Difference between revisions of "2007-08 ASM Star Trek (1965-2005)"

Revision as of 23:19, 21 November 2007

• Time: We 4-6 pm
• Place: A10 1-121a
• Contact: Olaf Simons

Star Trek is far more than a TV-series. It is a cultural phenomenon with enormous ramifications marked by substantial plot developments, and it is a powerful piece of fiction due to its wide range of cultural, philosophical, aesthetic and political allusions. The original series became a cult classic, the Star Trek universe it created does in retrospect bridge generations and political gaps such as the Cold War with its East/West-confrontation (mirrored within the series by disruptions of original interstellar confrontations).

The Seminar will deal with the following topics. If you have plans for seminar papers list them bellow. (Discuss the present course outline on the course's discussion page if you feel you cannot see under which heading your topic could appear).

Do mention individual episodes (refer to english wikipedia - you find links bellow) wherever you feel that this is a sequence we must deal with under the given headline (I am not so well informed about the later sequels):

Oct 24 2007: Brainstorming

Oct 31 2007: The Star Trek Universe I: The Original Series (1966–1969)

Preparation:

• Production background
• The Cage, the unsuccessful pilot - filmed in November-December 1964, but not broadcast on television in its complete form until 1988.
• The Man Trap, aired on Thursday, September 8, 1966.

Topics to discuss:

• Captain Kirk vs. Captain Pike - types, roles, heroism
• Women
• Spock I and Spock II

Possible topics of Seminar papers:

• Comparison of The Cage - the original pilot - and and The Menagerie pts. 1-2 aired November 17 and November 24, 1966.
• The composition of a successful team - a seminar paper which might take a special look at Mirror, Mirror broadcast on October 6, 1967 - where we get a positive and a negative Enterprise crew.

Nov 10, 2007: The Star Trek Night - The Movies

As I have to disappoint you on Wed 7: a night at my place (Tannenkampstr. 12) - we'll try to see as many of the movies as possible, eat and drink wine (you might provide the latter).

We might begin around 6pm - those who will have to arrive later can do so and join us any time - it will probably be a long night. --Olaf Simons 21:08, 6 November 2007 (CET)

Nov 14, 2007: The Star Trek Universe II: Next Generation (1987–1994) and Deep Space Nine (1993–1999)

The Sequels The Next Generation (1987–1994) and Deep Space Nine (1993–1999). Where does the ongoing production reflect ongoing historical developments? A comparison of the different generations.

Next Generation

Hello everybody! It would be good, if you were able to watch the very first episode of the TNG series, "Encounter at Farpoint" until next Wednesday (Don't worry, if you do not manage to do so, because I should have put this here earlier. We will also show some scenes from different episodes). There are a lot of things that reflect reality in this episode. Think about:

- Society: gender, family, children - rights and fairness (the trial) - the meaning of Q

Another interesting episode is episode 7, season 4, "Reunion". We could discuss the political system of the Klingons. Is there any relation to reality?

Saskia Reiners

Hi folks, it would be nice, if you watch the first two episodes ("The Emissary pt.1 &2") of DS9 as a preparation for the Wednesday session. They should be available at the Mediathek... If you want to see more episodes, feel free to watch some post-season-three stuff, because the plot dramatically changed then. Watch out for topics like Religion, Interpersonal conflicts and differences between DS9 and other Star Trek stuff...Manuel Saralidis 14:58, 12 November 2007 (CET)

Nov 21, 2007: The Star Trek Universe III: Voyager (1995–2001) and Enterprise (2001–2005)

The Sequels Voyager (1995–2001) and Enterprise (2001–2005) same question: Where does the ongoing production reflect ongoing historical developments? A comparison of the different generations. ´

Voyager Interesting subjects could be that of terrorism, fear of communism (as the Borg play an important role in voyager), Human values, the Prime Directive, a parallel Universe (Species 8472), Collaboration of species that are enemies but that become allies when a species more powerful than them appears,

Also: Female positions

- Voyager is the first of all Star Trek Series, that has a female Captain! 
- Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres is the first Chief Engineer on board of a Star Trek Vessel

Also: The Maquis rebellion

Dear Participants. I put the presentation on "Voyager" on Stud IP under "Dateien"

Ann-Kathrin Uden

Nov 28, 2007: God in a World of Miracles - Star Trek and Religion

Is there a God out there? What is the Federation's religion? None or that of a secular state granting religious freedom? Why don't we have Arabs on board of the Star Trek vessels? How do the Federation's travelers react when confronted with religions out there?

I would like to write a paper on Star Trek and Religion. As i haven't read any literature yet, my ideas are still pretty general. But mainly I think i will be dealing with questions like: what view on religion and belief is conveyed in Star Trek (pro or con religion, atheist?) and HOW is it conveyed? This could probably be based on DS 9 and the whole "wormhole aliens vs. phrophets (bajoranian belief)" issue. (Stephan Schmidt 14:16, 7 November 2007 (CET))

Hey. I just skipped through some webpages to find pieces of information about the religious content in Star Trek and its spin-offs. Here are some webpages that deal with religion. While the majority is fan-made, others document the topic from a more objective point of view.

http://www.star-trek-religionen.de/index1.htm http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/religion.htm http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Human_religion http://www.newstrekker.com/archiv/startrek_02_03.htm http://www.ibka.org/node/603 Just take a look Tobias Penski 22:10, 21 November 2007 (CET)

Dec 5, 2007: Technotopia

Star Trek is (from warp-drives to beaming facilities) full of inventions we are still waiting for - and peculiarly lacking others we developed instead (like those mobile phones we use for normal conversations rather than short commands). It is said to have motivated research - yet it is too simple to see it as a simple glorification of technological progress...

• The Way to Eden Spock makes friends with a sect of hippies.

Dec 12, 2007: Technologies of Disappearance — Fan Research and Criticism produced in the Humanities

Debate with Alan N. Shapiro. Course reading: Shapiro, Alan N. Star Trek: Technologies of disappearance. Berlin: Avinus-Verlag, 2004.

Dec 19, 2007: The Politics of Star Trek I: From the United States of America to the Federation

• What happened between 1966 and the year 2300?
• A culture that does not (want to) rely on imperialism, technical superiority or the strength of its capitalism - and a winner even though.

Jan 9, 2007: The Politics of Star Trek II: Power on Board

• Power on board: Collisions of interests, personal loyalty and professional obedience
• Power on a universal scale: Star ship vs. Federation
• Different races
• Gender politics

Jan 16, 2008: Is the "Prime Directive" the prime directive?

What are the real ideals of the Start Trek Universe?

Jan 23, 2008: Genres: What can happen in the Star Trek universe and what cannot?

• The original shows were not really free when it came to the way of how stories had to be told. The episode had to be over within 45 minutes, it had to offer a problem and a solution. We shall look at generic questions and narratology: What kinds of episodes existed (from comedy to drama), what perspectives do we get on the plotlines? How did the art of story telling evolve from TOS to DS9?
• Is Star Trek a Utopian series? What is Science Fiction compared to Fantasy? What otions within the genre does the Star Trek universe realise?

Jan 30, 2008: The Fan World

• On the interaction between the Star Trek Universe and its fan community.
• Startrek and kids - a special look on children and adolescents in the Star Trek universe
• Perhaps most outrageous fan project: Star Trek: New Voyages - a continuation of TOS.

Feb 5, 2008: A Look Back on our Seminar

Literature

• Engel, Joel. Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek. New York: Hyperion, 1994.

One of the first critical biographies that appeared after Roddenberry's death.

• Shatner, William/ Kreshi, Chris. Star Trek Memories. New York: Harper & Collins, 1993.

Offers insight into the production.

• Tulloch, John/ Jenkins, Henry. Science Giction Audiences: Watching Doctor Who and Star Trek. London: Routledge, 1995.

On the fan community and interaction.

• Solow, Herb and Justman, Robert H. Inside Star Trek: The Real Story. New York: Pocket, 1996.

One of the critical revisoions which appeared after Roddenbery's death.

• Gentejohan, Volker, Narratives from the Final Frontier: A Postcolonial Reading of the Original Star Trek Series. Frankfurt a. M./ Berlin: Peter Lang, 2000. 161 pp.

Dissertation, German in its structure: What is postcolonialism? Then apply the theory an see it works. The readings create a congruity where there might be not so much of it. Character analysis and special questions revealing the basically American cultural centre, the phalLogocentrism of the series.

• Gregory, Chris. Star Trek: Parallel Narratives Houndsmills/ Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000.

Good Bibliography. Central idea: Star Trek evolving into a mythological system. Written with the awareness of immense changes within the Star Trek universe – changes due to changing options under which TV-shows and movies could be produced over the years. Analysis of interaction and differences between main producers of TOS Roddenberry Coon (he produced much of the Federation’s political framework) and Frieberger (third season with its many recycled shows).

• Kraemer, Ross S./ Cassidy, William/ Schwartz Susan L. Religions of Star Trek. Cambridge MA: Westview Press, 2001. 246 pp.

Multi facetted and extremely inspiring.

• Kanzler, Katja. "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations", The Multicultural Evolution of STAR TREK. Heidelberg, Winter, 2004.

Explores the multiculturalism of the Star Trek universe – as a popular and commercial concept. Written with a good deal of fascination.

• Shapiro, Alan N. Star Trek: Technologies of disappearance. Berlin: Avinus-Verlag, 2004. 369 pp. ISBN 3-930064-16-2.

Technologies of the Star Trek universe from "beaming" to warp spead. Question what they betray if read by a cultural historian.

• Broderick, James F. The literary galaxy of Star Trek: An analysis of references and themes in the television series and films. Jefferson, N.C. [etc.]: McFarland & Co., 2006. vi, 233 pp. ISBN 0-7864-2571-7

Intertextuality and literary motives from quest to vampirism.

• Relke, Diana M. A. Drones, Clones, and Alpha Babes: Retrofitting Star Trek's humanism, post-9/11. Calgary: Univ. of Calgary Press, 2006. xx, 168 pp. ISBN 1-552-38164-1, ISBN 978-1-552-38164-9

What does Star Trek tell us about the US?

• Geraghty, Lincoln. Living with Star Trek: American culture and the Star Trek universe (London [etc.]: Tauris, 2007), VIII, 232 pp.

Esp. on fandom.

• Geraghty, Lincoln (ed.). The influence of Star Trek on television, film, and culture. [=Critical explorations in science fiction and fantasy, 4]. Jefferson, N.C. [etc.]: McFarland & Co., 2007. ISBN 978-0-7864-3034-5

"Examining Star Trek from various critical angles, the essays in this collection provide vital new insights into the myriad ways that the franchise has affected the culture it represents, the people who watch the series, and the industry that created it" (Publisher).

Links

• Star Trek on en.wikipedia.org

• The Original Series episodes
• The Next Generation episodes
• Deep Space Nine episodes
• Voyager episodes
• Enterprise episodes

• Memory Alpha, Star Trek Wiki
• Which is the definitive Star Trek?
• BBC Star Trek Cult Page
• More BBC Star Trek Results
• Guardian Article: Beam me up Scotty: Star Trek actor's ashes sent into space