lecture – Page 3

The Tolkien Professor: Lectures on J.R.R. Tolkien

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Tolkien Professor podcast is a series of lectures on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien by Corey Olsen, Assistant Professor of English at Washington College in Maryland. Sez Olsen:

“In my lectures, I am working through The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings in detail, doing close readings of the stories (and the songs!) in order to explore the fascinating details of Tolkien’s world while also tracking some of the large, important themes in Tolkien’s fiction. I am currently in the middle of my eight-part series on The Hobbit; read along with me! After you listen, swing by my website to take part in my discussion board or to check out my online Tolkien bookstore.”

I’m going to be listening to these lectures soon!

Olsen is a big proponent of audio in academe, he’s performed Thomas Malory’s The Tale of Sir Lancelot aloud, and he’s the narrator of an unabridged recording of William Langland’s Piers Plowman (in Middle English).

Podcast feed:

http://www.tolkienprofessor.com/rss_feed.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[Thanks Julie!]

Posted by Jesse Willis

The science behind Singularity and the Tunguska Event

SFFaudio Online Audio

Today is the 100th anniversary of The Tunguska Event, a huge and mysterious explosion in Siberia. To mark the occasion, Podiobooks.com is releasing Doctor Jack’s Soapbox Seminars, a series of lectures designed to explain and discuss the event. This is a work inspired in part by Bill DeSmedt’s SFFaudio Essential Singularity. Check out the promo |MP3| and subscribe on Podiobooks.com!

Posted by Jesse Willis

Robert J. Sawyer talks Big Ideas

SFFaudio Online Audio

TV Ontario, the channel that brought us Prisoners Of Gravity is now podcasting the audio track from its terrific lecture show Big Ideas. The most recent broadcast and podcast features SF author Robert J. Sawyer expounding on the virtues of Science Fiction (and the original Star Trek) and the vices of Star Wars. Have a listen |MP3| to his 40 minute lecture and be blown away! RJS’ analysis is solid, and his delivery is absolutely Shatnerian. Also under the microscope are the film of Planet Of The Apes and novelist Michael Crichton. Here’s the official description:

“Author Robert J. Sawyer explains how Hollywood’s approach to science fiction, starting with George Lucas’s Star Wars, has dulled the edge that made science fiction such a pertinent film genre. Sawyer disects the problematic aspects of the original Star Wars film and shows how science fiction books continue to tackle difficult issues while their big screen counterparts take the easy road of big explosions and small ideas.”

Subscribe to the podcast feed:

http://www.tvo.org/TVOspecial3/WebObjects/TVOMedia.woa?bigideasfeed

Posted by Jesse Willis

LOVECRAFT LECTURE: “Reflections On Lovecraft” by Lovecraft biographer S.T. Joshi

SFFaudio Online Audio

Interested in hearing what “The world’s foremost expert on Lovecraft” (S.T. Joshi) has to say about old Howard Phillips? You’ll need iTunes installed, if you’ve got it then follow these steps carefully:

1. Go HERE.

2. Click on ‘Launch SUNY Cortland iTunes.’

3. In the new window, click on the ‘I Have iTunes’ button (because, admit it, you do).

4. Wait until the ‘Launch application’ option appears, then select it.

5. Let the iTunes Store load.

6. Click on ‘SUNY Cortland Memorial Library’ on the lower right.

7. Click on ‘Get.’

Reflections On Lovecraft
By S.T. Joshi
1 AAC File – Approx. 56 Minutes [LECTURE]
Provider: SUNY Cortland Memorial Library
Created: 2007

via [Papers Falling From An Attic Window]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Another University Course on Science Fiction – Political Science 190

Online Audio

Just over a year ago I posted a story about how SF had an influence in the real world. I offered the proof of Courtney Brown Ph.D, he’s an Emory University prof who had offered a Political Science course entitled Science Fiction and Politics (Political Science 190) and that he’d been making the lectures available as a podcast. Well I’m here today to say that Science Fiction STILL HAS an influence in the real world. And further to that I offer the exact same proof. New year, new semester new Science Fiction and Politics (Political Science 190) course!

The spring 2007 semester has already started, but just like last year there’s still no cost to audit.

Here’s the course’s schedule:

Weeks 1 & 2
Theme: Empires I
Featured Author: Isaac Asimov – Foundation, and Foundation And Empire

Week 3
Theme: Empires II
Featured Author: Isaac Asimov – Second Foundation

Week 4
Theme: Information control and the circumvention of revolution
Featured Author: Aldous Huxley

Week 5
Theme: The struggle between collectivism and individualism
Featured Author: Usula K. Le Guin

Week 6
Theme: Genetic engineering and liberty
Featured Author: David Brin

Week 7
Theme: Genetic engineering and evolution
Featured Author: Greg Bear

Week 8
Theme: Children soldiers, genocide, and morality
Featured Author: Orson Scott Card

Week 9
Theme: War and exploitation
Featured Author: Joe Haldeman

Week 10
Theme: Blockades and their circumvention, forced group isolation
Featured Author: Wilson

Week 11
Theme: Ethics in the context of desperation, manipulation, warfare
Featured Author: Isaac Asimov – The Gods Themselves

Week 12
Theme: Mass manipulation and control, corporatist balkanization of government, cyberpunk
Featured Author: William Gibson

Week 13
Theme: Review

You can subscribe to the podcast via this feed:

http://www.courtneybrown.com/classes/scifi/mp3/cb_SciFiPoliticsClass1.xml

posted by Jesse Willis

Review of From Here To Infinity: An Exploration of SF

Science Fiction Audibook Review

From Here To Infinity: An Exploration of Science Fiction
Lectures by Professor Michael D.C. Drout
7 CDs or 7 Cassettes – Approx. 7 hours [LECTURES]
Publisher: Recorded Books
Series: The Modern Scholar
Published: 2006
ISBN: (cassettes) 1419388754; (CDs) 1419388762
Themes: / Non-Fiction / History of Science Fiction / Lectures /

Esteemed professor Michael D.C. Drout traces the history of science fiction in this series of stimulating lectures. From Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to today’s cutting- edge authors, Drout offers a compelling analysis of the genre, including a look at hard-boiled science fiction, the golden age of science fiction, New Wave writers, and contemporary trends in the field.

I remember my Science Fiction English course in High School. Perhaps it was because I was at the peak of my teenage-angst snobbery, but I felt the teacher was teaching the course against her will. I left with a dislike of the “scholarly pursuit” of SF in the classroom.

After listening to Professor Drout, all those dislikes were washed away. He has a real knowledge of the history of Science Fiction and its roots. Although I’m not an expert, I pride myself on my knowledge of the genre’s history. Much of the material was not new to me, but Drout’s enthusiasm and pacing made the listening a pleasure.

Starting with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, he recounts the major progressions of SF up to Neal Stephenson and beyond. He offers some original thinking on how he categorizes many of the authors. I never considered Ray Bradbury a surrealist until Drout compared his work with J.G. Ballard. And anybody who devotes a large amount of a lecture to Cordwainer Smith is easily going to win me over.

Lectures included:

1 What Is Science Fiction?
2 The Roots of Science Fiction
3 Mysterious Lore, Marvelous Tech: The 1930s
4 Hard-Boiled Science Fiction: The 1940s
5 The Grand Master: Robert A. Heinlein
6 Onward and Outward: The 1950s, Space Travel, Apocalypticism, and the Beautiful Weirdness of Cordwainer Smith
7 A New Set of Questions: The “New Wave” of the 1960s and 1970s
8 The World Builder: Frank Herbert
9 The Surrealists: Ballard and Bradbury
10 The Computer Revolution: Cyberpunk and the 1980s
11 Post-Punk: Neal Stephenson
12 Women and Gender
13 The Satirists
14 The Shape of Things to Come

posted by The Time Traveler