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Peter Kim | |||
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ENG 132: Honors College Writing (Science Fiction) For the Winter 2011/ Winter 2012 semesters, I will be teaching Honors English 132. Students must be accepted into the Honors Program to enroll in the course.
Mike LoPresto’s
scientific and philosophical inquiry into extra-terrestrial life for the
2010/2011 Honors Colloquium presents an exciting and timely topic for
Honors English 132. Science
fiction,
arguably, has always been a fairly marginal field, and as such, has
been a creative medium for exploring not only the scientific question of
life beyond Earth but also some of the most troubling issues of the human
experience. Mary Shelley’s
Frankenstein provides
an early inquiry into the ethics of medical science that continue to be
debated in current questions over cloning. H.G. Wells’s
Time Machine explores questions of evolution and racial inequality.
In Kindred, the late
Octavia E. Butler explores the very complicated issues of
anti-miscegenation and other vestiges of slavery from the perspective of a
modern interracial couple sent back in time to the antebellum South.
And, in A Handmaid’s Tale,
Margaret Atwood explores religious fundamentalism and the rights of women.
Given such a rich field, I propose
an Honors English 132: College Writing and Research course exploring some
of the approaches of science fiction to address contemporary issues such
as those listed above, by imagining future possibilities, both utopian and
dystopian, including the potential discovery of life beyond Earth.
Students will read selected passages from the aforementioned
science fiction novels as well as selected essays from
Those Who Can: A Science Fiction Reader, edited by Robin
Wilson. The essays explore the
overall craft of writing as well as the strategies many writers of science
fiction, in particular, use.
Students will complete several research writing assignments, including a
6-8 page research essay in order meet the measurable objectives for
English 132. Students will
learn to create a formal proposal for the research paper as well as a
formal abstract, in addition to learning college-level note-taking
strategies. An in-class final exam will provide the students an
opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge in an impromptu setting. EDUCATION I have received my doctoral degree in English at Wayne State University where I've also received my Bachelor's degree in Honors English and my Master of Arts degree. I served for two years as student editor of Wayne State University's scholarly journal, Criticism, for which I contributed book reviews. I also have written film reviews for The Michigan Citizen and The South End. Among my scholarly publications are an essay on Toni Morrison's novel, Paradise, which appeared in The Journal of American Culture and an essay on the theatrics of racial humor in the Journal of American Humor Studies.
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Online students should read the instructions at the
following link carefully:
Online Welcome Letter TEACHING PHILOSOPHY I will challenge you to think beyond the status quo, to broaden your horizons, so to speak, and to reflect on your own ways of thinking in the context of the topics and themes explored in the courses that I teach. While everyone is “entitled to her or his own opinion,” keep in mind that some opinions are more valid than others when tested against competing information and logic. In other words, rational and ethical thought will be expected to support claims and views in both your writing and classroom discussion. PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY -Managing Editor, Peer Review: HFCC's Online Journal of Student Writing -Web manager, English and World Languages -Lecture on "Popular Perceptions and Misperceptions of the Far East" at Schoolcraft College's International Institute on Oct 15, 2008. BACKGROUND Learn more about me by reading my personal essay, titled "I'm Iwish," published in the anthology: After the Morning Calm.
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