Frankenstein in Our Time to be examined at Stevens in events funded by New Jersey Council for the Humanities

In conjunction with an exhibit on Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein at the Jersey City Public Library and a "common reading" of the work sponsored by the Hoboken Public Library, three events at Stevens Institute of Technology will take up the questions that Shelley's novel raises for our time, with particular reference to the text as a work of science fiction. The November 2003 events are underwritten by a generous grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.

Dr. Susan Levin, a professor of literature in the Stevens Department of Humanities, will direct the activities at the Institute.

Among the events:

• A specialist in English romanticism will discuss literary issues involving Frankenstein and science fiction. 
• A workshop will focus on writing, analyzing, and publishing science fiction. 
• A scientist, a historian of science, and two published writers of science fiction will speak on the possible relationships between doing the science and creating the fiction that Shelley calls her "hideous progeny." 

The first is a lecture to be given at Stevens by Susan J. Wolfson, Professor of English at Princeton and editor of the new Longman's Frankenstein. She will speak on the novel as a literary text for our time. This presentation will be paired with an event at the Jersey City Public Library. An exhibit will be on view, and Professor Levin will participate in a panel discussion on Frankenstein, organized by the Library's project coordinator, Assistant Director Sonia Araujo. Following Levin's presentation on the publication history, themes, and structure of the novel, representatives from the religious and scientific communities will discuss cloning.

The second program at Stevens will involve a writing contest and a workshop on the analysis, writing, and publishing of science fiction stories. Dr. Levin teaches a science fiction course in which students write a short story accompanied by an analysis of their work. Submissions of such stories will be invited from the general Stevens, Hoboken, and Jersey City communities with particular contact being made with local writing workshops. (New Jersey residency, student or working status only, please.) Two stories will be selected; winners receive $50 and the opportunity to be included in a workshop focusing on their stories. Leading the discussion will be Hoboken-based publisher and author of science fiction, Gordon Van Gelder, and Robert Thurston, a teacher of both literary criticism and creative writing at New Jersey City University and a prolific writer of science fiction.

The third event, a forum on the Science-Science Fiction elements of Frankenstein, will take up the ways in which science and science fiction converge. The title of a paper recently presented by Lisa Nocks, a historian of science and one of the proposed speakers, highlights our topic: "Ultra Humanoid: The Curious Connection Between Science Fiction and Science." A Stevens physicist, Ed Whittaker, will discuss his longtime reading of science fiction and his work with lasers. Robert Thurston and Gordon Van Gelder will talk about science in their writing.

The forums at Stevens will be preceded by and coupled with events at the Jersey City and Hoboken Public Libraries. A citywide common reading of Frankenstein will take place both in Jersey City and in Hoboken. Beginning in October, Levin will be talking about the novel at both libraries. The Director of Reference at the Hoboken Public Library, Adele Puccio, will supervise the wide circulation of Frankenstein in both Spanish and English to obtain wider participation.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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