Monday, January 16, 2023

January 16, 2023: Spring 2023 Previews: Intro to Sci Fi and Fantasy

[This week marks the beginning of a new semester, and so as always I wanted to preview classes I’m teaching, this time through individual authors and texts I’m excited to be including on this syllabi. Leading up to a special weekend update on my own newest book project!]

The last time I got to teach this very unique and fun course I had (finally) diversified the syllabus, adding Kai Ashante Wilson’s A Sorcerer of the Wildeeps (2015). But as you can see from that hyperlinked preview post, that semester turned out to be none other than Spring 2020, and by the time we were supposed to be reading and discussing Wilson’s novel, we were in that state of virtual teaching and triage that comprised the entire second half of that semester. We did what we could, but it was far from what it could and presumably would have been in a more regular series of class conversations. But I remain undeterred in my goal of continued such diversification, and for this semester’s section of the course I’m very excited to have the chance both to teach and to read for the first time Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Witch (2011). I’ve heard nothing but great things about Okarafor’s book (and its two sequels), and can’t wait to see what my students think of it—hopefully (he wrote knocking on every bit of wood he could find) in a far more “normal” class setting this time around.

Next Spring preview tomorrow,

Ben

PS. What do you think? Spring semester authors, texts, classes, or other work to share?

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