Assignments

Critical Question Presentation and Roundtable (20%) -- You will be a required to sign up in small groups for an oral presentation and roundtable during the course of the semester. For your presentation, you will read the texts assigned for a particular week, summarize and articulate two or three main points from the week’s scholarly or critical text (as assigned), generate a critical question connecting the theory to the text, and contribute to in-class and online discussion for the week.

In-Class Quizzes (20%) -- There will be seven or more in-class quizzes at various times during the semester. These quizzes serve as a review of the week’s main ideas, terms, texts, and readings. These quizzes will include identifications, fill-in-the-blanks, definitions, and short answers.

Creative Responses (10%) -- Over the course of the semester, you will write a short-short story, create a drawing, and generate a critical review as an alternative way to explore and demonstrate the ideas and goals of the course. These creative responses will be evaluated on completion and your critical, thoughtful engagement with the prompts.

Final Reflection (20%) -- At the end of the semester, you will complete a 4-6 page analytical reflection paper that ask you to respond to the readings, the theoretical texts, and to assess your own work and performance in class. The final reflection is cumulative and based on the class readings, online reflections, other media, and in-class and Blackboard discussions.

Information Sheets

The following are handouts, informational sheets, and readings that will be assigned or used over the course of the quarter. Each student will recieve a copy of each as a handout in class during the appropriate week. If you miss a sheet, feel free to print out a new copy.

Ed's Top Ten List of "Ways to Survive University"

Ed's Top Ten Rules of Writing

What is Close Reading?

How to Write a Summary

Claims, Claims, Claims

Introductions & Conclusions

Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

MLA Citation and Bibliographic Format

Revision Check-List

Readings

The course texts are available via the Little Professor Book Center (65 S. Court) or a reputable bookseller. Shorter readings are available via the course Blackboard. The required texts for this class are (in order of use):

Shawl, Nisi. Speculation. Boulley, Angelie. Firekeeper's Daughter. Zhao, Xiran Jay. Iron Widow. Thomas, Aiden. Cemetery Boys. Okorafor, Nnedi. Binti. Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One. Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Butler, Octavia. Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation. Card, Orson Scott. Ender's Game. Block, Francesca Lia. Weetzie Bat.

Consult the course syllabus for the week's required reading. The following is a full bibliographical list of the class readings:

Adams, Rachel, Benjamin Reiss, and David Serlin. "Disability." Keywords for Disability Studies. NYU Press. 29 May 2018. https://keywords.nyupress.org/disability-studies/essay/disability/. Block, Francesca Lia. Weetzie Bat. HarperTeen, 2004. Boulley, Angelie. Firekeeper's Daughter. Square Fish, 2023. Burgett, Bruce. "Sex." Keywords for American Cultural Studies. Eds. Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler. New York: NYU Press, 2007. 217-221. Butler, Octavia. Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation. Harry N. Abrams, 2021. Card, Orson Scott. Ender's Game. Tor Trade, 2021. Chang, Edmond Y. "Musings on Asianfuturism." edmondchang.com. 27 Apr. 2020. http://www.edmondchang.com/2020/04/27/musings-on-asianfuturism/ Cherniavsky, Eva. "Body." Keywords for American Cultural Studies. Eds. Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler. New York: NYU Press, 2007. 26-29. Chideya, Farai. "Hugo Nominee Nnedi Okorafor." NPR. 20 Aug. 2016. https://www.npr.org/2016/08/20/490771640/hugo-nominee-nnedi-okorafor-breaks-down-her-sci-fi-writing Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One. Random House, 2012. Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Scholastic Press, 2010. Davis, Jonita. "How Black Women Are Reshaping Afrofuturism." Yes! Magazine. 24 Apr. 2020. https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2020/04/24/how-black-women-are-reshaping-afrofuturism/ Dillon, Grace. "Imagining Indigenous Futurisms." Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction. Ed. Grace Dillon. University of Arizona Press, 2012. 1-12. Ferguson, Robert A. "Race." Keywords for American Cultural Studies. Eds. Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler. New York: NYU Press, 2007. 191-196. Georgiou, Myria. "Identity." Keywords for Media Studies. Eds. Laurie Ouellette and Jonathan Gray. NYU Press, 2017. 94-98. Gray, Herman. "Race." Keywords for Media Studies. Eds. Laurie Ouellette and Jonathan Gray. NYU Press, 2017. 61-164. Halberstam, Judith. "Gender." Keywords for American Cultural Studies. Eds. Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler. New York: NYU Press, 2007. 116-120. McPherson, Tara. "Digital." Keywords for American Cultural Studies. Eds. Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler. New York: NYU Press, 2020. https://keywords.nyupress.org/american-cultural-studies/essay/digital/. Merla-Watson, Cathryn Josefina. "The Altermundos of Latin@futurism." Alluvium. 15 Mar. 2017. https://www.alluvium-journal.org/2017/03/15/the-altermundos-of-latinfuturism/ Okorafor, Nnedi. Binti. Tor, 2015. Okorafor, Nnedi. "Organic Fantasy." African Identities. 7.2 (May 2009) 275-286. Prashad, Vijay. "Orientalism." Keywords for American Cultural Studies. Eds. Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler. New York: NYU Press, 2007. 174-177. Rodriguez, Juana Maria. "Latino/a/x." Keywords for American Cultural Studies. Eds. Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler. New York: NYU Press, 2020. 154-157. Shawl, Nisi. Speculation. Tu Books, 2023. Somerville, Siobhan B. "Queer." Keywords for American Cultural Studies. Eds. Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler. New York: NYU Press, 2007. 187-191. Tchen, John Kuo Wei. "Asian." Keywords for American Cultural Studies. Eds. Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler. New York: NYU Press, 2014. 18-21. Thomas, Aiden. Cemetery Boys. Swoon Reads, 2020. Warrior, Robert. "Indian." Keywords for American Cultural Studies. Eds. Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler. NYU Press, 2020. https://keywords.nyupress.org/american-cultural-studies/essay/indian/. Zhao, Xiran Jay. Iron Widow. Tundra Books, 2023.

Media

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