Old Email Archive

digest 1996-08-20 #001


11:24 PM 8/20/96 -0700From: "Society for Literature &
Science" 
Daily SLS Email
Digest----------------------------------------------------------------------Date:
20 Aug 1996 03:45:20 -0700From: Subject: Trek in the ClassroomThis past
June, I wrote to three instructors cited in a Mechanical
Engineeringcover story--"Robots in Film."  One was Jonathan
Kuntz at UCLA; the otherswere at R.I.T. and Bowling Green in Ohio.I had
written to ask if, as people who teach courses in Technology
andLiterature, they would consider using a critical work that focused on
the"canon" of Star Trek: The Next Generation.Harlan Ellison
helped me get the work ["Confessions of a Trekoholic: A New Look at
The Next Generation"] published.  He did it out of thegoodness of
his heart and wasn't involved in the writing in any way; we justhappened
to have the same attitude toward the entity of Trek.I taught
"Fantasy Literature" on a junior college level and know I
would haveloved a text on Star *WARS*.  I'd appreciate hearing
fromothers--whether video literature is sufficiently "serious"
for you to considerincluding in your courses, and, of course, whether
criticism of videoliterature is something you'd use.Thank You.Hilary
PalencarPennsylvania----------------------------------------------------------------------Date:
20 Aug 1996 08:57:10 -0700From: porusd@rpi.edu (David Porush)Subject:
Re: Trek in the ClassroomDear Hilary,I was one of the folks you tried
(vainly) to interview.I am at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) not
RIT(Rochester Institute of Technology).Please accept my apologies for
not getting back to yourwell-intentioned efforts. Your letters caught me
in themiddle of a large move of my family to another state.Things are
more settled now and I hope if you still havequestions I can help you
with you will accept my responses.I teach a course called "Virtual
Reality and Science Fiction"at the upper-class level. We include
films about VR and AI (TRON,LAWNMOWER MAN, VIRTUOSITY, and BLADE RUNNER)
as well as readings.This course is part of a much larger degree program
calledElectronic Media, Arts & Communication, which is a
collaborationof two departments, Arts and Language, Lit & Comm here
at RPI.If you are interested in some of the other courses, you canvisit
our Website athttp://www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/emacWe often talk about Star
Trek, especially THE NEXT GENand the holodeck in particular as a
fantastic and farfetchedimplementation of VR. But I do not include any
materialsexplicity, although your inquiries provoked me to considerdoing
so. The most intriguing in this regard is the one whereData plays
Sherlock Holmes and brings into corporeal beingProfessor Moriarity. I am
tempted, if I can get my hands ona videotape, to show that one.David
Porush, ProfessorExecutive Director, EMACRPITroy NY 12180e-mail:
porusd@rpi.edu----------------------------------------------------------------------Date:
20 Aug 1996 10:50:53 -0700From: weissert@sjuphil.sju.edu (Thomas
Weissert)Subject: Re: Trek in the ClassroomExcerpt from David Porush:;;
The most intriguing in this regard is the one where; Data plays Sherlock
Holmes and brings into corporeal being; Professor Moriarity. I am
tempted, if I can get my hands on; a videotape, to show that
one.;David,a slight correction to this in that there are two episodes of
thisthread, the second, called "ship in a bottle" is a sequel
to the firstis brings back Moriarity in a very well done levels of
realityexploration.  The first one was called "Elementary my dear
Data."I think I have them both on tape, by the way."Computer,
end
program."cheers,Tom~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^Thomas
Weissert, Ph.D.                        Voice/fax: (610) 664-8463Math
Teacher               LiteroPhysicistThe Agnes Irwin School             
Thomas_Weissert@irwins.pvt.k12.pa.usRosemont PA
19010http://www.irwins.pvt.k12.pa.us     Alternative email: 
weissert@sju.edu-
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=----------------------------------------------------------------------Date:
20 Aug 1996 12:09:43 -0700From: ENGROSEN@ACS.EKU.EDUSubject: Re: Trek in
the ClassroomHi David and Tom:I taught the two episodes titled "The
Best of Both Worlds", otherwiseknown as the middle Borg episodes in
my "Intelligence in ScienceFiction: Human, Alien,
Artificial."These episodes were linked to a discussion the previous
week on Varela'sdescription ofbottom-up and top-down cognitive processes
that touched on theirmanifestations in the logic of institutional
behavior a la MaryDouglass.  Then, we read in preparation for the Borg
tapes, EdwinHutchin's volume on distributed cognition *Cognition in the
Wild* andthe Arthur C. Clarke volume *Childhood's End*.These were
particularly satisfying classes, esp when we brought thetrekkie fans
from Bruno Clarke's class at TTU for online discussions.I have a copy of
the episodes, David so if you are interested let meknow.mer