Desert Planet: Frank Herbert’s Dune and its Adaptations
This course was available in the past and may be presented again as part of the Open Enrollment curriculum.
In this course, we will read Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune alongside its many adaptations, from magazine serial to film, television, and video game. Dune tells the story of Arrakis, an iconic "desert planet:" it is a world almost entirely without water, home to ferocious, dragon-like sandworms, the only source of a powerful anti-aging drug called Spice Melange, and populated by a brave and secretive community of people called the Fremen. Young Paul Atreides and his family are sent to govern Arrakis as part of a plot to destroy their ducal house, but no one in the empire could predict how landing on this strange new world will set Paul on a journey of galaxy-altering consequence. As we read Dune, we will discuss the cultural contexts and media landscapes that have allowed it to feel so relevant for more than 50 years. We will learn about the cultural history of sciences including psychology, ecology, and artificial intelligence, the origins of environmentalism and the counterculture in the US, and the genre history of science fiction as it evolved from its relatively optimistic Golden Age to the darker, more contemplative New Wave in the middle of the 20th century. After we work through the novel Dune, we will also tackle its short sequel, Dune Messiah, and discuss why John Campbell, editor of the science fiction magazine Astounding, refused to publish it after publishing Dune. By looking at the film, television, and game adaptations of Dune, we will be able to ask two questions. First, what can we understand about how Dune has been received and understood since 1965 by tracing the thematic and aesthetic choices of these later versions? Second, what does it do to a text to make it watchable or playable, singular or serial, by moving it from magazine to novel, novel to film, or story to video game? What can we learn about the history and specificity of media through these adaptations?
Course Outline
Course SyllabusNotes
Online registration deadline: Thurs, Mar 16, 5PM CT