd like to expand my focus.

This is where you come in.  Which novels, short stories, or plays would you suggest for a syllabus loosely concerned with "American identity"?  So long as the work is written by someone from the U.S. after 1900, it qualifies.  Genres are not relevant, though I always include a little science fiction (sometimes fantasy) in my syllabi (I'm currently thinking about teaching One for Sorrow by Christopher Barzak, for example).

So have at it!

(Note:  I am interested in canonical work as well as work by various ethnic or minority groups, including African Americans, Native Americans, LGBT folks, refugees (and related categories), women, and so on and so forth.  I deliberately write my syllabi to include a range of different groups to show my students that the "canon" is not really a representation of American literature as a whole and that these other literary "groups" are important.  Understand that I can't fit everything in.  I feel bad about that every time I teach a survey course.  I want to cover every single group imaginable, but I can't.  16 weeks just isn't enough time :( ).

Teaching Rambles: A Very Non-Traditional "American" Lit Syllabus (Nuevo Mundo!)

This fall, I am teaching a survey course in American Literature.  While I think my previous syllabi for this course have been non-traditional, this time I am opening up the flood gates.  Instead of teaching what we might call "American Literature," I am deliberately challenging the very idea of a single, identifiable "American" anything.  And if I get this syllabus approved, I will have one of the most intense, awesome fall teaching experiences ever...

Now without further delay, here is the list of texts I intend to teach (some publication dates are missing):

Book Suggestions for "American" Lit Syllabus (a terrible title...)

If you don't follow me on Twitter, then you are unaware that I am attempting to teach a somewhat unusual American Lit survey in the fall.  Basically, I am not teaching the traditional American canon (i.e., the greats of U.S. literature).  Instead, my course will offer a broader interpretation of "American" to include works from U.S. writers and writers from the Americas at large -- North, Central, South, and the Caribbean.  Essentially, this course will be designed to challenge the traditional canon in almost every way; even the U.S. texts I select will offer a challenge.  While I am familiar with a great deal of work from these regions/areas, there is always the possibility that I've missed something I should seriously consider for inclusion -- hence, this post.

If you have a suggestion for a short story, play, or novel that is from one of these regions, please leave a comment.  I am also open to suggestions for U.S. works written by traditionally marginalized groups (Native Americans, people of color, etc.).

So suggest away!

P.S.:  Translations are more than welcome (and expected, considering the range I've selected).  As long as I can get it in English, it's open game.

Teaching Rambles: If You Could Teach It...: The Space Opera Edition

One of the things I hope to do one day is teach a class on Space Opera.  Thus far, that opportunity has not arisen just yet, but the future is bright (as they say).  For this teaching-related post, though, I'd like to offer a suggested reading list for two different Space Opera courses and then get feedback from the wide world of SF/F.  I should note that I will conflate Military SF with Space Opera, in part because I'm not wholly convinced that they are always distinct categories.  For the sake of this post, I will use a slightly modified definition from Brian Aldiss' (italics mine):

Colorful, dramatic, large-scale science fiction adventure, competently and sometimes beautifully written, usually focused on a sympathetic, heroic central character and plot action, and usually set in the relatively distant future, and in space or on other worlds, often but not always optimistic in tone. It often deals with war, piracy, military virtues, and very large-scale action, large stakes...

The problem, of course, is that so much fits into this definition.  To avoid that, I will put emphasis on "very large-scale action" and take that to mean "multi-planetary action."

Since I mostly teach American literature courses right now, I'm going to make two lists -- one for an American literature course and one for a British literature course.  However, I am also wide open to the possibility of a World Lit-style course, so if you have suggestions for space operas written by people outside the traditional science fiction zones, please suggest them in the comments.

Here goes:

"You Haven't Read That, Teacher?" and Other "Not a Real Field" Fallacies (Teaching Rambles)

I just had a rather strange short conversation with a fellow about The Iron Heel by Jack London.  That conversation went something like this:

Guy:  Is that Jack London?
Me:  Yup.  The Iron Heel.
Guy:  I've never heard of that one.  I wonder if I have it on my reader.  (checks)  Yup!  I'm currently reading The Sea-Wolf.  It's a post-apocalyptic book.
Me:  I've never heard of that one.  Cool!
Guy:  Why are you reading The Iron Heel.  A fan?
Me:  I'm teaching it.
Guy:  Are you an English major?
Me:  Yup.
Guy:  And you're teaching a book you've not finished?
Me:  Yup.
Guy:  Good luck. (turns away as if annoyed)

I don't know anything about this individual.  Perhaps he's an England major or just an avid reader or a philosophy major or whatever.  But it was clear from his tone that he found it rather distasteful that one might teach a book they haven't read yet (if I didn't plan to read the book at all, then I'd deserve the tone -- keep in mind he had no idea when I planned to teach said book).

Of course, he might think this because many people don't know much about literature courses --

Teaching American Dystopia: The Reading List

I'm teaching a course called "Dystopia and American Anxiety" this spring.  The idea came to me while brainstorming with friends on Facebook.  Because dystopia is a genre the frequently plays upon our fears and anxieties, it seemed fitting to put together a course specific to the American side of the skill.  The following is the reading list for the course:

Adventures in Teaching: The Dystopia Lit. Syllabus Reading List

My "The Dystopian Tradition and American Anxiety" syllabus is finalized and submitted to the English department for approval.  Good news, no?  In the meantime, I'd like to share the reading list for this course, just so everyone can see what I've assigned for these poor little undergrads to read.  There are still a few gaps, which I will mention at the end.  If you have any suggestions for historically relevant essays and the like to fill those gaps, please let me know in the comments.

Here it is:

Adventures in Teaching Literature: Dead German Skulls

Several weeks ago, I taught William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying in my Survey in American Literature course. Of all the texts I've taught since the summer before last (when I started teaching literature courses), this one may have been the most difficult.  For those unfamiliar with the book, it is told almost exclusively in a stream of consciousness manner, spanning across more perspectives than you can count on a single hand, each one intensely personal and subjective.  The plot, insofar as it has one, follows the Bundren family as they make their journey to the birthplace of their deceased mother so that they might bury her there.  In other words, As I Lay Dying is a "dark" book that isn't so much a story as a radical de-centering of experience -- multiple minds, multiple experiences, and multiple reactions.

But the book itself is not what I want to talk about today; rather, it serves as the context.  What I

Adventures in Teaching Literature: David Henry Hwang and the Ethnic Debate

In an attempt to bring some of what I do as a teacher (and, in other posts, as an academic) to this blog, I've decided to start these little "Adventures in Teaching Literature" posts to explore my class experiences.  Some of these will focus on what I take from a text (or tried to teach my students to take from it) and others will deal with their responses, which will vary from profound to odd to incorrect-but-still-quite-interesting (I'm not sold on the use of "incorrect" here, though).

Now to today's post:

David Henry Hwang and the Ethnic Debate

If you're not familiar with Hwang's work, that is unfortunate.  While he is not remotely a genre writer, his plays are quite brilliant.  He is perhaps best known for M. Butterfly, which won the 1988 Tony Award for Best Play and was based on a true story (I once saw an opera version of the story in San Francisco, which was written by Giacomo Puccini and premiered in 1904 -- that version was

Survey Says: My American Lit Course Reading List

I've finally finished my bloody syllabus for the survey in American lit that I will be teaching this fall.  Since some folks expressed interest in what I will be forcing my little college students to read, I've compiled the list in no certain order here (mostly chronological, though it may be).  The theme of the course is "labor and race," though that is loose theme since the course is a survey, not a special topics.  But you'll notice that the majority of the texts have to do with the working class, the Great Depression, race, Civil Rights, and so on.

Anywho.  Here's the list:

• (1901) "Old Rogaum and His Theresa" by Theodore Dreiser
• (1915) "War Brides" by Marion Craig Wentworth
• (1918) "Mine Eyes Have Seen" by Alice Dunbar-Nelson
• (1901) Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington (selections)
• (1926) "Smoke, Lilies and Jade" by Richard Bruce Nugent
• (1931) Black No More by George Schuyler
• (1922) "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• (1930) As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
• (1933) "Miss Lonelyhearts" by Nathanael West
• (1935) "The Grave" by Katherine Anne Porter
• (1939) Christ in Concrete by Pietro di Donato
• (1955) "The Artificial Nigger" by Flannery O'Connor
• (1965) "Going to Meet the Man" by James Baldwin
• (1977) "Advancing Luna--and Ida B. Wells" by Alice Walker
• (1990) "The Death of the Last Black Man in the Entire World" by Suzan-Lori Parks
• (1968) "Lost in the Funhouse" by John Barth
• (1972) "When it Changed" by Joanna Russ
• (1969) Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
• (1987) Dawn by Octavia Butler
• (1973) "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" by James Tiptree, Jr.

Suggestions and thoughts welcome!

Teaching Rambles: Failing "African Literature," Chinua Achebe, and Amos Tutuola

(This is the first in what I'm calling "Teaching Rambles," which have more to do with random ideas, concerns, and problems I've experience in teaching non-Western or non-traditional literatures in class than actual teaching experiences.  Hopefully that makes sense.)

I should start by saying that there is no such thing as "African Literature."  There is only literature which happens to be written by people who live in countries that reside in the continent of Africa.  I've never bought into the idea that Africa can act as a homogenous identity for the variety of peoples, histories, mythologies, and religions that make up the would-be-nations of that continent (would-be because the national boundaries we know today never existed prior to colonialism).  Yet even when I say "I don't buy into this," I still use phrases like "World literature" or "African literature," despite the implicit othering embodied by them.

Others have said similar things elsewhere (I don't know where, but I'm sure it's happened).  To describe something as "World literature" is to exoticize all things non-Western (even where Western literature happens to exist in the "World" category, such as for those works not written in