NEWS SERVICE
July 30, 2003
Contact:
Patrick A. Berzinski
(201) 216-5687
pberzins@stevens-tech.edu
Frankenstein in Our Time to be examined at Stevens
in events funded by New Jersey Council for the Humanities
HOBOKEN, N.J. — 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, a state partner of the National Endowment 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. 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 the Hoboken Public Library, Adele Puccio, will supervise the wide
circulation of Frankenstein in both Spanish and English to obtain wider participation.
Established in 1870, Stevens offers baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees in
engineering, science, computer science, management and technology management, as well as a
baccalaureate in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university,
located directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan, has a total enrollment of about 1,740
undergraduates and 2,600 graduate students. Additional information may be obtained from its web
page at www.stevens-tech.edu.
For the latest news about Stevens, visit its new online news publication, StevensViews, at
www.StevensNewsService.com.
**STEVENS**