Thu, 28 Aug 2008
STSC 160: The Information Age
Classes start on Wednesday of next week, and I have been preparing for my Information Age course. This year it will be larger than ever -- 150 210 students -- which is more than twice last year's enrollment. This is a little intimidating, and I have been busy at work making sure everything goes just right.
As an experiment, I created a wordle map of my introductory lecture. It turns out be a good reflection of the course content -- and quite good looking as well.
Click on the image for a larger version. The course syllabus can be found here.
category: /teaching
Fri, 18 Jul 2008
HSSC 550: The Information Sciences
Important note about my graduate seminar for the Fall 2008 semester:
Instead of teaching the HSSC 677 seminar on careers in science, technology, and medicine, I will be offering instead HSSC 550: The Information Sciences. This seminar will meet on Monday afternoon from 12:30-3:30 in Claudia Cohen (formerly Logan) Hall, room 362.
HSSC 550: The Information Sciences
This graduate seminar explores the emergence and widespread
adoption in the early Cold War-period of a set of interrelated
tools, techniques, and discourses organized around the concept
of ``information.'' These emerging information science
included not only new disciplines such as cybernetics,
information theory, operations research, and ecology, but also
some traditional physical sciences -- such as biology and
chemistry -- as well as a broad range of social sciences,
including economics, political science, sociology, and urban
planning. The focus of the course will be on tracing the
important structural changes in post-war science that
encouraged the adoption of the rhetoric of information (if not
its substance), as well as on extending the relevance of these
developments to a wide range of topics in the history of
science, medicine, and technology.
Download the HSSC 550 syllabus in PDF form
category: /teaching
Fri, 30 Nov 2007
STSC 260: Cyberculture
Free speech, free software, MOOS, MUDs, anime and cyberpunk. All of these are elements of a broad set of social, technical and political phenom- ena generally associated with the emergence of a nascent "cyberculture." In this seminar we explore the ways in which recent developments in information technology -- the computer and the Internet in particular -- relate to changing contemporary notions of community, identity, property, and gender. By looking at an eclectic collection of popular and scholarly resources, including film, fiction and the World Wide Web, we will situate the development of "cyberculture" into the larger history of the complex relationship between technology and Western society.
category: /teaching
Thu, 29 Nov 2007
STSC 003: Technology & Society
"We shape our technologies; thereafter they shape us."
This course surveys the ways in which technology has shaped our societies and our relations with the natural world. We will examine the origins and impact of technical developments throughout human history and across the globe— from stone tools, agriculture, and cave painting to ancient cities, metallurgy, and aque- ducts; from windmills, cathedrals, steam engines and electricity to atom bombs, the internet, and genetic engineering. We will pay attention to the aesthetic, religious, and mythical dimensions of technological change, and consider the circumstances in which innovations emerge and their effects on social order, on the environment, and on the ways humans understand themselves.
category: /teaching
Wed, 11 Jul 2007
STSC 160: The Information Age
Certain new technologies are greeted with claims that, for good or ill, they must transform our society. The two most recent: the computer and the Internet. But the series of social, economic, and technological developments that underlie what is often called the "Information Revolution" include much more than just the computer. In this course, we examine what made this series of develop- ments seem so revolutionary, who said what about them, and why. We chart changing perceptions of information technologies as people begin to experience them as a part of everyday life and work. We will explore both the technologies themselves as well as their larger social, economic, and political context.These perspectives will inform our discussion of current issues such as life and censor- ship in 'cyberspace'.
category: /teaching
Tue, 10 Jul 2007
STSC 060: Nerds in America: Technological Enthusiasm in American History
Technological enthusiasm has served as a cornerstone of American economic, social, and political life since the founding of the Republic. From Thomas Edison to Bill Gates, the inventor hero has achieved an almost mythical stature in contemporary culture. In this course we will explore the history of the "nerd" -- and the central role of technology in American life past and present -- from a variety of historical and popular culture perspectives.
category: /teaching
Thu, 10 May 2007
STSC 465: Computers, Ethics, and Society
This course will explore the various social implication of information technology: social, cultural, political, and economic. By considering by a wide variety
of perspectives on the Information Revolution, we will examine the relationship between new information technologies and changing notions of community, identity, property, and democracy. Topics will include intellectual property
rights, Linux and the free software movement, cyber libertarianism, and the rise
and fall of the dot.com economy.
Download the STSC 465 syllabus in PDF form
category: /teaching
Wed, 18 Apr 2007
STSC 352: Technological Innovation and Business History
This course will explore the relationship between technological innova- tion and business history. By looking at a series of case studies of tech- nologically driven firms -- both U.S. and international -- we will develop a more sophisticated and historically informed model of the relationship between technological, economic, legal, and political developments in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
category: /teaching
Tue, 18 Apr 2006
STSC 213: Cyberculture
Free speech, free software, MOOS, MUDs, anime and cyberpunk. All of these are elements of a broad set of social, technical and political phenom- ena generally associated with the emergence of a nascent "cyberculture." In this seminar we explore the ways in which recent developments in information technology -- the computer and the Internet in particular -- relate to changing contemporary notions of community, identity, property, and gender. By looking at an eclectic collection of popular and scholarly resources, including film, fiction and the World Wide Web, we will situate the development of "cyberculture" into the larger history of the complex relationship between technology and Western society.
category: /teaching
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