link Source: www.coursera.org
list 8 sequences
assignment Level : Introductory
chat_bubble_outline Language : English
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timer 40 hours in total

About the content

Learn about how our imagination of the universe and its inhabitants was shaped by literature throughout the last 400 years.

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Syllabus

INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL LITERATURE?

Main Source: Jonathan Swift, Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships (1727), Part III, Chapters 1-3.

MODULE I: CONSTRUCTING OTHER WORLDS
Learning objective: Literature is not a interstellar medium of a second order, but organizes outer space as we see it.
Main Source: Johannes Kepler, The dream, or a lunar astronomy (1609/1634)

Lesson 1: The Book And The Telescope - Kepler vs. Galilei
Lesson 2: The Demon And The Mind's Eye - Kepler's "Dream"



MODULE II: TRAVELLING THE EARLY MODERN COSMOS
Learning objective: The early-modern age reflects interstellar travelling as a journey made possible by literature and literary imagination.
Main Sources: Francis Godwin, The Man in the Moone (1629/1638)  / Cyrano de Bergerac, The Other World: Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon (1657)

Lesson 3: Godwin or The Secret Passage Of Fantasy
Lesson 4: Cyrano or The Universe As A Literary Market



MODULE III: THE 18TH CENTURY ALIEN
Learning objective: The idea of an inhabited solar system evokes a cosmical hierarchy of morals. 
Main Sources: Eberhard Christian Kindermann, The Speedy Journey (1744) / Immanuel Kant, Universal Natural History and Theory of Heaven (1755), Part Three, paragraphs 1-12 / Emanuel Swedenborg, Earths In The Universe (1758), Passages 27-29.

Lesson 5: The Golden Chain Of The Cosmos - Kindermann's Trip To The Martian Moon
Lesson 6: Kant, Swedenborg, And The Nature Of The Alien Reader



MODULE IV: READING MARS
Learning objective: The Age of the Martians is linked to the galactic expansion of evolutionary theory.
Main Sources: Kurd Lasswitz, Two Planets (1897) / H.G. Wells, The Crystal Egg (1897) 

Lesson 7: The Canals or The Rise (And Fall) Of Martian Utopia
Lesson 8: Colonizing Earth, Colonizing Mars



MODULE V: CULTURE INDUSTRY AND THE 20th CENTURY ALIEN 
Learning objective: The organization of Space Fiction in magazines shapes the perception of the genre - and the perception of its consumers as well, including sexual stereotypes. While the superficial notion of space fiction registers a vivid tradition of sexist clichés, outer space is in fact a fertile ground for diversive concepts of sexual identity.
Main Sources: Pulp / Donna Haraway, Monkeys, Aliens, and Women: Love, Science, and Politics at the Intersection of Feminist Theory and Colonial Discourse(1989)

Lesson 9: The Cosmos Of Pulp
Lesson 10: The Gender Of Space



MODULE VI: EMPIRE - OUTER SPACE AS A POLITICAL BATTLEGROUND
Learning objective: As outer space becomes an arena of political conflicts, wars become an integral element of space fiction. However: The emergence of the Galactic Empire shows us that space politics have less to do with enemies and warfare than with control and communication.
Main Sources: Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers (1959) / Frank Herbert, Dune (1965)

Lesson 11: Empire As A Drug - Frank Herbert's Dune
Lesson 12: Empire As A Suit - Robert A. Heinlein's Starship troopers



MODULE VII: EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL LIBRARIES
Learning objective: Organizing cosmic knowledge is not longer a bureaucratic task, but a story in itself, a turning point in literary consciousness.
Main Sources: Ludovico Ariosto: Orlando Furioso (1516), Canto 34 / Isaac Asimov, Foundation (1942-1950) / Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1978-1980)

Lesson 13: The Dump
Lesson 14: The Archive



MODULE VIII: POST-TERRESTRIAL LITERATURE
Learning objective: Despite being confronted with »true« interstellar media, literature finds its place in an earthless universe.
Main Source: Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) / Carl Sagan, Contact (1985) / Reinhard Jirgl, Nichts von Euch auf Erden/Deserted Earth (2013) / Christopher Nolan, Interstellar (2014)

Lesson 15: Books Vs. Signals or The End Of Human Totalitarianism
Lesson 16: Man Beyond Earth, Books Beyond Man

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Instructors

  • Philipp Theisohn - German Department
  • Krystina Schaub - Philosophy/ German Language Studies
  • Julia Nauer - Literature / Philosophy
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Content Designer

University of Zurich
Founded in 1833, the University of Zurich (UZH) is Switzerland’s largest university, with a cur­rent enrollment of over 26,000 students. Made up of seven faculties covering approximately 100 different subject areas, UZH is proud to offer the most comprehensive aca­demic program in the country.
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Platform

Coursera

Coursera is a digital company offering massive open online course founded by computer teachers Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller Stanford University, located in Mountain View, California. 

Coursera works with top universities and organizations to make some of their courses available online, and offers courses in many subjects, including: physics, engineering, humanities, medicine, biology, social sciences, mathematics, business, computer science, digital marketing, data science, and other subjects.

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