Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Vanderbilt Course on Science and Science Fiction

The semester here is well underway, and I am teaching (with my colleague Jay Clayton from the English Department) an honors seminar on science and science fiction. Each week is based around a different theme (time travel, quantum mechanics, prediction of the future), with corresponding stories assigned. Then we discuss both the scientific issues (Does physics rule out time travel?  Why can't you travel faster than light, and what are the implications for interstellar travel? And what's deal with Schrodinger's cat?) and the stories themselves.  It's a unique blend of hard-core science and literature (as the name of the course suggests).  This is the third time we've taught this course, and I think we're finally starting to get it right.  You can look at the class blog at https://vusf.wordpress.com/.  There's a link there to the class syllabus, if you'd like to see what we are reading.  All in all, it's the most fun class I've ever taught. And of course, this blog itself grew out of my teaching that course.

6 comments:

Priya Palande said...

Prof. Scherrer, I have been a fan of your blog and love your style of writing. I am also interested in things covered in Vanderbilt course on Science and Science Fiction, though have no formal or informal training in any of the subjects covered. So are such courses accessible and available to a lay but interested person like me?

I live in Nashville...

Thank you in advance,
~ Priya Palande.

Robert Scherrer said...

Vanderbilt courses are open only to registered students. However, there are also plenty of public lectures and other activities at the university. For instance, our physics colloquium is free and open to the public; the schedule of talks is here:
http://as.vanderbilt.edu/physics/events/colloquium/
Most of these talks are aimed at an audience with a physics background, but a few of them are tailored for a more general audience (e.g., Gregory Benford's talk on Oct. 8). I've also given public lectures myself, including a series for the Osher lifelong learning program. Now that I have this blog, I will post any talks of interest in the future.

Kathy said...

Have you considered pitching this course for "The Great Courses"?

Robert Scherrer said...

Yes, I have. But first I am trying to put together a book proposal on this topic.

Priya Palande said...

Thank you for your reply, Dr. Scherrer! I feared as much... I do not have a formal physics/ astrophysics/ cosmology/ math background. I have a graduate degree in engineering with masters in Computer Science and that was what I did until about 8 years ago. I got bored and wanted to pursue my interests in these topics which have always fascinated me in addition to writing science fictions. My weak point is Math, though ;) - not sure who dislikes whom more! And unfortunately I have come to realize that it is the basis of most pure/ applied sciences. So that is a stumbling block for me. Nevertheless, I still like to read and try to understand about all these subjects, sans Math.

When you mention registered students, is that like grad/ masters level students?

The topics covered in this seminar are so interesting and having literature and science aspect explored together is like a dream come true! How I wish I could have attended or had access to the course material (sure, I will miss the exchange and dialog that happens in the class but to even read your notes would be great). I really hope the book proposal works out! Hopefully I can lay my hands of the first copy. And thanks so much for the link! I will try to be there for the talk on Oct. 8th.

Robert Scherrer said...

If you look at the syllabus at our course website, you can see what we are reading. Those are pretty much the only materials for the course, which is mostly discussion-oriented. I also give some science lectures, but the content for that is quite similar to what I've already published on this blog!