Course Objectives:
To introduce, understand, and examine the Fermi Paradox and the search for extraterrestrial life and civilization. 
To understand the different categories of proposed solutions to the paradox. 
To develop and use analytical tools and critical thinking in comparing these solutions.
To discover, understand, and compare -- using analytical tools and critical thinking --  ‘first-contact’ depictions in sci-fi literature, films, and TV.

About Me
I have a Ph.D. in International Studies and several years experience teaching undergraduate political science courses at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. I also have a lifelong obsession with the Fermi Paradox and am currently completing the final edits of the first novel in a comedic first-contact sci-fi trilogy. Additionally, as a social scientist, I will leverage the topic of pseudoscientific UFO conspiracy theories to demonstrate the need for critical thinking and a scientific approach to open questions.   

提供的家庭作業
Reading will be assigned weekly. The reading load will vary from one or two articles per week to a novella. Generally, students can expect to read 10-20 pages per week. There will also be required viewings of TV shows and movies, especially in the second half of the course.
1 - 2 每週課外時間
提供的評估
There will be two short in-class writing assignments and quizzes that will be graded. Learners will be provided a letter grade and one-page written report at the end of the course.
提供的成績

In addition to TV and movie clips, there will be some required readings. Some of those will be from internet sources. Those links will be provided in the course syllabus and online. We will also be reading from the following book, which is readily available on Amazon:
Stephen Webb, If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens ... WHERE IS EVERYBODY?: Seventy-Five Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life 2nd ed. 2015 Edition.

 Students will also choose one of the following few short stories or novels to acquire and read:
 
Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood’s End
Ted Chang, The Story of Your Life
H.G. Wells, War of the Worlds