 | |
|
Current Courses My Work Friends and Allies Contact Me |
Vital Rhetorics:
Discourses of Biology and Biotechnology
English 83S, section 1 Recent headlines appear to be cut and pasted from a science fiction novel. News of cloning, xenotransplantion and advances in genetic engineering foster the notion that "organisms" have finally become as manipulable as machines. Indeed, such news sometimes reminds us that after all, we may in fact be machines. This course will address the language, arguments and narratives that enable such recent claims, investigating both the arguments of 19th and 20th century evolution( Darwin, Dawkins) and the narratives of 20th century science fiction and non fiction. Liberal doses of newspaper accounts, internet sources and scientific articles (Margulis, Watson & Crick) will fill out our archive. Students will be responsible for 3 short essays and one 10-12 page research paper.
|