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| Carolivia Herron, English (photo KM) |
Herron is a scholar of the American epic, focusing on African American epic. "I was shocked and surprised to see the themes of American epic so clearly embodied in Star Trek, " said Herron. "There are basically two themes in the American epic: (1) fear of the other, as in Moby Dick, and (2) a sense of independence and individual freedom extended to everyone, as in Walt Whitman's Song of Myself."
Most Star Trek episodes fit in either one or the other of the two categories, and often combine both. Herron offers, as an example, one of the first ten episodes, "Carbomite Maneuver": Kirk and company do psychological battle with a threatening stranger, end up showing compassion for him, and uncovering the other as a lonely and isolated character who craves company, rather than the frightening spectre that had appeared. This one episode includes both themes, one transforming into the other.
Herron will use both Milton's Paradise Lost and Whitman's Song of Myself as the classic texts in her course, as well as supplements from other sources. The class, presented on the Web, as well as in a classroom, will include viewings of Star Trek episodes and one of the Star Wars movies, which Herron describes as excellent examples of the theme of fighting with the stranger, the evil "other" outside of oneself. It is a classic struggle between good and evil.
Herron is looking forward to the opportunity of teaching Milton, whom she calls her hero, as much as to teaching the innovative class. There is no class solely on Milton, said Herron, only classes in seventeenth century literature, of which Milton is a "stepchild." Herron discovered Milton when she was eleven, a young girl wanting desperately to be a writer, and credits him for saving her life. (That is another interesting story related to the writing of her novel Thereafter Johnnie, published by Random House, 1990.)
Herron's Web-based Star Trek class is typical of all of her classes. She has taught herself all aspects of Web design and application to teaching. She chose to come to Chico State because of the technical support for and interest in computerizing the teaching of literature. "I continue to be pleased with the openness to my ideas and with the state of technical know-how and equipment on campus. I am amazed that I have been here since September, proposed this course several weeks ago, and now it is on the books. That just does not happen in most other universities."
KM