Utopias and Dystopias

Utopias and Dystopias is a writing course in the CTY program. It requires enrollment in any previous CTY writing course, humanities course, or a grade of at least a B in a ninth grade English class. Its course code is TOPI and it is currently offered only at Lancaster (both sessions) and Saratoga Springs (second session only) .

Course Description

From the CTY course catalog:

From Plato’s Republic to Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We, utopian and dystopian literature often examines the line between perfection and oppression. In this course students explore how authors use conventions such as narrative structure and satire to construct utopian and dystopian works. They identify, discuss, and write about the underlying rules, laws, and ideologies relating to economics, politics, gender roles, religions, and technologies within the societies they examine.

Through extensive critical and creative writing, students in this course examine how utopian and dystopian societies engage some of the most pressing sociopolitical concerns of our times. For example, after reading Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s V for Vendetta or Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Lathe of Heaven, students may write an essay about dystopian protagonists and how they are able to effect change in unjust, oppressive societies. Likewise, students might compare gender roles in both Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland and Octavia Butler’s The Parable of the Sower. They also have the opportunity to construct and share their own utopian or dystopian visions.

Class sessions are designed to encourage close reading, discussion, and both critical and creative writing. Students produce four to six major writing projects, developing their skills through an intense process of drafting, critiquing in workshops, and revising.

Class History

In 09.2, Utopias and Dystopias was separated into two sections, with the B section taught by Adam Rzepka and the A section by Michael Paulson. The TA for TOPI-A was Shannyn Kobran, the most epic TA ever. The B class explored utopic and dystopic literature throughout history, beginning with biblical references to heaven and hell, and concluding with modern texts such as Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and Huxley's Brave New World. The A class skipped a lot of the early stuff and went straight to science fiction. Both classes read, wrote and watched movies a LOT. TOPI A was very unsatisfied with their teacher, and the dissatisfaction grew leading to an attempted coup in the last days of session (NOBODY gets away with being mean to Otter!). Both TOPI classes were extremely Alcove-heavy, with the B class comprised totally of Alcovians. The TOPI.A girls and the TOPI.B and Number Theory girls were also co-halls, resulting in what is most likely the highest concentration of Alcovians ever to live in a single hall (except maybe the TOPI.B boys' hall).

For information about the Lancaster TOPI 10.1 class, please see Lancaster Memories. The class was simply too ridiculous to be described again.