ENGL 1060 Reading Literature and Science

While literature and science are often seen as opposed ways of discussing and analyzing the world, their history has always been intertwined. Literature has often pondered the ethical questions of scientific experiment, as in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or contemplated the social and cultural transformations wrought by scientific development, as in Henry Adams’ meditation on electricity and religion. Likewise, language, literature, and culture have informed how science has been understood, and even which questions science has asked.

In this course, we will read novels, plays, and poems that relate to a range of scientific disciplines. We will discuss how scientific discourses across a range of disciplines function, and how literature addresses and transforms those discourses.