Powers Beyond the Ordinary: ‘Super’ Women and Men in Science Fiction and Fantasy - an online course

[joshwriting]

This January, assuming enough students sign up for it, I will start teaching a 15 week course through GHF Online (Gifted Homeschoolers Forum). (See link at bottom.)
Powers Beyond the Ordinary: ‘Super’ Women and Men in Science Fiction and Fantasy
In addition to the titles/topics listed, I am interested in your thoughts on what would be good works to include - books, movies, plays, etc. I know I won't even remotely have time to even check out all of them between now and then, but I know I will look at many of them and make note of the others - including them in a broader list for students who want to go further in the topic. (Students should be 12 years old and up for this course.)


A few of the items on my list beyond those mentioned in the course outline:
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Frankenstein
The Invisible Man
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Tom Swift (Senior and Junior)
Slan (van Vogt)
Odd John (Stapledon)
The Whole Man (Brunner)
Shockwave Rider (Brunner)
Children of the Thunder (Brunner)
Children of the Atom (Shiras)
Beggars in Spain (Kress)
Cyteen (Cherry)
Dorsai! (Dickson)
A variety of McCaffrey tales - both Pern and Pegasus stories
Spiderman
Normalman

I have a bunch more, but I will be interested in your ideas, too. Don't worry if they are too obvious. I'm a bit more interested in books than movies, but the best (and most accessible) anime would be of interest to me as I don't know the genre, really. Esoteric comics are best, as I am pretty well versed in the mainstream characters.


There is no way that I will even thoroughly cover the topics I already have - but I imagine I will be teaching this again!

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

Course description as well as outline are at the link.

Click here for the course description and outline.

Comments

[siderea]

Ender's Game

A Wrinkle in Time

Dune

A Wizard of Earthsea?

Darkover? (Honestly, the best example may be neither book nor movie.)

Deryni?

Call of Madness, et al by Julie Dean Smith

[joshwriting.livejournal.com]

Ender's Game is Week 13.

I thought about A Wrinkle in Time. I guess I felt that we didn't get much of a look at how either Meg or Charles Wallace are viewed as much as in some of the later books, but I'll give it a reread.

Dune is an interesting thought - and if Dune, then Stranger in a Strange Land? There are certainly some other interesting Heinlein pieces, as well. I concluded that Lazarus Long was a bit much for this group. :-)

AWoE is another for which my memory doesn't have how his society treated him, but which might just be my memory, not the story. I'll review it.

I love Horse Tamer's Daughter and it is perfect in its presentation of how the Wizards are viewed... and their reaction to her, then the townspeople's as well.

Deryni's a good option - it presents both the X-Men view and a bit of the McCaffrey psi-power world, with acceptance, depending on the era --> but with some always resenting, regardless.

Thanks for the input!

OT

[siderea]

Psst. You have a private message from me in your LJ Inbox.

thoughts...

[ehawk ~ (from livejournal.com)]

Thinking it might be nice to have some "new" material...

I think every young person should be reading the newest run of Ms. Marvel. G. Willow Wilson is an outstanding writer.

Another possible fit is Unrooted from Naomi Novik.