ENG 108: Introduction to Science Fiction and Fantasy

Land Acknowledgment

Oregon State University recognizes the impact that its land grant history had on Indigenous communities in Oregon. Through the Morrill Act of 1862, which established land grant universities in the United States, the federal government seized nearly 11 million acres of land from 250 sovereign tribal nations, with little or no compensation.

In 1868, the state legislature designated Corvallis College as Oregon’s land grant institution. Soon after, Oregon received 90,000 acres of federal lands — taken from the Klamath, Coos, Lower Umpqua, Siuslaw and Coquille people — to be sold to create an endowment supporting the growth of the new college, which would become Oregon State University.

Oregon State University in Corvallis is located within the traditional homelands of the Marys River or Ampinefu Band of Kalapuya. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855, Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in Western Oregon. Today, living descendants of these people are part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians. Indigenous people are valued, contributing members of the Oregon State community and represent multiple sovereign tribes among students, faculty, staff and alumni.

Oregon State University accepts its responsibility for understanding the continuing impact of that history on these communities. Oregon State is committed — in the spirit of self-reflection, learning, reconciliation and partnership — to ensure that this institution of higher learning will be of enduring benefit, not only to the state of Oregon, but also to the people on whose ancestral lands it is now located.

Course

Information

Course ENG 108: Introduction to Science Fiction and Fantasy
Term Fall 2026 (September 23 – December 11, 2026)
Credits 3
Prerequisites None
CRN 17047
Meeting time Tuesdays & Thursdays, 10:00–11:20 a.m.
Location MORE 330 — Moreland Hall 330
Instructor Erik Fredner
Instructor email
Office hours By appointment
Bacc Core, Perspectives Perspectives — Literature and the Arts (CPLA)
Core Education Arts & Humanities: General (CFAH)
College of Liberal Arts Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

Description

ENG108 focuses on modern and contemporary examples of science fiction and fantasy literature (collectively, speculative fiction) with particular attention paid to the historical evolution as well as the structural constitution of each genre. Hypothesizes that both genres reflect the anxieties and aspirations of the eras that produce and consume them, as well as their characteristic material constraints and affordances. Introduces students to a range of modern classics in both genres, including contemporary science fiction and fantasy written by women and people of color.

Expectations for Time and Participation

This course combines approximately 90 total hours of instruction, in-class activities, and assignments for 3 credits. Regular attendance is expected. Active participation includes completing assigned readings and answering questions on the days you are on call.

Course-Specific Measurable Student Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

Core Education and Baccalaureate Core Outcomes

This is a Core Education course that fulfills the requirements for the Arts & Humanities: General category. In addition, this course also fulfills the Baccalaureate Core requirements for the Literature and the Arts category.

Arts & Humanities: General (Core Education) Learning Outcomes

Students in this course will:

  1. Describe genres, forms, perspectives, events and/or ideas that have shaped and recorded the human experience.
  2. Analyze examples of human expression and/or human perspectives in changing cultural and/or historical contexts.
  3. Employ humanistic, theoretical, and/or philosophical methods to explore the human experience.
Category Learning Outcome Relative to Course Content Primary Assessment Methods
Describe genres, forms, perspectives, events and/or ideas that have shaped and recorded the human experience. Students trace the genre conventions and formal innovations of science fiction and fantasy — from 19th-century fables and pulp-era short fiction to graphic narrative (Paper Girls) and New Wave/cyberpunk fiction — situating each text within the historical moment and material publishing context (e.g., pulp magazines, paperback originals) that shaped it. Midterm and Final Exams (key-term definitions, passage identification); on-call discussion of assigned texts
Analyze examples of human expression and/or human perspectives in changing cultural and/or historical contexts. Students analyze how texts spanning more than a century — from Mary Shelley and Nathaniel Hawthorne through the Golden Age (Asimov, Bradbury, MacLean), the New Wave and its feminist turn (Ballard, Delany, Ellison, Le Guin, Russ, Tiptree), and cyberpunk (Gibson, Butler) — register the distinct anxieties, aspirations, and material constraints of their historical moments. Midterm and Final Exams (comparison of at least two texts); on-call discussion of assigned texts
Employ humanistic, theoretical, and/or philosophical methods to explore the human experience. Students practice close reading as a critical method, using a provided quotation to interpret symbolic detail, narrative form, and thematic significance in an individual text. Midterm and Final Exams (close reading of a provided quotation); on-call discussion of assigned texts

Literature and the Arts (Baccalaureate Core) Learning Outcomes

Category and Outcomes Relative to Course Content Primary Assessment Methods
Recognize literary and artistic forms/styles, techniques, and the cultural/historical contexts in which they evolve Recognize the generic and stylistic hallmarks as well as the historically and culturally inflected evolution of science fiction and fantasy texts Midterm and Final Exams
Analyze how literature/the arts reflect, shape, and influence culture Analyze how science fiction and fantasy reflect their historical moments of cultural production, while also influencing subsequent productions On-call discussion of assigned texts
Reflect critically on the characteristics and effects of literary and artistic works Describe and interpret thematic significance of chosen course texts; reflect personally on creative and critical choices they display; close read specific passages from course texts for symbolic details as well as formal strategies Midterm and Final Exams

Books

Books are available at the OSU library and bookstore. Please note that the number of copies available on reserve is limited.

If you decide to buy your books elsewhere, please consider shopping at a local bookstore.

All books below are required.

If you are a completionist, you may prefer to buy Paper Girls: The Complete Story4 instead. (The Complete Story contains all of the issues; volume 1 only contains the issues that we will read in class.)

Video Game

We will also play an SF video game, Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (DE) in this course.5

If you want to play the game on your own device, you may purchase it for a computer or video game console. If you have never purchased a video game for a computer before, the easiest way to do so is via Steam.

If you do not have a device that can run the game or do not wish to purchase it, you will be able to play the game for free at OSU’s New Media Game Lab.

Plan to play at least three hours of DE before we discuss it on Thursday, December 3. You are not expected to finish the game.

External Sources

If you find it helpful to do additional reading about the authors or texts that we study beyond what appears in the anthologies, I recommend using The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (SFE).6

Wikipedia entries on SF are often quite good as well, but the SFE is the best reference to use for this class.

Fair Use

Any readings not in required books will be available on Canvas.

The readings available on Canvas may include copyrighted material, the use of which may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I have determined this to be “fair use” of the copyrighted material as referenced and provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use any of this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain express permission from the copyright owner.

https://policy.oregonstate.edu/policy/copyright-fair-use

Calendar

Thu Sep 24

Course introduction. What is speculative fiction?

Slides · Text

Tue Sep 29

Thu Oct 1

Tue Oct 6

Thu Oct 8

Tue Oct 13

Thu Oct 15

Tue Oct 20

Thu Oct 22

Tue Oct 27

Thu Oct 29

Tue Nov 3

Thu Nov 5

Tue Nov 10

Thu Nov 12

Tue Nov 17

Thu Nov 19

Tue Nov 24

Thu Nov 26

Tue Dec 1

Thu Dec 3

Thu Dec 10 at 9:30 AM

Evaluation of Student Performance

Grading Scale

Grade Percentage (≥)
A 93
A− 90
B+ 87
B 83
B− 80
C+ 77
C 73
C− 70
D+ 67
D 63
D− 60
F < 60

Assignment weights

Assignment Weight
On call 10%
In-class quizzes 10%
Midterm exam 30%
Final exam 50%

Assignment descriptions

On call

You and several peers will be randomly assigned to be “on call” for two reading days during the term. I will post the full on-call schedule after the first class.

Anyone may participate in any class discussion. But students who are on call are expected to participate.

When you are on call, you are expected to be well prepared to discuss that day’s reading. On-call students will be asked to close read passages, identify generic conventions, and connect texts to their historical moment. You are welcome to use your books and notes; you don’t need to memorize.

Each on-call day is scored out of two points: 2 for arriving prepared and contributing substantively, 1 for participating with little evidence of preparation, 0 for an unexcused absence or for clearly not having read. Your grade for this assignment is the average of your two on-call days.

If you cannot attend on a day you are on call, email me (preferably in advance or else as soon as possible afterward) and I will reassign you to a later day. If no later date remains in the term, I will grade you on your other on-call day alone.

In-class quizzes

Most class periods with readings will include in-class quizzes that simulate the types of questions that students will encounter on the midterm and final exams. In-class quizzes are graded complete or incomplete based on good-faith effort in class, not correctness. If you miss a quiz, you cannot make it up. If you email me about your absence — before class when you can, or as soon as possible afterward — you will receive credit for the quiz you missed. However, you will be able to review the quiz to practice for the exams. Quizzes will generally be administered at the beginning of class.

Midterm exam

Pen-and-paper exam administered during class. This exam will test students by asking them to define key terms, identify passages from readings, close read evidence from a provided quotation, and compare at least two texts.

Final exam

Pen-and-paper exam administered during the assigned final examination period. This exam will test students by asking them to define key terms, identify passages from readings, close read evidence from provided quotations, and compare at least two texts.

Extra credit book club

Students can earn up to 8 percentage points of extra credit, added to your final course grade, by participating in the extra credit book club.

Renowned science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson is the inaugural recipient of the Malamud Family Distinguished Writer Award at Oregon State University. Robinson will be visiting OSU this academic year, culminating in a major event on May 7, 2027 at PRAx.

In anticipation of Robinson’s time at OSU, his writing will be the subject of the extra credit book club.

Requirements

  1. Sign up for the book club by Thursday, October 1. I will circulate the sign-up form separately; you will indicate on it which works you are most interested in reading.
  2. Book clubs will select at least 200 pages of Robinson’s work they intend to read together. (It is fine to plan to only finish part of a novel during the term; many of his novels are much longer than 200 pages.) Different book clubs will choose to read different works. No book club may have fewer than three people.
  3. Book clubs set their own reading schedules and meeting times. Club members receive extra credit for meeting up to four times outside of class during the term. Each book club meeting must last for at least thirty minutes.

Earning the extra credit

At the end of each book club meeting, all group members who are present will sign a book club log on a piece of paper with the following information: names, date, time, location, what you all read for that meeting (e.g., The Ministry for the Future, page 1 to 50), and at least one topic you discussed. One group member will then submit the signed log on behalf of the group.

For each log submitted, signatories will receive +2 percentage points on their final course grade, to a maximum of +8 for those who attend four book club meetings.

Course Policies and Statements

No digital technology in class

Except for students with an accommodation registered with Disability Access Services that overrides this rule, students are not permitted to use digital technology (including but not limited to laptops, tablets, phones, etc.) during class.

You are encouraged, but not required, to take notes by hand on paper.

Reasons for this policy:

Instructor Communication

Attendance

If you must miss class, please let me know in advance (or as soon as possible thereafter) by emailing me. This is especially important if your absence overlaps with a day you are on call: email me, and I will reassign you to a later day.

If you email me about an absence — before class when you can, or as soon as possible afterward — you will receive credit for any in-class quiz you missed that day.

If you are sick or injured, please do not come to class. Email me to let me know that you will be missing class. You do not need to provide details of your illness, injury, or a doctor’s note. I trust you, and I don’t need to know medical specifics. “I am sick and will not be in class today” is perfectly fine.

Extensions

Incomplete

When a requirement of a course has not been completed for reasons acceptable to the instructor and the rest of the academic work is passing, a report of “I” (incomplete) may be made and additional time granted, according to Academic Regulation 17 of OSU Academic Regulations.

If you are having any difficulty that might prevent you completing the coursework, please don’t wait until the end of the term; let me know right away.

Content Warnings

Literature often deals with difficult topics, including (but not limited to) violence, racism, sexism, and death. If you find something we read too difficult to finish or discuss, please contact me to arrange for an alternative to that week’s reading or discussion. If you are on call for the day we discuss it, I will reassign you to another day.

At the beginning of the term, I will solicit anonymous requests for content warnings. If you would like to receive content warnings for specific topics, that is your opportunity to request them. In my view, this is better than trying to provide general content warnings for each text, which may not respond to the needs of particular classes. For example, most people would not expect a content warning for a scene in which a character drowns, but someone with hydrophobia might want one.

Academic Integrity

It is important that you understand what constitutes academic misconduct at Oregon State University. Refer to the OSU Student Code of Conduct and the Office of the Dean of Students. If you are unsure if something will violate OSU’s academic integrity policy, ask your professors, GTAs, academic advisors, or academic integrity officers.

Academic misconduct, or violations of academic integrity, can fall into seven broad areas, including but not limited to: cheating; plagiarism; falsification; assisting; tampering; multiple submissions of work; and unauthorized recording and use.

Artificial Intelligence

I do not restrict the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as Claude or ChatGPT in this course, except during class time since digital technology is not permitted in class (except for students with registered accommodations). My AI policy is lenient because of how I evaluate your learning.

You are welcome to use AI if it helps you understand the readings or learn about speculative fiction. However, you cannot do well on the exams without doing the reading. AI tools will not quote extensively or accurately from texts to avoid producing evidence of their copyright infringement.

University-Wide Statements

Academic Calendar

All students are subject to the registration and refund deadlines as stated in the Academic Calendar: https://registrar.oregonstate.edu/osu-academic-calendar

Statement Regarding Students with Disabilities

Oregon State University is committed to making learning experiences accessible to all, which includes consideration of the course design, course learning outcomes, and barriers experienced by the disabled student. Disability Access Services (DAS) staff and students work together to determine reasonable accommodations. Students connected with DAS who have questions about their accommodations should reach out to their DAS Adviser. Students who have not yet completed the process for setting up accommodations, please contact DAS at 541-737-4098, visit the DAS website, or email to explore accommodations for a disability (e.g., mental health diagnoses, chronic health conditions, learning disabilities, physical conditions/injuries, etc.). Students and faculty members are encouraged to collaborate around the implementation of accommodations.

Accessibility of Course Materials

All materials used in this course are accessible. If you require accommodations please contact Disability Access Services (DAS). Additionally, Canvas, the learning management system through which this course is offered, provides a vendor statement certifying how the platform is accessible to students with disabilities.

Statement Regarding Religious Accommodation

Oregon State University is required to provide reasonable accommodations for employee and student sincerely held religious beliefs. It is incumbent on the student making the request to make the faculty member aware of the request as soon as possible prior to the need for the accommodation. See the Religious Accommodation Process for Students.

Expectations for Student Conduct

Student conduct is governed by the university’s policies, as explained in the Student Conduct Code (https://beav.es/codeofconduct). Students are expected to conduct themselves in the course (e.g., in class, on Canvas, and in email) in compliance with the university’s regulations regarding civility.

Student Bill of Rights

OSU has twelve established student rights. They include due process in all university disciplinary processes, an equal opportunity to learn, and grading in accordance with the course syllabus: https://asosu.oregonstate.edu/advocacy/rights

Reach Out for Success

University students encounter setbacks from time to time. If you encounter difficulties and need assistance, it’s important to reach out. Consider discussing the situation with me or with your academic advisor. You can also learn about resources that support wellness and academic success at Reach Out for Success.

College of Liberal Arts Diversity Statement

The College of Liberal Arts is a community that includes and values the voices of all people. As such, we recognize the social barriers that have systematically marginalized and excluded people and communities based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, socioeconomic background, age, disability, national origin and religion. We are committed to the equity of opportunities, and strive to promote and advance diverse communities. We value and proactively seek genuine participation from these historically under-represented and underserved groups, and recognize them as an essential component of creating a welcoming and rich academic, intellectual, and cultural environment for everyone.

Student Learning Experience Survey

During Fall, Winter, and Spring term the online Student Learning Experience surveys open to students the Wednesday of week 9 and close the Sunday before Finals Week. Students will receive notification, instructions, and the link through their ONID email. They may also log into the survey via MyOregonState or directly at https://beav.es/Student-Learning-Survey. Survey results are extremely important and are used to help improve courses and the learning experience of future students. Responses are anonymous (unless a student chooses to “sign” their comments, agreeing to relinquish anonymity of written comments) and are not available to instructors until after grades have been posted. The results of scaled questions and signed comments go to both the instructor and their unit head/supervisor. Anonymous (unsigned) comments go to the instructor only.

Technical Assistance

Contact the IS Service Desk for technical assistance.

Further reading

Students interested in further reading in the histories of science fiction and fantasy are directed to the following texts.

Science Fiction

Fantasy

Acknowledgments

This course was originally designed by Evan Gottlieb and has been adapted from previous iterations taught by Gottlieb, Joseph Bohlinger, and Annette Rubado.

  1. Ann VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer, eds., The Big Book of Science Fiction: The Ultimate Collection (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, Vintage Books, 2016).↩︎

  2. Ann VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer, eds., The Big Book of Classic Fantasy: The Ultimate Collection (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, Vintage Books, 2019).↩︎

  3. Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matthew Wilson, and Jared K. Fletcher, Paper Girls, vol. 1 (Image Comics, 2021).↩︎

  4. Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matthew Wilson, and Jared K. Fletcher, Paper Girls: The Complete Story (Image Comics, 2022).↩︎

  5. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut, ZA/UM, 2021.↩︎

  6. John Clute and David Langford, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (Fourth Edition), 2025, https://sf-encyclopedia.com/this-site.↩︎

  7. Abraham E. Flanigan, Jordan Wheeler, Tiphaine Colliot, Junrong Lu, and Kenneth A. Kiewra, “Typed Versus Handwritten Lecture Notes and College Student Achievement: A Meta-Analysis,” Educational Psychology Review 36, no. 3 (2024): 78, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09914-w; F. R. (Ruud) Van Der Weel and Audrey L. H. Van Der Meer, “Handwriting but Not Typewriting Leads to Widespread Brain Connectivity: A High-Density EEG Study with Implications for the Classroom,” Frontiers in Psychology 14 (January 2024): 1219945, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1219945.↩︎