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Schedule

TopPreliminary Schedule
N.B.: All readings are subject to change throughout the semester. Please keep careful watch on your email and IVLE page.

Unit 1: Literature/Cultural/Planetary Surveys

Week/Focus	Session 1	Session 2
1 10/8-13/8 Course Introduction	NO CLASS NATIONAL DAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY	Aug. 13^th: Introduction to Course: Policies and Procedures Discussion: What is Science Fiction? What is Empire?
2 17/8-20/8 Planning/Drafting	Aug. 17^th: Is there an East and West in Space? Viewing in class: “Space Seed” ST:TOS Readings: Candelaria, M. (2009). Reading Science Fiction with Postcolonial Theory (IVLE); Post-Colonial Discourse section from Cultural Studies for Beginners (IVLE); Chng J. (2013). Lotus. Supplemental Readings: An overview of Star Trek: The Original Series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series ; Blog post on the more recent casting of Khan: http://www.racebending.com/v4/featured/star-trek-whiteness/	Aug. 20^th: Mechanics of Writing an Annotated Bibliography/ Finding the Centre Discussion: Annotated Bibliographies Readings: Said, Orientalism Introduction, Part II (IVLE); Introduction from Techno-Orientalism: Imagining Asia in speculative fiction, history, and media Supplemental Readings: Reid, M. (2009). Postcolonialism. In Routledge Companion to Science Fiction (256-266). (CLIB)
3 24/8-27/8 Planning/Drafting	Aug. 24^th: Asian Futures without Asians (Discussion Group 1) Film Viewing Outside of Class: Blade Runner (IVLE) Readings: Park, J. (2010). American Anxiety and the Oriental City (IVLE)	Aug. 27^th: Peer Groups and Feedback Readings: Lai, L. (2011). Rachel. (IVLE) Fung, C & T. Prater (2015). How does it not know what it is: The techno-orientalised body in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and Larissa Lai’s Automaton Biographies. (IVLE) DUE: Paragraph on final project and 1 entry (min.) from Annotated Bibliography
4 31/8-3/9 Planning/Drafting	Aug. 31^st: Others Invading/Invaded (Discussion Group 2) Film Viewing Outside of Class: District 9 (IVLE). Readings: Rieder, J. (2005). Science Fiction, Colonialism and the Plot of Invasion; Blog post: http://dunedinschool.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/cinema-as-exorcism-two-district-9-as-postcolonial-science-fiction/; Supplemental Readings: Blog response to racial politics in the film: http://nnedi.blogspot.sg/2009/08/my-response-to-district-419i-mean.html; becoming the alien: apartheid, racism and district 9: http://asubtleknife.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/science-fiction-in-the-ghetto-loving-the-alien/; ‘You are not welcome here’: post-apartheid negrophobia & real aliens in Blomkamp’s District 9: http://www.darkmatter101.org/site/2010/02/07/you-are-not-welcome-here/	Sept. 3^rd: Changing Forms/Forms Changed (Discussion Group 3) Readings: Eekhout, G. (2011) Native Aliens (IVLE) Bhaba, H. Of Mimicry and Man (IVLE)

Unit 2: First Contacts – Making the Research Proposal

5 7/9-10/9 Planning: Identifying gaps and designing an approach	Sep. 7^th : The Empire Strikes Out Readings: Csicsery-Ronay, I. (2003). Science Fiction and Empire	Sep. 10^th Memory, Colonization, Colonizing (Discussion Group 4) Film Viewing Outside of Class: Casshern (IVLE) Readings: Shamoon, D. (2010). Casshern and the spectre of Japan’s war crimes in Asia;
6 14/9-17/9 Planning	Sep. 14^th : Peer Review for Annotated Bibliographies	Sep 17th: Research Proposal Discussion: How to write the research proposal DUE: Short paragraph on final project topic
RECESS WEEK Annotated Bibliography Due September 23^rd, 5 PM
7 28/9-1/10 Revision: Proposing an original argument	Sep. 28^th Peer Review of Proposal	Oct. 1^st Consultations with Lecturer on Proposal

Unit 3: Staking Claims – Producing a research paper

8 5/10-8/10 Planning/Drafting	Oct. 5^th Consultations with Lecturer on Proposal	Oct 8^th : Drop in Consultations on Proposal Research Proposal Due (Friday, 9/10, 5PM, IVLE)
9 12/10-15/10 Planning/Drafting	Oct. 12^th Writing the Research Paper: Strategies and Structure	Oct 15th Final Project Preliminary Presentations
10 19/10-22/10 Presentations	Oct 19^th Final Project Preliminary Presentations	Oct 22^nd Final Project Preliminary Presentations
11 26/10-29/10 Presentations/Revisions	Oct 26^th Drop in Consultations for Final Paper, Draft 1	Oct 29^th Peer Review, Final Paper, Draft 1.
12 2/11-5/11 Revision and Consultations	Nov. 2^nd Consultations with Lecturer	Nov. 5^th Consultations with Lecturer
13 9/11-13/11 Catch up and reflection	Nov. 9^th Consultations with Lecturer	Nov. 13^th Left intentionally open for flexibility

FINAL RESEARCH PROJECT
DUE MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16^th 5PM

TopUTW2001: Science Fiction and Empire
2015 Semester 1
Instructor: Dr. Jason Banta                                                                                           Email: elcjlb@nus.edu.sg
Office: #02-16M, Writing Unit, ERC                                                                          Phone: 6601-1472

Meeting Locations and Time:
                Section 1              AC-SR6 10AM-12PM       Mon/Thu
                Section 2              AC-SR6 12PM-2PM         Mon/Thu
                Section 3              TC-SR5 4PM-6PM            Mon/Thu

Course Description:
Science fiction is less about the future than it is about the present. Many science fiction narratives critique contemporary social issues, particularly imperialism and colonialism. This course will introduce students to the theories of colonialism and their importance in a modern context. Armed with this knowledge, students will engage with classic and contemporary science fiction texts in order to understand, as well as question, how such narratives describe and proscribe ways of ordering the world. In developing their original research projects, students will explore how this intersection between popular narrative and ideology influences many of the ways we think about culture today.

Objectives:
This module will provide you with the opportunity to learn and apply five core strategies that underlie successful scholarly writing and research:

Assessing the relevancy and reliability of multiple sources
Understanding how theory and method inform and produce knowledge
Identifying and articulating exigent research questions
Synthesizing multiple sources to construct and support hypotheses
Revising one’s own thesis, methodological organization, evidence and argumentation

Assessment:
Attendance and Participation                                     10%
Presentation                                                                      10%
Assignment 1- Annotated Bibliography                  15%
Assignment 2- Research Proposal                             25%
Assignment 3- Research Paper                                  40%

Attendance and Participation (10%): Students are expected to be actively and usefully engaged in class discussions and activities. Your participation grade will be determined by the following: 1) your active engagement in class conversations; 2) your reviews of peer writing; 3) your consistent and timely attendance in class; 4) other, non-major writing assignments; 5) your group discussion leading.

As this is a seminar style class, attendance is mandatory and will be taken at the beginning of each meeting. Each student will be allowed to accumulate 2 unexcused absences throughout the semester. Any additional absences will reduce your overall participation grade by 25 points, i.e. 75 points becomes 50, 60 becomes 45 and so on. Any student who arrives 15 minutes or later after the start of class will be considered absent for that meeting. If you have a regular conflict that prevents you from coming to class in a timely manner, please schedule a meeting with your instructor so that you can discuss how it might be resolved.

Students will not be penalized for authorized absences, which include: illness (supported by a medical certificate), personal or family emergencies, NUS examinations, lab sessions, and varsity level representation. Always inform your instructor as soon as possible about any potential absences or conflicts.

Presentation (10%): In weeks 9 and 10 you will be giving a 15-20 minute presentation on your final research topic. This is a work in progress presentation. You will have a power point that presents your primary text or texts, your thesis, and an illustrative example. Further details will be provided as the assignment approaches.

Assignment 1- Annotated Bibliography (15%): Compile an annotated bibliography to record and organize academic sources you find relevant to your final paper research topic. The goal of this assignment is to get you started on your research early and provide you with a structured method for engaging sources in a productive and critical way.

The annotated bibliography should include:

An alphabetized list of 6-8 sources. No more than three of these may have been discussed in class. They may include secondary texts of all varieties (subject to suitably for academic writing); no more than two entries maybe from primary texts.
Complete bibliographic information about each source, correctly formatted to APA (or other approved) formatting style.
A brief summary of the overall argument made by the source, identifying both the thesis, and the main arguments used to support it.
An indication of how you might integrate the source into your final paper research and how the sources interact with each other to inform your research topic.
Length of EACH entry should be 100-150 words.

Assignment 2- Research Proposal (25%): Students will write a brief research proposal describing the topic and scope of their proposed research project. The proposal should include:

Definition of the topic and scope of the study (including definition of key terms)
Brief introduction/background information on the topic
Research question/thesis to be explored
Brief literature review of significant examples of prior research on the topic
Statement on the methodology to be followed, and any other information to clarify the approach to be taken.
Length of the proposal is 750-1000 words

Assignment 3- Research Project (40%): Building on the previous assignments (the annotated bibliography and research proposal) students will undertake the writing of their research paper. The research project will ask them to formulate a research problem based on the findings of the previous two assignments, which asked them to map the existing discourse about their selected topic looking for evidence, theoretical models and claims to which they can respond.

For this paper students will need to develop a thesis statement that they can support with their own, chosen primary sources. They will use their analysis of these primary sources to converse with the ongoing academic discourse surrounding their topic.

Students can approach the research project as an extension of the existing literature. They might offer new or stronger evidence to support existing arguments, offer concrete evidence for unsupported claims, counter existing claims or apply a claim to a new or wider body of primary materials.

The length of the final paper is 2200-2500 words.

Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is a serious offense, especially in a writing intensive module like this one. Please be sure to appropriately reference any and all sources that you in the preparation of written assignments. When in doubt, cite. As many of these topics have already been covered in IEM1201/UTW1001 and your own residential college, you are entirely responsible for knowing what counts as plagiarism. Knowingly attempting to pass off someone else’s work as your own is an egregious transgression that I take extremely seriously. There are a number of systems in place to monitor for this type of activity at NUS. Any instance of plagiarism will be reported to the appropriate administrative and academic authorities for review and will have severe consequences for your academic career. Please see the Appendix for more information and resources on plagiarism.

Late Work:
Work that is submitted past the stipulated due DATE AND TIME will incur a fixed mark penalty per calendar day late of 5 points. Remember, all work submitted to IVLE will have time stamp. Do not wait until the last minute to submit your work.

Office Hours and Contact
While I have listed my office phone number, the best way to contact me is through email. When you email, plan for at least a 24 hour turn around for a response. If you desperately need a response for me in less time than this either 1) you have waited too long to contact me, or 2) it is an actual emergency and this course should be low on your list of the priorities. If you have specific issues I am more than happy to schedule a time to meet and discussion them.

Appendix
Statements and E-Resources on Plagiarism
It is important to note that plagiarism is an academic offence that is taken very seriously by the University, as stated in the NUS Code of Student Conduct (Clause 4) and the notice on plagiarism on the NUS website:

NUS Code of Student Conduct (Clause 4)

The University takes a strict view of cheating in any form, deceptive fabrication, plagiarism and violation of intellectual property and copyright laws. Any student who is found to have engaged in such misconduct will be subject to disciplinary action by the University.

Source: NUS Office of Student Affairs website (www.nus.edu.sg/osa/coc)

NUS Notice on the NUS Code of Conduct

NUS students are expected to maintain and uphold the highest standards of integrity and honesty at all times, as well as embrace community standards, diversity and mutual respect for one another, both within the University and the wider Singapore community.

The Code of Student Conduct (published by the Office of Student Affairs) is intended to guide students' conduct in both the academic and non-academic aspects of their University life by providing an overview of the behavior generally expected of them as a member of the University community.

One of the fundamental principles on which this Code is based is that of "Academic, Professional, and Personal Integrity".

In this respect, it is important to note that all students share the responsibility for upholding the academic standards and reputation of the University. Academic honesty is a prerequisite condition in the pursuit and acquisition of knowledge.

Academic dishonesty is any misrepresentation with the intent to deceive or failure to acknowledge the source or falsification of information or inaccuracy of statements or cheating at examinations/tests or inappropriate use of resources. There are many forms of academic dishonesty and plagiarism is one of them. Plagiarism is generally defined as ‘the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own' (The New Oxford Dictionary of English). The University does not condone plagiarism.

Students should adopt this rule - You have the obligation to make clear to the assessor which is your own work, and which is the work of others. Otherwise, your assessor is entitled to assume that everything being presented for assessment is being presented as entirely your own work. This is a minimum standard. In addition, the following guidelines will provide some assistance.

When using the ideas, phrases, paragraphs and data of others in work presented for assessment, such materials should be appropriately credited and acknowledged, so that it is clear that the materials being presented is that of another person and not the student's own.

The amount of detail required when referencing and acknowledging a source will vary according to the type of work and norms of the discipline. For instance,
- Supervised examinations will require less detail in referencing and acknowledgement.
- Papers written other than under examination conditions will require a full citation of all the sources utilised. While a particular style of citation is not prescribed, the citation should provide enough information for the reader to locate the sources cited.

Research materials (including texts, graphics and data) obtained from the internet or other electronic resources should be treated in the same way as research materials obtained from traditional sources.

Any student found to have committed or aided and abetted the offence of plagiarism may be subject to disciplinary action. In addition, the student may receive no grade for the relevant academic assignment, project, or thesis; and he/she may fail or be denied a grade for the relevant subject or module. Such a student caught plagiarizing would have to take that module for grade and not be allowed to exercise the S/U option for that module.

A student may not knowingly intend to plagiarise, but that should not be used as an excuse for plagiarism. Students should seek clarification from their instructors or supervisors if they are unsure whether or not they are plagiarising the work of another person.

Source: NUS Registrar’s Office website (http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/adminpolicy/acceptance.html)
To ensure that students taking CELC courses understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it, they are required to view the e-module entitled NUS Academic Culture module and read the articles listed below. Students will then have to take a quiz on plagiarism in the CELC module that they are taking.
Academic Culture Module
Click on the following link and view at least the two sections on “Plagiarism” and “Penalties”: http://emodule.nus.edu.sg/ac/launch.htm

Go to Academic Ethics > Plagiarism

This section answers the questions:
1.What is plagiarism?
2.How can plagiarism be avoided?

Go to Academic Ethics > Penalties

This section answers the questions
1.What happens when someone is caught for plagiarism?
2.Does being found guilty of plagiarism mean expulsion from the University?
Articles on Plagiarism
Click on the links below and read the three articles on plagiarism.
1.“Plagiarism: What It Is and How to Recognize and Avoid It”
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml
2.“Avoiding Plagiarism”
http://sja.ucdavis.edu/files/plagiarism.pdf
3.“Plagiarism and How to Avoid It”
http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/success/sl7.htm

Preclusions

TopIEM2201%, UTW2001%

Workload

Top0-4-0-0-6

Workload Components : A-B-C-D-E
A: no. of lecture hours per week
B: no. of tutorial hours per week
C: no. of lab hours per week
D: no. of hours for projects, assignments, fieldwork etc per week
E: no. of hours for preparatory work by a student per week

Module Overview

Prerequisites

Schedule

Syllabus

Preclusions

Workload