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‘Sexing the Machine’ class appeals to sci-fi fans

Written by Bryan Bastible

Monday, 08 September 2008 08:05 PM

Correction

Tuesday’s story, “ ‘Sexing the Machine’ class appeals to sci-fi fans,” misidentified Julian Pacheco’s gender.

Professor Carolyn Guertin teaches a new English course, “Sexing the Machine: Gender, Technology and Science Fiction,” on Monday at Preston Hall. The course explores three different periods in science fiction as they relate to gender. (Laura Sliva)

An English assistant professor worked to bring “sexing” back in a new course aimed at both science-fiction enthusiasts and students.

Carolyn Guertin teaches the new class “Sexing the Machine” this semester where students will study cyborgs, scientific monsters, robots and the gender issues surrounding each.

“It is a wonderful class for a broad range of undergraduates,” she said in an e-mail. “There are mostly science students in the class, but it should appeal to anyone who is interested in science, technology or gender issues.”

Class topics are divided into three different periods and how they relate to gender: the wetware period focuses on biological life, the hardware period refers to machine life and the software period indicates intelligent life.

The course was added when Guertin’s originally scheduled class didn’t have sufficient enrollment, she said. She said the new class has nine students so far, but more are welcome.

“They have already seen a lot of the films and as I said many of them are science students or are people with a particular interest in science and technology,” Guertin said. “They also get the chance to read great novels … which they may find more accessible than some material in other English courses.”

Some of the literature studied in the course will include Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and Neuromancer by William Gibson.

“A lot of cultural studies courses use materials like this one does, but probably not just as a major focus,” she said.

Some of the films and television that will be looked at for the course are Battlestar Galactica, Blade Runner and Terminator. Guertin’s friend, Brock University assistant professor Sherryl Vint, who is a leading North American science-fiction scholar and has taught a similar course called “Future of the Body,” said the course reflects the importance of technology and daily experience in the 21st century.

“This course allows students to understand the relationships among the technologies of a particular culture moment, the contemporary cultural imagination of subjectivity and the popular culture texts that both reflect anxiety and challenge dominant ideologies,” Vint said.

Guertin said her students like the material.

Biology freshman Julian Pacheco, said he signed up for the course because it seemed more interesting.

“I feel like I will learn more out of this class than regular English classes, mainly because the materials covered in regular English courses are materials that I’ve always been learning,” Pacheco said. “I was craving for something that seemed a little different and interesting, and this English class was what I found.”
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Comments (1)

1 Written by Eric, on 09-09-2008 08:53
These kinds of classes are precisely why students should choose a science or engineering major over the liberal arts.

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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 02 December 2008 02:37 PM )

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