And yet another reply to the roll call -- Tess Tavormina here, in the
English Department at Michigan State University (hi, Ruth Ann!).
Medievalist; reader of myth, fairy tale, science fiction, popularized
science, and the general dragon/dinosaur narrative field since childhood;
sometime director of the Clarion Workshop (hi, Nalo and Nicola!); occasional
teacher of science fiction (in courses on apocalyptic fictions, science
writing, and this coming fall on Science Fiction and Gender); and committer
of a small handful of pieces of critical print on sf (LeGuin twice--once on
The Dispossessed and once on Earthsea--and Miller's Canticle once). But
mostly I've done things about medieval marriage and family in literature and
(new research direction) medieval medical texts.
I too tend to read the list in batches (the last week's worth of material
has been both fascinating and daunting, especially to come back to after a
long 4th of July weekend away from the computer -- but I think I've gotten
through it now!! :) and am delighted to meet so many of you). For my sins,
I'm presently in an admin. post at MSU, which means I only rarely get time
to send to the two or three lists I've held on to, but I'm reading with you
silently whenever I can.
Like Michelle Kendrick earlier this year, I'd like to ask the list if there
are any objections to my encouraging the class I'm teaching this fall to
lurk on the list so that they can learn from other folk deeply engaged with
issues relevant to gender issues in sf. The usual provisos about letting
the class (this one has 40 students in it, mainly sophomores and up, with
some honors freshmen) know about netiquette, etc. Any problems for anyone?
The "lens" by which the course will be focused, for those who may be
interested, will be
the Tiptree Award. Karen Fowler and Pat Murphy offered the MSU Library's
Special Collections department the archive of Tiptree materials -- books,
stories, cookbooks, postcards, quilt photos, etc., etc. -- a couple of years
ago, and the Spec. Colls. librarians jumped at the chance. Almost all
course readings and assignments will draw from the Tiptree lists (e.g.,
Ammonite, China Mountain Zhang, Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein, "Mountain
Ways," etc.), including the retrospectives and a couple of Tiptree's own
stories (plus parts of Khatru 3&4, Lefanu, and Russ's To Write Like a Woman
for a 20-year spree of theoretical discussions). And I'm thinking of having
a potluck for the class at the end, asking them to draw recipes from the
cookbooks. I love classes that involve physical/material activity as well
as intellectual/verbal: readers theater, graphic concept mapping, food and
drink (the old symposium tradition).
Thanks to everyone for the last several months of wonderful discussions,
which have been splendid preparation for teaching this course -- I've
learned tremendous amounts from you all and am looking forward to more.
Tess
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