Universities with good professors in Fantasy and Science Fiction

[Smokydog]

Hello! Does anyone know about professors specializing in those genres? I would appreciate any information on the subject. Thanks in advance!

[Timshel]

Look up Rob Latham at UC Riverside. Also, UC Riverside has a huge special collection of science/fiction fantasy. It is a prominent area of study in UC Riverside's program.

[Smokydog]

Thanks for the info! Does anyone else know about other universitities, just in case?

[wreckofthehope]

Kansas has the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction.

[asleepawake]

Florida Atlantic University - There is an MA in Science Fiction & Fantasy and PhD in Comparative Studies.

Edited October 15, 2012 by asleepawake

[ghijklmn]

Well, I don't think her focus is in science fiction & fantasy, but Professor Jenny Mann at Cornell taught a great seminar on Utopian Fiction that included lots of sci-fi/cyberpunk books!

[Smokydog]

All of these sound really good!

[chaucerettescs]

I know this is late, but for anyone out there interested in these fields for next year's round of apps, the University of Michigan has a lot of really great resources for fantasy/science fiction, first and foremost being Eric Rabkin who teaches fantasy and/or sci-fi just about every semester, runs the fantasy/sci-fi book group on campus, and is doing some all around amazing stuff: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~esrabkin/

Michigan also has a lot of profs who teach courses where you can get good doses of fantasy and sci-fi like Lisa Makman, who teaches children's literature courses, and Gina Brandolino, who teaches a couple classes on fantasy/horror.

I've also had a lot of professors here who were generally very cool about letting me flex my fantasy/sci-fi/horror muscles (as they are some of my sub-specializations). This year I wrote research papers on post-structuralist reader response in the Harry Potter fandom, the influence of Moby-Dick on sci-fi horror film, and the use of fairy tale imagery in Charlotte Brontë and George Eliot, all for classes that were distinctly NOT geared towards fantasy or sci-fi.

Genre studies students in general often have pretty slim pickings when it comes to choosing programs/courses, but, if nothing else, Michigan has a really great atmosphere that will grant you some leeway.

[gradschoolwannabe]

One of my interest areas is 20th c. American sci-fi. There's quite a few schools actually, you can try use google site: search function to look at a program that you're interested in's website. Cyberneticists work with science fiction quite a bit, so there's another option. Bruce Clarke at Texas Tech does interesting work, N. Katherine Hayles at Duke is one of the founding members of cybernetic study in literature. Most of the programs that are in my signature below have a faculty member who works in science fiction at the very least a small amount.

[practical cat]

Michigan also has a lot of profs who teach courses where you can get good doses of fantasy and sci-fi like Lisa Makman, who teaches children's literature courses, and Gina Brandolino, who teaches a couple classes on fantasy/horror.

Noting though that both of them are lecturers, not professors.

[chaucerettescs]

Noting though that both of them are lecturers, not professors.

True! I should have noted that.

[BrookeSnow]

One of my interest areas is 20th c. American sci-fi. There's quite a few schools actually, you can try use google site: search function to look at a program that you're interested in's website. Cyberneticists work with science fiction quite a bit, so there's another option. Bruce Clarke at Texas Tech does interesting work, N. Katherine Hayles at Duke is one of the founding members of cybernetic study in literature. Most of the programs that are in my signature below have a faculty member who works in science fiction at the very least a small amount.

I just wanted to add that I went to Western Washington for my B.A. there is a great group of professors with interest in Science Fiction in their literature department.

[lisajay]

tyler curtain at UNC chapel hill was just elected to the MLA science fiction/utopian & fantastic literature discussion section's executive committee, so maybe look into that?

[OctaviaButlerfan]

DeWitt Douglas Kilgore at Indiana University is one, and Samuel Delany at Temple University is another. I know of a few more, but they are at universities that only offer an M.A. in English.

[enchantedforest]

i have a similar question, but for fairy-tales, or victorian reception of fairy-tales? any leads on people in the field?