"There are two sorts of Eternity--from the Present backwards to Eternity, and from the Present forwards."                                                             [Abraham Cowley, 1656]
 

            After exploring a variety of literary, philosophical and scientific texts, and after viewing films that complicate the ideas of time and space (and space-time), you will be expected to:

1.  Write exploratory compositions that analyze the concepts of time and space based upon course materials;
2.  Write a brief argument in which you support a claim about the nature of time and/or the relevance of a consideration of time for contemporary culture;
3.  Produce a group project/presentation in which you and your colleagues provide an outline, overview and analysis on one of the readings for the rest of the class;
4.  Prepare a brief oral presentation on a thematic element of the course;
5.  Read texts closely not only for plot and theme, but also for rhetorical style.
 
 

Texts (I have provided some links to author pages and/or other links of interest.  I encourage you to browse through these links. Some links are for REQUIRED readings.)

Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut
Flatland, Edwin Abbot  (if you would prefer to read this short book on-line, go here)
The Time Machine, H.G. Wells

The Ophiuchi Hotline,  John Varley (spiral-bound book to be available in first week of class)

Class Reader featuring:

A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking (excerpts)
Flatterland, Ian Stewart (excerpts)
"The Secret Miracle" and "The Circular Ruins" Jorge Luis Borges
The Confessions of Saint Augustine (excerpts)
"The Last Question," Isaac Asimov
The Five Ages of the Universe, Fred Adams and Greg Laughlin (excerpts)

Virtual Reader (these are required works accessed via links):

"Burnt Norton" by T.S. Eliot (from Four Quartets)
"East Coker" by T.S. Eliot (from Four Quartets)
"Time feels so vast that were it not" by Emily Dickenson
"In the Year 2525" (song lyrics by Zager and Evans)

Links to Brief Readings:

Excerpt from Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
 

Films:

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (for the text of the short story by Ambrose Bierce, go here)
A Brief History of Time
 

Projects

1.   Oral group presentation (with guidesheets) [10 pts]
2.  1 Film paper (2-3 pages)             [10 pts]
3.  5 "surprise" quizzes***              [6 pts each]
4.  Mid-term paper (4-5 pages)        [20 pts]
5.  Final paper (4-5 pages)                [20 pts]
6.  Final Show & Tell presentation   [10 pts]

***Note:  If you miss a quiz, the subsequent quiz you take will count double.

Guidelines

This course will require, at the very least, two things from you:  your TIME and your occupation of SPACE in the class.  This means you must attend every class and come prepared for that day's activity.

1.  Take notes.  Your notebook will be an essential part of the material in this course. (For suggestions about how to keep a useful notebook, click HERE)
2.  Read all the assigned work by the date it is due. Check the syllabus regularly.
3.  All assignments not done in class must be typed, carefully proofread, with all pages fastened and handed in on time.  I will not accept an untyped paper unless it is an in-class writing.  Be sure you take enough time to do your best work.
4.  Assignments must be completed ON TIME.  Assignments not handed in on the due-date will not receive a grade.  You are responsible for learning what is due for any given class.  Check the syllabus frequently for updates and get all classnotes from classmates you consider reliable.
5.  Quizzes will be based on readings AND on class notes.
6.  Come to every class, and please be on time.

*Note:  Lateness to class, and leaving the room while class is in session, are disruptive to your classmates and instructor and will have a definite impact on your final evaluation.  It is your responsibility to conduct yourself in a manner that does not interfere with the work of the class.
 

Course Outline

Due January 30:

Lots of notes!
Introduction to time and space and the speed of light!

Due February 6:

Readings: T.S. Eliot's "Burnt Norton" and "East Coker" (see links above)
                    Joseph Heller's Catch-22 excerpt (see link above)

Due February 13:

Group #1 Presents!
Readings: Borges' "The Secret Miracle" and "The Circular Ruins" (in Reader)

Film:  An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Due February 20:

NO CLASS-- MONDAY CLASSES MEET!

Due February 27:

Readings:  Augustine's Confessions (in Reader)
FILM PAPER DUE

Due March 6:

Readings: Augustine's Confessions (continued)
                   Dickenson's "Time feels so vast that were it not" (see link above)

Due March 13:

Readings:  Wells' The Time Machine -- Group 2 Presents!

Due March 20:

Readings: The Time Machine (continued)
                    Hawking's "Space and Time" (in Reader)
                    Zager and Evans' "In the Year 2525" (see link above)

Film:  A Brief History of Time

March 27---NO CLASS (SPRING BREAK)

Due April 3:

Reading: The Sirens of Titan--Group 3 Presents!
 

Due April 10:

Readings: The Sirens of Titan--Group 4 Presents!
                    Excerpts from The Five Ages of the Universe (in  Reader)

MID-TERM PAPERS DUE

Due April 17:

Group 5 Presents!
Readings:  Flatland
                    "What Shape is the Universe" (in Reader)

Due April 24:

Let's regroup-- take some notes, review some ideas, brainstorm about the Show & Tell

Due May 1:

Readings: The Ophiuchi Hotline---Group 6 Presents

Due May 8:

What can it mean, for example, to say:  "I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

Readings: The Ophiuchi Hotline----Group 7 Presents
                "The Last Question" (in Reader)

Due May 15:

Time & Space Show & Tell
Final Papers Due

Due May 22:

Conferences
 
 

**Selected bibliography for further reading:
 

Barrow, John. D. The Book of Nothing: Vacuums, Voids, and the Latest Ideas About the Origins
     of the Universe. New York: Pantheon Books, 2000.
Browne, Malcolm W. "Where does the Time Go? Forward, Physics Shows." TheNew York Times,
     December 22, 1998: F8.
Burger, Dionys. Sphereland: A Continuing Speculation on an Expanding Universe. Cornelie J.
     Rheinbolt, Tr., New York: HarperPerennial, 1965.
Calder, Nigel. Einstein's Universe. New York: Viking Press, 1979.
Cooke, Robert.  "Study Finds Black Holes in the Pink." Newsday, May 7, 1999: A36.
DeWitt-Elmer, Philip. "Welcome to Cyberspace: What is it? Where is it? And how do we get there?"
     Time, Special Issue, Spring 1995: 4-11.
Drexler, Eric K. Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology. New York: Anchor Press, 1986.
"Found: Life on Earth That Could Exist on Mars." The New York Times, January 17, 2002: A25
Glanz, James. "Faster Than Light, Maybe, But Not Back to the Future." The New York Times,
     May 30, 2000: F1, F3.
Gorst, Martin. Measuring Eternity: The Search for the Beginning of Time. New York:
      Broadway Books, 2001.
Gott, Richard. Time Travel in Einstein's Universe: The Physical Possibilities of Travel Through
     Time. New York: Houghton-Mifflin, 2001.
Halpern, Paul. Cosmic Wormholes: The Search for Interstellar Shortcuts. New York: Dutton, 1992.
Hersey, John.  My Petition for More Space. New York: Knopf, 1974.
Johnson, George. How is the Universe Built? Grain by Grain." The New York Times, December 7,
     1999: F1, F6.
Kohn, David. "Atom by Atom: Nanotechnology on its way to building microscopic machinery."
     Newsday, March 23, 1999: C10-11.
Lemonick, Michael D. and Madeleine Nash. "Unraveling Universe." Time, March 6, 1995:
     76-84.
Luminet, Jean-Pierre, Glenn D. Starkman and Jeffrey R. Weeks. "Is Space Infinite?" Scientific
     American, April 1999: 90-97.
McDonald, Kim A. "A Centennial Celebration of Physics Brings Out the Discipline's Human Side."
     The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 2, 1999: A22,A24.
McDonald, Kim A.  "Astronomers Obtain a More Exact Measurement of the Age of the Cosmos."
     The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 4, 1999: A17.
Prigogine, Ilya. Order Out of Chaos: Man's New Dialogue with Nature. New York: Bantam Books, 1984.
Smith, Edward J. and Richard G. Marsden.  "Shooting the Solar Breeze." The Sciences,
     May/June 1996: 22-26.
Thorne, Kip S. Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy. New York: W.W.
     Norton and Co., 1994
Wilford, John Noble. "In Cosmic Blasts, Clues to Black Holes." The New York Times, May 25,
     1999: F1-2.