Science and Literature
Code: 106240Credits: 6
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| Science, Technology and Humanities | OB | 3 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Alicia Fernández Gallego Casilda
- Email :
- alicia.fernandez@uab.cat
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
Prerequisites
By obtaining the minimum of credits in basic training subjects, students have demonstrated to have acquired the basic competences and they will be able to express themselves orally and in writing. For this reason, any spelling and expression errors that may be committed will lead to a score decrease in the final grade.
Activities, practical sessions and papers submitted in the course must be original and under no circumstances will the total or partial plagiarism of third-party materials published on any medium be admitted. Any submission of non-original material without properly indicating its origin will automatically result in a failure rating (0).
It is also expected that students know the general rules of submission of an academic work. However, students could apply the specific rules that the teacher of the subject may indicate to them, if they deem it necessary.
It would be highly desirable -albeit in no way demanding- that the students had a clear interest in literary texts and in the theoretical debate between science and humanities.
Objectives
This course proposes a historical and thematic journey through the modes literature appropriation and questioning of scientific discourses and achievements, from the Modern Age to the present.
The class emphasizes the reading, analysis and commentary of specific literary works that illustrate different moments and perspectives of this dialogue, often very critical, between scientific and humanistic-artistic cultures.
Learning outcomes
- Construct discourse tailored to the different formats for debating science in the public sphere.
- Develop a critical awareness of how scientific knowledge circulates and of its dynamic status between experts and non-experts.
- Recognise the presence in culture of the great scientific debates of the moment.
- Describe and evaluate the narrative models and the rhetorical strategies behind scientific discourse of great social impact.
- Formulate thoughtful interpretations of the way in which literature appropriates scientific advances and discourse and adapts them to its own purposes.
- Analyse the human, moral and emotional dimension of scientific development on the basis of literary works.
- Identify the aesthetic and artistic dimension of scientific culture.
- Identify the differences between scientific language and literary language.
- Describe and use the principal genres of scientific dissemination, from specialist texts to popular science texts.
Contents
Introduction. The changing relationship between these two cultures
1. Literature and the Scientific Revolution in the Modern Era: utopias, satires and new horizons of knowledge
2. Positivism, progress, and its dilemmas: science fiction as a literary genre
3. The role of science in the exercise of power: allegories and biopolitics
4. Leaving pessimism behind: the dystopias of the second half of 20th century and the first decaces of 21st century
5. Representation, disbandment and transcendence of the body: literature and posthumanism
6. The return to nature: ecology and literature
Epilogue. Scientific outreach as a narrative artifact
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual work (reading, studying, writing course's papers and/or doing presentations in the classroom) | 85 | 3.4 | |
| Tutorials & email consultations | 15 | 0.6 | |
| Lecture sessions, seminar and/or practical sessions | 50 | 2 |
The course follows the pattern of continued learning, with seminary-type classes.
The primary (literary) texts are submitted to discussion in class, and they will be interrogated based on the course's general premises and on historical and critical contents. Students must commit to read and reflect on the texts prior to the discussions in class, which will be led by the professor.
This subject entirely prohibits the use of AI technologies in all of its activities. Any submitted work that contains content generated using AI will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade will be awarded a zero, without the possibility of reassessment. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.
Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral presentation | 30% | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
| Exam in the classroom 1 | 35% | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
| Exam in the classroom 2 | 35% | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
Students must attend 2 written examn exams, each of them devoted to 50% of the syllabus, and deliver an oral presentation in the classroom (15 minutes) concerning the texts, themes and questions addressed in the syllabus.
The student need to obtain at least a qualfication of 4 to have the right of being qualified. Students will obtain a Not assessed/Not submitted course grade unless they have submitted more than 30% of the assessment items. The oral presentation cannot be reassessed if failed nor reprogrammed if missed.
In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, she/he will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.
In the event that tests or exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives.
SINGLE EVALUATION
- Written exam in the classroom 1 (first half of the syllabus): 35%
- Written exam in the classroom 2 (second half of the syllabus): 35%
- Oral presentation in the classroom: 30%
Bibliography
- Aguirre, Joaquín Mª (ed.), Darwin en la ficción, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, 2010.
- Asúa, Miguel de, Ciencia y literatura. Un relato histórico, EUDEBA, Buenos Aires, 2004.
- Bernat, Pasqual et al. (eds.), Ciència i ficció: l'exploració creativa dels móns reals i dels irreals, Talaiots, Palma de Mallorca, 2017.
- Braidotti, Rosi, Lo posthumano, Gedisa, Barcelona, 2015.
- Clarke, Bruce; Rossini, Manuela (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Literature and Science, Routledge, Nova York, 2010.
- Duran, Xavier, La ciència en la literatura, Publicacions i Edicions de la Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, 2015.
- Espluga, Eudald, Imaginar la fi, Rayo Verde, Barcelona, 2026.
- Despret, Vinciane, Habitar como un pájaro: modos de hacer y pensar los territorios, Cactus, Buenos Aires, 2022.
- Glotfelty, Cheryl; Fromm, Harold (eds.), The Ecocriticism Reader, University of Georgia Press, Athens. 1996.
- Haynes, Roslynn. D., From Faust to Strangelove: Representations of the Scientist in Western Literature, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1994.
- Haynes, Roslynn D., \"Ciencia y literatura. ¿Ya ha acabado la guerra entre las dos culturas\", MÈTODE Science Studies Journal, 4 (2014). https://dx.doi.org/10.7023/metode.82.3563
- Huxley, Aldous. Literatura y ciencia, Edhasa, Barcelona, 1964.
- Locke, David M., La ciencia como escritura, Cátedra, Madrid, 1997.
- Snow, Charles Percy, The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution, Cambridge University Press, Nueva York, 1961.
- Valdés, Alicia, Política del malestar: por qué no deseamos alternativas al presente, Debate, Madrid, 2024.
- Wagensberg, Jorge, Yo, lo superfluo y el error: historia de vida o muerte sobre ciencia o literatura, Tusquets, Barcelona, 2009.
Software
Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams
Course groups and languages
The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE
| Type of teaching | Group | Language | Semester | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |