Hi, Everyone.
In Latin America there is still a very serious disdain for sf, despite a very healthy readership, a long history, and many very well-known writers. There are many reasons for the stigma. However, the issue can be traced to an academic misunderstanding of sf as the byproduct of popular culture for the masses as well as a distrust on…[Read more]

Sorry for the typo marked and corrected at **.  I never know if correcting a typo is worth an extra post, but I felt embarrassed here because of the company of English professional colleagues.  Glo

Hello, all,

I agree that the stigma against science fiction in the classroom seems to be decreasing but the widespread teaching of science f…[Read more]

Hello, all,

I agree that the stigma against science fiction in the classroom seems to be decreasing but the widespread teaching of science fiction in college lit. classes also is declining.  I may be wrong, but I believe  that the number is down.  The number of science fiction course sections any given year or period of time may be keyed to th…[Read more]

Why is it that every time I post here I get a 504 Gateway Timeout message?

Hmm, I received a 504 error and thought it didn’t post, so I re-submitted, but apparently both posts went through.  I edited the second post a bit for clarity.  I’ve also noticed that a lot of sff writers and readers believe that science fiction and religion don’t mix.  This, of course, is nonsense.  I have a list of religious science fiction sto…[Read more]

Gloria:  That reminds me of Galileo as the poster child of the oppressed scientist when he brought a lot of it on himself by making fun of the Pope, calling him Simplicio in a dialogue.  I’m not saying what Galileo’s exile was right, but experiencing negative effects from tweaking the nose of the most powerful man in Europe is as unsur…[Read more]

Gloria:  That reminds me of Galileo as the poster child of the oppressed scientist when he brought a lot of it on himself by making fun of the Pope, calling him Simplicio in a dialogue.  I’m not saying what Galileo’s exile was right, but experiencing negative effects from tweaking the nose of the most powerful man in Europe is as unsurprising as W…[Read more]

Great topic, and good comments!

I may be incorrect, but I feel as though the stigma against SF in literature departments is gradually decreasing, especially since publications like Carl Freedman’s Critical Theory and Science Fiction and Fredric Jameson’s Archaeologies of the Future.  That said, I certainly agree that we still see the effects of…[Read more]

Hello,

I have the history that explains this bias.  In Victorian London, Henry James took up H. G. Wells and hoped to mentor the younger man, even collaborate on a Mars novel.  When Wells–a Cockney from a lower social strata–chafed at the great man image that James cultivated and (horrors!) parodied James in his novel Boon, James broke off t…[Read more]

I tried to respond to the request for peer reviewers but the message bounced back as undeliverable. Could you please check the email address given to see if it is correct? Thank you.

I attempted to respond to the request for guest peer reviewers but the email was returned undeliverable. Could you please check the email address provided to see if it is correct? Thank you.

And here is that good article in the University of Arizona newspaper with the abysmal photo…

http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/article/2014/01/exhibit-links-sci-fi-and-the-arts

Sorry about the typo.  OBVIOUSLY it is ARIZONA, not Atizona…

Here is more for college instructors planning curriculum…

The library display is called “Mars Madness: Sci-Fi, Popular Culture and Ray Bradbury’s Literary Journey
to Outer Space”and it opens on January 21st-though August. I am guest curating this exhibit for them.

We are opening an interdisciplinary display about science fiction writer Ray B…[Read more]