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Becoming Alien:
Rhetorics of Extraterrestriality in America, 1947-1997 The Pennsylvania State University English 300h Professor Richard Doyle mobius@psu.edu
This course will map out the emergence of the “alien” as a figure in post war American consciousness. Since 1947 - the year the term "flying saucer" was coined - the role of extraterrestrials has been far from uniform. An invisible, ominpresent invader during the Cold War, the alien becomes associated with
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a new form of American identity by the late 1980’s - the abductee. The course will be rhetorical in approach, focusing not on the truth or falsity of alien phenomena but on the factors that render them plausible. A wide range of materials - science fiction novels, government documents, first person narratives, documentary films, blockbuster films, and conference proceedings- will constitute our archive. Students will produce a 15-20 page research paper based on original research.