Module Details
The information contained in this module specification was correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change, either during the session because of unforeseen circumstances, or following review of the module at the end of the session. Queries about the module should be directed to the member of staff with responsibility for the module.
Title Bodies in Space
Code ENGL783
Coordinator Dr WG Slocombe
English
W.Slocombe@liverpool.ac.uk
Year CATS Level Semester CATS Value
Session 2022-23 Level 7 FHEQ Second Semester 15

Aims

This module enables students to re-conceptualise a number of established tropes of SF writing within a broader contextual and theoretical framework. Using theories and theorists of the body, of environments, and of systems, the sf texts under consideration will be interrogated for the politics they adopt, reject, or appropriate, as well as the ways in which they position the body historically, socially, and culturally.

Learning Outcomes

(LO1) Students will be able to analyse the ways in which science fiction, and its associated tropes, can be situated within relevant historical, theoretical, and cultural contexts.

(LO2) Students will be able to reflect critically on the ways in which science fiction utilises notions such as ‘the body’ and ‘space’ to reflect social concerns and positions.

(LO3) Students will be able to demonstrate a nuanced understanding in which texts can be oriented in relation to their conceptions of ‘the body’ and the frameworks in which it is placed.

(LO4) Students will be able to engage rigorously with relevant critical debates.

(S1) Communication (oral, written and visual).

(S2) Critical thinking and problem solving.

(S3) Communication (oral, written and visual).

(S4) Information skills.

(S5) Research skills.

(S6) Skills in using technology.

(S7) Research skills.

Syllabus
 

This module considers the ways in which various kinds of ‘bodies’ might be said to occupy various kinds of ‘spaces’ across science fiction. This includes considerations of planetary bodies (and space ships!), in relation to attitudes towards colonisation, space travel, and terraforming; embodiment and presence in sf environments, including virtual environments and alternative physical and political spaces; and the various ways of considering the relationship between human and non-human bodies and their environments. Texts may vary from year to year but an indicative list of writers includes: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Naomi Mitchison, Marge Piercy, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Nnedi Okorafor.

Teaching and Learning Strategies

Teaching Method 1 - Seminar
Description: 6 x 2 hours
Attendance Recorded: Yes

Teaching Method 2 - Assessment Workshop
Description: 1 *2 hr
Attendance Recorded: Yes

Seminars planned to be delivered face-to-face but will pivot to remote synchronous delivery if necessary (due to COVID-19).

Teaching Schedule
  Lectures Seminars Tutorials Lab Practicals Fieldwork Placement Other TOTAL
Study Hours   11

       2

 13
Timetable (if known)   60 mins X 1 totaling 11
  		      120 mins X 1 totaling 2
  		 
Private Study 137
TOTAL HOURS 150

Assessment
EXAM Duration Timing
(Semester)		 % of
final
mark		 Resit/resubmission
opportunity		 Penalty for late
submission		 Notes
             
CONTINUOUS Duration Timing
(Semester)		 % of
final
mark		 Resit/resubmission
opportunity		 Penalty for late
submission		 Notes
4,000-word academic assignment. There is a resit opportunity. Standard UoL penalty applies for late submission. This is an anonymous assessment.  0    100       
1,000-word critical literature review.  0    0       

Recommended Texts
Reading lists are managed at readinglists.liverpool.ac.uk. Click here to access the reading lists for this module.