Course

20801209 Literature and Science
Course Information
Description
The course explores the longstanding relationship between literature and science. Students will discover how literature depicts science, how science changes literature, and, lastly, how these fields have collaborated over the centuries to communicate new knowledge. Students will read a wide variety of genres such as science fiction, science writing, and environmental nonfiction that have shown how the sciences and the humanities have had a long and mutually beneficial relationship.
Total Credits
3
Course Competencies (Course Outcomes)
  1. Articulate theories about the relationship between science and literature
    Assessment Strategies
    Project, test, journal, written product and/or presentation
    Criteria
    Enumerate different theories of science and literature
    Compare and contrast the ways that science and literature relate
    Examine the historical and cultural context behind ideas about literature and science

  2. Analyze texts, narratives, and archetypes pertaining to science and technology that appear throughout the history of literature and culture
    Assessment Strategies
    Project, test, journal, written product and/or presentation
    Criteria
    Recognize recurring narratives in literature about science and technology
    Analyze individual texts for their treatment of scientific and technological narratives
    Discuss the continued relevance and effects of archetypes in popular conceptions of STEM

  3. Analyze literary and cultural texts that offer diverse gender, class, ecocritical, or ethnic perspectives on science and technology
    Assessment Strategies
    Project, test, journal, written product and/or presentation
    Criteria
    Analyze literature for its presentation of gender roles within science and its professions
    Discuss the relevance of literature for communicating and reflecting on current environmental issues
    Analyze texts that feature underrepresented literary voices about science
    Recognize historical and cultural contexts that contribute to the marginalization of voices within the literature

  4. Differentiate the representations of science across a variety of literary genres, including oral storytelling, drama, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction
    Assessment Strategies
    Project, test, journal, written product and/or presentation
    Criteria
    Compare and contrast the treatment of science within literature across genres
    Apply a literary approach to various scientific genres such as popular science nonfiction and traditional scientific literature

  5. Analyze the adoption of literary devices, themes, and narratives within scientific literature and science writing
    Assessment Strategies
    Project, test, journal, written product and/or presentation
    Criteria
    Identify themes and narratives within scientific literature and science writing
    Distinguish between the various types of writing in the sciences such as popular and scholarly literature
    Recognize recurring narratives in science writing
    Analyze individual examples of science writing for their adoption of literary devices
    Relate science writing to traditional literary texts

  6. Discuss how scientific methodologies and technologies alter the production, interpretation, and distribution of literature
    Assessment Strategies
    Project, test, journal, written product and/or presentation
    Criteria
    Discuss approaches to literature that draw on scientific methods
    Recognize the effects of new technologies (e.g. printing and the internet) on access to literature
    Identify changes in literary content and style that result from scientific progress

  7. Correlate distinct historical periods of scientific literature and discoveries to the period’s literary culture
    Assessment Strategies
    Project, test, journal, written product and/or presentation
    Criteria
    Examine historical changes in literature that directly result from scientific advancements
    Analyze how the adaptation of literature to new technologies changes style and content

  8. Assess the value and potential of the various social, environmental, and philanthropic collaborations between authors and scientists
    Assessment Strategies
    Project, test, journal, written product and/or presentation
    Criteria
    Articulate the ways in which literature has influenced the communication of scientific ideas
    Examine specific contemporary and historical examples of writers and artists working alongside scientists

  9. Explain how the relationship between professions in the sciences and the humanities has been mutually beneficial
    Assessment Strategies
    Project, test, journal, written product and/or presentation
    Criteria
    Describe the relevance of literature and literary study for scientific pursuits and professions
    Describe the relevance of scientific findings and methodologies for fields related to literature