In summer 2020 I created an online, noncredit course on Language & Linguistics in Sci-Fi. Since then I’ve taught the course in person and online, as a 1-credit reading group and as a 3-credit seminar, and I plan to keep teaching it indefinitely. If you’ve been thinking about teaching a class like this—or if you just like reading fiction and thinking about language—welcome! I hope you’ll find some inspiration here.
My course design is very simple. For each class we read and discuss a short story or novella that helps us view some fundamental property of language in a fresh way. See the readings for my list of stories, how I selected them, and my comments about each one.
If you’re an instructor, see format + mechanics for details about how I organize and manage the class and how you can adapt these ideas to your teaching context.
If you’re curious about constructed languages and other ways to connect linguistics and sci-fi, see other approaches.
See more readings for additional reading lists and recommendations, and visit my webpage to learn more about my other teaching and research.
Enjoy!
