Hi. I am, Aggie Taormina, the instructor for this course.  I taught English full-time at the Loudoun Campus of Northern Virginia Community College from 1975 through 1999, then spent three and a half years as the director of learning resource services at that campus.  In February 2003, I retired though I continue to teach through the Extended Learning Institute.  Currently. I teach three online courses:

• Writing for the World Wide Web
• Literature of Science Fiction
• The Modern Novel
  
  

I started reading science fiction when I was in grade school and began with all the early Asimov novels and stories and Heinlein's juveniles and short stories.  I loved Superman, both the comic books and the old black and white television series (though I was disappointed in Superman Returns.). I later graduated to the original Star Trek. 

When I was in graduate school, I chose to write about the function of archetypes--recurring symbols or images--in science fiction for my doctoral dissertation.  I finished the dissertation--entitled The Hero, the Double, and the Outsider--Images of Three Archetypes in Science Fiction--in 1980 in fulfillment of a Doctor of Arts degree in English at Carnegie-Mellon University.  

Since then I have continued to teach science fiction on the college level. I also occasionally give presentations to local groups and write reviews for science fiction magazines and journals.

Right now I am on a mission to finish reading all the Hugo and Nebula award winning novels, novellas, novelettes, and short stories. And of course I keep up with various science fiction films and television series as well as new novels from my favorite authors and well-reviewed new novels. I have also been reading more fantasy lately as I have discovered that some of it is good.

Email: ataormina@nvcc.edu

Professional Web Site: http://www.nvcc.edu/home/ataormina

Education

• B.A. cum laude, English and journalism, University of Dayton
• M.A., English, University of Maryland
• D.A., English, Carnegie-Mellon University