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This genre is personally attractive because it appears, albeit superficially, to bridge the division between the natural sciences and literature.  As a biology and chemistry double major with a love of novels, I am often forced to split my time between the two groups.  There are texts about the past, present, and future of science on the one hand, and creative writing of the poetry and prose variety on the other hand.  Science fiction might be characterized as a handshake between the two.  It should be interesting to investigate what higher-level understanding emerges from their interaction. 

Science fiction is stories about the future of science, the evolution of a discipline.  Reminds me of the Stories of Evolution, Evolution of Stories course, which was an ancestor to our emerging genres course.  So a string of associations ties science fiction and our course together? 

Some texts that might be interesting to read...

Octavia Butler's Dawn-  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith%27s_Brood

Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake  http://www.amazon.com/Oryx-Crake-Margaret-Atwood/dp/0385721676

re-thinking about the movie Avatar  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/magazine/06FOB-onlanguage-t.html