I really enjoy listening to music when I read and attempting to make the story and the music I'm listening to line up, making my own little soundtrack. Usually it's not particularly good, but when I was reading "Tower of Babylon" I thought of this song and it blended exceptionally well, so much so that and I felt like sharing.

More Chiang volunteers

For Wednesday, Sept. 5, the volunteers are:

• Aimee Grisham: The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate
• David Schneider: "Exhalation"
• Andrew Reeves: The Lifecycle of Software Objects 

Thanks to these and to everyone, presenters and non-presenters alike, who kept the conversation going so well Wednesday. Let's do it again Sept. 5. We'll also be talking about how this discussion could translate into paper ideas.

As you probably could tell from our previous class meeting, I am no science fiction aficionado, nor have I yet become familiar with many pieces of science fiction literature. However, I signed up for this course because I am really interested in learning more about it. Before diving into our first reading assignment, Stories of Your Life and Others, I thought science fiction was mainly about space and time travel and things of that sort. However, after reading some of Chiang's short stories, I realized that there is so much more to science fiction than space and time travel. Many of the stories focused on advancements in language which I previously would not have thought of as science fiction. My interpretation of science fiction is: any conception of a reality in which things that exist outside the realm of current human understandings/capabilities become possible.

Defining Science Fiction

While science fiction is a very broad genre encompassing hundreds of years of literature, movies, and television, my approximate definition would be: a story involving some aspect of science or technology (often taken to an imaginative extreme) and how human nature interacts with it. Some common themes include space travel, artificial intelligence, time travel, aliens, and extrapolating the consequences of contemporary scientific discoveries. While these ideas are all common, they are by no means necessary to classify a work as science fiction. 

What makes science fiction especially interesting is its ability to examine human nature through the most bizarre, extraordinary ideas. Traditional fiction is usually set in our world with our rules, but science fiction asks, what if things were different? What if we could fly to other galaxies in a matter of days? What if we could travel backward or forward in time, and influence events? What if we could engineer ourselves to be super-intelligent, or super-strong? What would we do with that technology? Science fiction is able to use these kinds of ideas to tell stories about who we are, and who we could be under different circumstances.  

It's nearly impossible to categorize a book, movie, or television show as belonging to only one genre, but for many people science fiction tends to set itself apart from other genres as being a fascinating mix of reality and fantasy. It is used as both a way to examine our world through satire and criticism, and to escape it through getting lost in an enthralling story.

Science Fiction

To define anything, I believe it is important to start with the general and work towards the specific.  To begin with, a work of science fiction is just that: a piece of literature which is invented as opposed to recorded, and in which a prevailing theme of science exists.  To move towards a more specific definition, one must look for common elements in pieces of science fiction.  After reading some science fiction stories, it is difficult to identify a common ground.  Some have aliens, others do not.  Some are set in the future, others are set in the past.  Some are set in space, others are set on earth. Some place emphasis on new technology, while others place emphasis on humans and society.  Looking at works as different as The Hunger Games, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Brave New World, it is difficult to pinpoint what unites them.  How is it that all of these stories can be classified as science fiction? What aspect differentiates them from any other work of fiction?  In my opinion, what makes science fiction distinct as its own genre is how it appeals to the mind of its audience.  Not many things that happen in works of science fiction are really very likely to happen.  However, science fiction takes these improbable occurrences and uses concepts of science to make them seem possible.  This possibility, however unlikely, is what stimulates the audience to enter the world of science fiction and what defines it as a genre.

Science Fiction

When I think of 'Science Fiction,' I, of course, consider the general consensus that the story somehow revolves around technology or the lack-there-of in a way that, even inaccurately, rationalizes the universe through some form of logic. However, I like to think that there's more to the genre than just those restraints. To me, a Science Fiction story doesn't just highlight the technology available in the fictional world. Rather, it shows the mortality and limitations of the organic world by using synthetic elements to reveal the hubris of man (or other organism) in his quest to transcend the mortal world. For example, in "Tower of Babylon," it is not the technology used to build the tower itself that drives the people to build, but the fact that humanity has grown so arrogant that it thinks man has the right to violate the heavens just because he has the ability to. In the end, the tower these people have devoted their lives to yields no rewards except the knowledge that man cannot actually transcend his own physical world.

Sci-fi defintion

I do not favor a "straitjacket" definition of science fiction which attempts to decisively categorize every work as either part of this genre or not. However, there are certainly many similarities among sci-fi works such as an emphasis on technology or a setting in a distant time or place. The main difference between sci-fi and and other genres of fiction is that it usually has some degree of plausibility. Things such as time travel or artificial intelligence are often explained scientifically (with a widely varying degree of believability). Personally, one of my favorite things about speculative fiction is how it allows us to envision a world where the societal effects of a new technology (both positive and detrimental) are a part of everyday life. Things like genetically engineered humans and space colonization would obviously have major cultural and economic repercussions, and sci-fi lets us see what any number of possible futures might be like. This is why near-future cyber-punk works like Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash and the old movie Blade Runner appeal to me.

What is Science Fiction?

To define science fiction is a difficult task due to the wide range of what can make a story considered a part of the genre. As a whole I think science fiction should include science and fiction—an obvious assumption from the name. The science should be something futuristic or abstract to what we think is possible. However, I think it is important that it is something that seems probable. That is when it is explained it seems like it could really be true to the audience. It is not something so abstract that it does not make any sense. Also, along with the science the fiction is an obvious must. Fiction is defined as an imaginary event surrounding people and events.

I think a main component of science fiction is an author’s ability to take something very abstract and portraying it to the audience in a way that seems real. Even if the story is obviously not real, to me, science fiction has a way of capturing my attention making me believe what is happening is actually possible in the future. I think the reason why science fiction appeals to me in this way is the fact that it is explained rationally by math and science.

Altogether I think there are a lot more things that go into the definition of science fiction than I am mentioning. I think that there are broad ranges of things that play into what science fiction can be. As a whole science fiction is a story that surrounds some sort of fictional tale that is explained by math or science to make it believable to the audience.

How I Define Science Fiction

As a fan of science fiction, I find it interesting that I've never considered what the term entails. I tend to be a literalist with these sort of things; I think it should consist of science with a healthy dose of fiction. I attribute the presence of futuristic, alien, or otherwise "different" technology to the genre of science fiction.

More broadly, I think a work of science fiction incorporates a world that is somehow different from our own. This can range anywhere from the not too distant future to a galaxy far, far away. It is more evident in scientific discovery but also has ramifications in realms like political and social spheres.

Science fiction is not reality. However, the inherent science present lends it plausibility. It suggests that it could be real and leaves us wondering.

Science Fiction Definition

Science fiction is a genre frequently associated with space and technology. While it is true that a large number of science fiction works include such factors, they are not its most defining characteristics. In my opinion, for something to be a part of science fiction, it must first feature a world or society which differs from ours in some key way. This difference can involve anything from genetic mutations (perhaps some that create "super powers" in otherwise normal humans, like on the TV show Alphas or in any number of Marvel and DC Comics) to parallel timelines that result in dystopian societies to the inevitable technological advances (in this case, the stereotype does exist for a reason). It really does not matter (except, obviously, to the plot of the work) what the specific difference is, so long as it results in a believable alternative to our world. Even though it is highly unlikely that robots will take over the world or that scientists will create a drug that increases human IQ, it is still possible. This is, to me, the main difference between science fiction and fantasy. In fantasy works, it is easy to accept hobbits, trolls, and assorted forms of magic spells and wizards because they exist in a universe distinctly separate from our own. In science fiction, we are faced with our own world, slightly twisted by a different turn of events. Science fiction's strange creatures, whether in the form of aliens or robots, exist because of a discovery that could still take place in the real world. Science fiction's "magic" has a logical, scientific cause that is easily explained; for example, the superhuman abilities seen on Fringe are the result of drug trials by a scientist, not because of some supernatural element.

My absolute favorite example of science fiction is the one I just mentioned, the TV show Fringe. John Scalzi's book Redshirts and S.M. Stirling's series of Change novels, starting with Dies the Fire, are also quite good.

The Problem with, and Beauty of, "Sci-Fi"

My opinion on categorization constantly flip-flops. One day I abhor the practice of placing arbitrary labels on things that may not necessary fit into said label for the sole purpose of convenience. Take the tomato debate for example. There is no fine line between "fruit" and "vegetable" in nature, it's a human construct used to easily parse edible plants into groups. The same goes for sci-fi, as there is a constant fight over what sub-genres and sub-sub-genres fit within the realm of "sci-fi". Steampunk is a genre that has been the focus of that debate, in particular. After all, it happens (almost always) in the past, oftentimes with less progressed technologies. On my contrarian days, I say "Who gives a shit?". Steampunk is steampunk. Everyone versed in fiction knows, by and large, what that entails. Why are umbrella genres and categories necessary for everything?

However, on days I'm feeling a bit more agreeable, I see the benefits of categories and the expansive, flawed, wonderful, and apocryphal genre that is Science Fiction, and it is within those benefits that I discover what defines the genre for me.

Science fiction is a study of what could be, could've been, and couldn't ever be. It's fantastical, which is why many fit it under the even broader spectrum of fantasy, but it is still largely rooted in reality. In sci-fi, ghosts are aliens trapped in gaseous phase, pyromancy is evolved through symbiotic evolution with heat producing bacteria, and alternate earths are visited by wormoles. That is what unites it as a genre and makes it meaningful. Science Fiction is a gathering of dreamers who don't need unexplainable phenomena to make their visions come to life. All that is needed is knowledge of what is known and curiosity about what is not.

What is Science Fiction?

Science Fiction is a branch of fiction that utilizes the imaginative foundation of fiction and adds to it probable events or concepts that were/are/could be available with our current scientific knowledge. Such concepts include (but are not limited to): space, futuristic/ancient ideals and worlds, and advances/regressions in technology or other aspects of life. Although these are all types of content found within the genre of science fiction, not all science fiction works contain these or any content that you would readily associate with the genre. Thus, we are always forced to reexamine what we deem as an exact definition of what could be classified as science fiction. Furthermore, another genre bears many similarities to those of science fiction, and that is the genre of fantasy. What separates science fiction from the realms of fantasy? I like to think that fantasy is based on a new world that you yourself create with rules, laws, and details you mold to your liking; however, science fiction takes our knowledge and information of the known universe and pushes the limits of our understanding of it to allow for new brilliant concepts and mind-blowing story lines. 

Numerous successful novels, movies, and television shows are based in the science fiction genre, and are able to remain popular because the public is entranced by the possibilities of what 'could be.' Personally, my favorite topic in science fiction involves any and all things related to superheroes, and the possibility like in Chiang's "Understand" for someone to advance beyond the norm of the average human. 

Science Fiction: one of many parallel definitions

Science Fiction, like most things worth talking about, is hard to define.  It typically takes place in the future, but doesn't have to (Star Wars).  It typically involves advance technology, but doesn't have to (post-apocalyptic).  It frequently involves things that could exist somehow in the future or some alternate world, but sometimes involves fantasy elements.  There doesn't seem to be a consistent set of properties.

I saw a description once of science fiction that I liked.  The writer was saying that "normal" fiction typically dealt with a certain set of unusual circumstances.  Science fiction, on the other hand, would accept that unusual things (from our point of view) had already happened, and here is the world and its affairs afterwards.  But even this is not entirely satisfactory, as sometimes science fiction does indeed deal with how unusual circumstances come about in the first place.

So I lack a complete definition.  This brings me back to my post's title.  The nature of science fiction is a multiverse.  No single definition can suffice; the only proper description is an infinite number of parallel definitions.

Chiang "volunteers"

I put "volunteers" in quotation marks to add irony, since I had to flog most of you into this. I'm sure volunteers will come more speedily in future. The people who will start our conversations about each story Wednesday are:

• Claire Schaffer: "Tower of Babylon"
• Bryan Herren: "Understand"
• Matthew Baxley: "Division by Zero"
• Sarah Cassity: "Story of Your Life"
• Nicole Deperi: "Seventy-Two Letters"
• Stephanie Fox: "The Evolution of Human Science"
• Leslie Grant: "Hell Is the Absence of God"
• Corinne Evans: "Liking What You See: A Documentary"

Remember that we don't need formal presentations, just three minutes' worth of commentary: aspects that intrigued you, aspects that confused you, aspects you had to look up, aspects that resonate with material in other classes or in your own life, questions for the group, and so forth. You needn't wait for class to start these conversations. You could post your initial thoughts here on the blog.

A note on the term "sci-fi"

Worth mentioning that for many veterans in the genre, the term "sci-fi" is insulting, though for the mass audience it long since has become the default abbreviation. See the entry on the term at the invaluable Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.

A Definition of Science Fiction

Science fiction is very difficult to properly define.  So before I take a crack at defining it I will attempt to properly describe it's characteristics.  Science fiction, in it's basic form, is a story about an average, normal person that is placed in an unusual world.  Whether that person is a human, alien, android, or otherwise does not matter.  Likewise, that person can have any number of abilities as long as those abilities are commonly found.  The unusual world that most science fiction is set in can be nearly identical or wildly different to our own.  However, it will always have some point of divergence, whether in the past, present, or future, something will have happened to 'derail' the course of history.

While these are all excellent points that are commonly found in science fiction, do they truly define the genre?  I do not believe so.  I believe that the true definition is simply that science fiction allows authors to take an idea, technological, philosophical, or theological, and take it to it's furthest logical conclusion.  The beauty of science fiction, in my opinion, it that it lets the writer ignore the usual limits of time, societal standards, and technological advancement.  It basically allows the author to create a world that, while built on logic, can literally allow anything to take place.

My Sci-fi definition

Like we talked about in class, I see science fiction as having a lot to do with technology and science, especially in futuristic settings (even though science fiction as a genre can include the past as a setting).  I also see it as including other, alternate, or parallel universes, usually with advanced technology.  I like how in those types of stories there’s a possibility that those things could be happening now, just in an area of space that we haven’t yet discovered and explored.  To me, I love sci-fi books that are really plausible.  I can slip into that world because it’s similar enough to mine and I come to understand their world and technology easily.  I don’t have to make any huge leaps of faith of “well that’s just how this world works” like you occasionally do with fantasy books.  My favorite examples of science fiction would probably be Ender’s Game, Star Trek (the new movie by J.J. Abrams), and the Uglies series.  

Sci-fi Definitions

In the first class, we were asked to give our definition of science fiction.

To be considered fiction, a work must be rooted in imagination. The imaginative portion of the story could be small, by writing characters that the author has not known to exist in the world. By the same token the imaginative portion could be quite large by altering the setting to an alternate time zone or a post-apocalyptic war scene. These differences are what set fiction apart from the factual based world of non-fiction. Not to imply that fiction does not contain factual information, because that is part of the basis of science fiction. 

Whereas standard fiction need only have an imaginative background of creating a story where there was none before, science fiction needs to create an implausible story on a plausible basis. Oftentimes, authors use real scientific principles to describe seemingly unreal phenomenon that occur in the story. Gene Roddenberry was exceptionally adept at using current scientific research and advanced terminology to support and ground the Star Trek series, giving plausible reasoning to different occurrences.  

As we discussed in class, science fiction may be an exaggeration or interpolation of political, economic, cultural, or scientific principles to suit the author’s needs and create a work of fiction that is otherworldly, while still deeply belonging to the world we currently know.

Syllabus, schedule, and course policies

UH 300-001

Strange New Worlds: 21^st-Century Science Fiction

Fall 2012

3-5:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Nott Hall basement computer-lab classroom (up the ramp)

Teacher: Andy Duncan

All students in this class must be enrolled in the University Honors Program.

Texts:

• Paolo Bacigalupi, The Windup Girl (2009; Night Shade Books, 2010)
• Ted Chiang, Stories of Your Life and Others (2002; Small Beer Press, 2010)
• Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate (Subterranean, 2007; out of print in paper, but available as a Kindle or Kindle-for-PC e-book)
• Ted Chiang, “Exhalation” (2008; at NightShadeBooks.com)
• Ted Chiang, The Lifecycle of Software Objects (Subterranean, 2010; at http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/fall_2010/fiction_the_lifecycle_of_software_objects_by_ted_chiang)
• Cory Doctorow, Little Brother (2008; Tor Teen, 2010; also a free Creative Commons download here)
• Doctor Who, “The Girl in the Fireplace,” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Euros Lyn (2006; Doctor Who: The Complete Second Series, BBC Video, 2007)
• Doctor Who, “Blink,” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Hettie MacDonald (2007; Doctor Who: The Complete Third Series, BBC Video, 2007)
• Cherie Priest, Boneshaker (Tor, 2009)
• Cherie Priest, Dreadnought (Tor, 2010)
• Cherie Priest, Clementine (Subterranean, 2011)
• Cherie Priest, Ganymede (Tor, 2011)
• Cherie Priest, “Tanglefoot” (2008; at http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/fall_2008/fiction_tanglefoot_a_story_of_the_clockwork_century_by_cherie_priest)
• Jonathan Strahan, ed., The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume 6 (Night Shade Books, 2012)
• Handouts, online materials or reserve-room materials as announced.

Course Description: Many of the tropes of science fiction -- computers, space travel, cloning, genetic engineering, cyberspace -- have become commonplaces of daily discourse and daily life. Yet science fiction persists and thrives as a literary genre, a sociological movement, a marketing category, an extrapolative and speculative way of thinking. This interdisciplinary seminar is designed to deepen your understanding of 21st-century science fiction in all its modes.

Course Objectives: By semester’s end, students will be more sophisticated consumers of science fiction wherever they encounter it, from the aisles of Barnes & Noble to the headlines on CNN. They will be better able to speak and write about it with depth and insight and to understand how science fiction engages with the world, and vice versa. No prior obsession with science fiction is required.

A Technology Note:  Your teacher lives in the mountains of western Maryland and interacts with the class in real time via webcam with the exception of one in-person visit per semester.  Student conferences during the rest of the semester are encouraged; they will take place via phone, e-mail, or Facebook, as the student prefers.

Attendance Policy:  Attendance and class participation (in class and online) are required.  After two absences, your final grade will be lowered one letter for each subsequent absence.  After five absences, you will receive an F for this course.  Arriving late or leaving early counts as half an absence.  In case of illness, injury or crisis, let your teacher know as soon as possible.  Don’t just vanish.

Papers:  You will write two non-fiction papers, each at least 2,000 words long, on topics of your choosing that are approved in advance by your teacher.  Papers should specifically illuminate one or more of the texts being discussed in this class, but they may extend their focus beyond those texts as well.  More detailed paper guidelines will be provided later in the semester.  You will lead a five-to-10-minute class discussion of each topic as you are working on it.  Papers handed in late will be docked one letter grade for each day they’re late.  Papers more than a week late will not be accepted and will receive a zero.  Format Requirements:  Both your papers will be handed in electronically.  E-mail them as PC-compatible Word attachments.  Papers must be in 12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced, with ragged right margins and page numbers in the upper-right corners.  Papers that don’t fit this format will be returned unread for correction.

Blog:  Each of you will receive (and accept) an invitation to join Blogger and the class blog (http://strangenewworlds2012.blogspot.com/). Here our class discussions will continue beyond Wednesday class meetings.  Participating on the blog – through original posts and replies to others’ posts – is an important part of your semester grade, so get in the habit of visiting daily and contributing frequently.  The minimum class requirement is three posts per week per student, at least one of which must start a new topic or thread, and at least one of which must be a response to a classmate’s post.  More frequent posts are highly encouraged.  Also chiming in from time to time may be invited guests from the world of science fiction publishing (as opposed to the science fiction world, which we all inhabit).

Other Assignments and Expectations:  You will keep up with all the reading and will participate in all class discussions, orally and online.  You will lead at least one class discussion of a text that has been assigned you.

Grade Formula:

• Two 2,000-word papers @ 20% each: 40%
• Two 5-to-10-minute informal presentations on paper topics @ 10% each: 20%
• Blog participation: 20%
• In-class participation: 20%

We will follow the UA guidelines for plus-minus grading.

Disabilities:  In accordance with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, your teacher, the University Honors Program and the university are committed to providing appropriate support for students with disabilities, including learning disabilities.  Any student who wants to request disability accommodations need only contact UA’s office of disability services at 348-4285 and get the paperwork to me.

Academic Misconduct:  Academic misconduct includes all acts of academic dishonesty and any knowing attempt to help another student commit academic dishonesty.  Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to:  (1) Cheating – using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information or study aids.  (2) Plagiarism – representing words, data, works or ideas as one’s own when they are not.  (3) Fabrication – presenting as genuine any invented or falsified evidence.  (4) Misrepresentation – falsifying, altering or misstating the contents of academic documents such as schedules, prerequisites and transcripts.  Cases of academic misconduct will be turned over to the University Honors Program for disciplinary action that could be as severe as suspension from the university.

Schedule of class meetings, reading assignments and due dates.  All texts will be discussed on the days listed.  This is a living document, subject to change.  Any changes will be announced in class and via the class blog.

Aug. 22: First class meeting. Getting acquainted.

Aug. 29: Chiang, Part 1: Stories of Your Life and Others. Last day to drop without a W grade.

Sept. 5: Chiang, Part 2: The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate, “Exhalation,” The Lifecycle of Software Objects.

Sept. 12: No class meeting.

Sept. 19: Doctorow, Little Brother. (Appropriately, as Constitution Day is Sept. 17.)

Sept. 26: No class meeting.

Oct. 3: Strahan, Part 1: Gaiman, “The Case of Death and Honey” (7-22); Yu, “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees” (23-32); Kiernan, “Tidal Forces” (33-48); Fowler, “Younger Women” (49-56); Valente, “White Lines on a Green Field” (57-74); Owomoyela, “All That Touches the Air” (75-92); Ryman, “What We Found” (93-120); Rajaniemi, “The Server and the Dragon” (121-130); McAuley, “The Choice” (131-170); Watts, “Malak” (171-182); Hopkinson, “Old Habits” (183-92).

Oct. 10: Paper-topic discussion.

(My reading at UA is Oct. 16.)

Oct. 17: Doctor Who, “The Girl in the Fireplace” and “Blink.” First paper due.

Oct. 24: Strahan, Part 2: Parker, “A Small Price To Pay for Birdsong” (193-226); Link, “Valley of the Girls” (227-240); Doctorow, “The Brave Little Toaster” (241-244); Swanwick, “The Dala Horse” (245-256); Rickert, “The Corpse Painter’s Masterpiece” (257-270); Liu, “The Paper Menagerie” (271-282); Horrocks, “Steam Girl” (283-314); McHugh, “After the Apocalypse” (315-332); Beagle, “Underbridge” (333-352); Ford, “Relic” (353-372); Baxter, “The Invasion of Venus” (373-384).

Oct. 31: Strahan, Part 3:  Reed, “Woman Leaves Room” (385-392); Shearman, “Restoration” (393-418); Sterling, “The Onset of a Paranormal Romance” (419-436); Lanagan, “Catastrophic Disruption of the Head” (437-458); Bray, “The Last Ride of the Glory Girls” (459-484); Okorafor, “The Book of Phoenix” (485-502); McDonald, “Digging” (503-520); Johnson, “The Man Who Bridged the Mist” (521-582); Klages, “Goodnight Moons” (583-589). Happy Halloween. Last day to withdraw with a W.

Nov. 7: Bacigalupi, The Windup Girl.

Nov. 14: Priest, Part 1: Boneshaker and Dreadnought.

Nov. 21: No class meeting. Happy Thanksgiving.

Nov. 28: Priest, Part 2: Clementine, Ganymede, and “Tanglefoot.”

Dec. 5: Last class meeting. Paper-topic discussion. Course wrap-up.

No final exam.  Second paper due Tuesday, Dec. 11 – when our final would have been held, had this been one of those classes.

About your teacher:  My new collection is The Pottawatomie Giant and Other Stories (PS Publishing, 2012); its new novelette, “Close Encounters,” is the cover story in the September-October 2012 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Another new story, “On 20468 Petercook,” is at Tor.com. My first collection, Beluthahatchie and Other Stories (2000), won a World Fantasy Award, as did my story “The Pottawatomie Giant” (2000). My novella “The Chief Designer” (2001) won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best science fiction story of the year. My other books include The Night Cache, a novelette (PS Publishing, 2009); Alabama Curiosities, non-fiction (second edition, Globe Pequot Press, 2009); and Crossroads: Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic, an anthology co-edited with F. Brett Cox (Tor, 2004). I contributed essays to the Hugo Award-winning Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (2003) and the Stoker Award-winning Horror: Another 100 Best Books (2005). A 1994 alum of the Clarion West writers’ workshop, I have taught at Clarion (2004) and Clarion West (2005) and will be the first-week teacher at Clarion 2013.  I was on the 2010 Shirley Jackson Awards jury, and I chaired the 2010 Philip K. Dick Award jury.  I received my M.F.A. in fiction writing from the University of Alabama and was one of the first instructors recruited for the Honors College by founding Dean Bob Halli, who claims not to regret it yet.  By day, I am an assistant professor in the Department of English at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Md.