The Science Fiction and Fantasy of Ursula K. Le Guin

Instructor:  Amy Clarke, University Writing Program, College of Letters and Science

Description: Ursula K. Le Guin is widely renowned for her science fiction and fantasy.  This course will cover some of her most influential work, including parts of the Earthsea series, The Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness, some short stories, and selections from her essays on writing.  Students will learn about Le Guin and her work, the genres of science fiction and fantasy, and about how a major writer responds to the issues of her time through experimental fiction.

Format: The seminar will meet for two hours each week for ten weeks. We will discuss assigned texts each week. Students will make oral presentations on themes within Le Guin’s writing, they will write once-weekly reading responses, and they will write a final paper (1000 words) on an approved topic. Grading: Students will be given a letter grade on the quality of their participation -- their ability to discuss the works and demonstrate thorough reading of the texts through weekly written responses (25%), the quality of their oral presentations (25%), and the quality of their final short paper (50%).

About the Instructor: Dr. Amy Clarke has taught at UC Davis since 1984.  She wrote her dissertation on Ursula K. Le Guin and has published articles on Le Guin’s use of feminist theory, Native American mythologies, and experimental narrative practices.  She has taught English 173, Literature of Science Fiction, many times, basing the course on William Gibson’s premise that “science fiction is always about the time it is written.” She currently teaches in the University Writing Program, specializing in science writing.