Anth 90-10; CRN 5518
4 Credits
MWF 10:10-11:00
Professor Nicola Tannenbaum
Congratulations! You have been selected as the first anthropologist from
Mars. Your mission is to go where no Martian has gone before and examine
earthlings fictional accounts of the universe. You will examine ÒnovelsÓ and
view ÒmoviesÓ or perhaps the even more mysterious ÒDVDÕs,Ó and Òsurf the
web.Ó Your job is to understand the social, cultural, political, and
economic issues that are reflected in these works and ponder whether format,
type of publication, ethnicity of the author, time written, gender, etc. affect
the ways in which these issues are reported. No space travel required.
course materials
Books and movies: we'll be reading an essay on "reading Jane Austen;"
Looking Backward , Edward
Bellamy; Brave New World
, Aldous Huxley; Frankenstein,
Mary Shelley; Puppet Masters,
Heinlein; Young Dr. Frankenstein,
Clueless, and maybe more.
required assignments
three comparative essays, reading/movie journal, class presentations
Prof. Tannenbaum has been reading science fiction since she was a small
child. As an adult she took Art Garfunkle's phrase, "reality means nothing
to me" to heart and avidly reads almost anything in print.
Since she cannot make a living reading , she became an anthropologist
specializing in Southeast Asia.. Tannenbaum has done her best to contribute to
the neverending stream of boring academic texts, writing about religion, world
view, farming, and economics in Maehongson Thailand where she does her research
about Shan, an ethnic minority.