Syllabus - Genetics in Literature
English 243 (Spring 2004) - Jay Clayton, Vanderbilt University
(Jan. 14-16)
(Jan. 19-23)
(Jan. 26-30)
(Feb. 2-6)
(Feb. 9-13)
(Feb. 16-20)
(Feb. 23-27)
(Mar. 1-5)
(Mar. 15-19)
(Mar. 22-26)Week 11
(Mar 29-Apr 2)
(Apr. 5-9)
(Apr. 12-16)
(Apr. 19-23)
(Apr. 26)
Procedures, Requirements, and Grading Policy
Student Projects
(samples from previous classes)
Wednesday - Introduction
Friday - The Basics of Genetics
View online: "Cracking the Code of Life" (2 hour PBS special, Nova [2002])
Resource: Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms (prepared by the National Human Genome Research Institute [NHGRI])
Monday - Dystopia
Gattaca (1997), Andrew Niccol, dir.
Wednesday - History of Genetics
Eric S. Lander and Robert Weinberg, "Genomics: Journey to the Center of Biology," Science 287 (10 March 2000): 1777-82 (Vanderbilt user's only)
Resource: Milestones in Genetics: Timeline (dynamic version) (static version) (prepared by NHGRI)
Friday
Read Aldous Huxley, Brave New World. Complete the first half of the novel.
Resource: Background for studying Brave New World
Monday
Wednesday
Francis Galton, "Hereditary Talent and Character" (1865)
Huxley, "Note on Eugenics"
Friday
J. B. S. Haldane, "Daedalus, or, Science and the Future" (1923)
Monday
Read Andrea Barrett, Ship Fever (1996), pp. 11-33, 103-22.
Map of Wallace's voyages from London's Natural History MuseumWednesday -
FridayRead Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle, Ch. 10 and 15 (online text). Use any edition that reprints Darwin's final revisions (1860 or later), if you can find one. Otherwise use the 2nd edition (1845).
Monday -
Roger McDonald, Mr. Darwin's Shooter. Read pp. 1-124.
Wednesday -
Resource: Brief discussion of Darwin's discoveries on the voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle by Ralph E. Taggart, Professor of Plant Biology, Michigan State University
Resource: Photograph of Darwin's Finch skins from London's Natural History Museum.
Resource: A good collection of online secondary sources.
Friday
Sunday
Optional movie - Master and Commander (2003). Meet at Pizza Perfect in the Village at Vanderbilt at 5:30. Movie begins at Hollywood 27 at 6:50. Rides will be provided.
Monday -
Wednesday -Richard Dawkins, Ch. 3, The Blind Watchmaker (1986) - Reserve Room, Central Library
Friday
View Inherit the Wind (1960), Stanley Kramer, dir.
Resource: for more information about the Scopes trial, visit Douglas Linder's valuable site chronicling "Famous Trials in American History."
Monday - Autobiography of a Geneticist
Read the first half of James D. Watson, The Double Helix
First paper due, 4:00 p.m. - Post papers in Word to Prometheus (File module, Jay Clayton's Inbox). Name both the file on your disk that you plan to upload and the title in Prometheus as follows: "Lastname, First Name - Paper 1". (Topics for Paper 1.)
Wednesday -
Friday
Monday
Read Simon Mawer, Mendel's Dwarf (1998). Complete the first half of the novel.
Wednesday -
Friday - Clones
Monday -
The Boys from Brazil (1978), Franklin J. Schaffner, dir.
Wednesday -
Stephen Jay Gould, "Dolly's Fashion and Louis's Passion," from Nussbaum and Sunstein, Clones and Clones (Reserve Room, Central Library)
Martha Nussbaum, "Little C," from Nussbaum and Sunstein, Clones and Clones (Reserve Room, Central Library)
Friday
Ridley Scott (dir.), Blade Runner (1982; Director's Cut, 1992)
Monday -
Zadie Smith, White Teeth (2000). Read first quarter of the novel.
Wednesday -
Friday
Class cancelled
Monday -
Ellen Wright Clayton (guest lecturer). Read her essay, "Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Genomic Medicine," New England Journal of Medicine 349 (August 7, 2003): 562-569.
Wednesday -
Friday
Monday
Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex (2002). Excerpts.
Wednesday
Friday
Monday - Forensic Genetics
Philip R. Reilly, "Cold Hits: The Rise of DNA Felon Databanks" (pp. 65-77) and "Genes and Violence: Do Mutations Cause Crime" (pp. 79-91) in Abraham Lincoln's DNA (2000) - Reserve Room, Central Library
Wednesday -
Philip Kerr, A Philosophical Investigation (1992)
Friday
Lori Andrews, "Predicting Future Acts" (pp. 128-38) in Ronald A. Carson and Mark A. Rothstein, Behavioral Genetics: The Clash of Culture and Biology (1999) - Reserve Room, Central Library
Robert Plomin, Michael J. Owen, Peter McGuffin, "The Genetic Basis of Complex Human Behaviors," Science 264 (17 June 1994): 1733-1739.
Monday -
Topics for Paper 2
Wednesday -
Friday
Monday -
Presentation of digital media projects.
Second paper, research paper, or project due, 4:00 p.m. - Post papers in Word to Prometheus (File module, Jay Clayton's Inbox). Name the file on your disk and on Prometheus as follows: "Lastname, First Name - Paper 2". Topics for Paper 2.
For digital projects, put materials on a CD or disk in my mailbox in Benson Hall (third floor).