Entering the Cyborg Millenium: Transforming Technologies and Human Society
This was the first FRINQ course I taught. I was new to PSU in the
fall of 1999 and eager to begin teaching in the UNST program. As
luck would have it I landed on a team with a wonderful group of
faculty. The team was made up of a scientist, a social scientist and
a lawyer. I was initially hired to fill out the team as a humanities
person. I developed modules on film and literature about cyborgs.
I absolutely adored the theme and became fascinated by all things
cyborg.
I began in the fall term by examining the images of cyborgs we have
from popular culture beginning with Fritz Lang's Metropolis. We went on to study
literary texts like "Johnny Mneumonic" by WIlliam Gibson and Phillip K. Dick's landmark novel Do Androids Dream of Electtric Sheep as well as the film version Bladerunner. We also studied Manuel Castells The Rise of Network Society.
During the winter term we studied ways in which the emerging technologies of genetic engineering, cloning, and other emerging technologies were/are changing what it means to be human. In particular we spent a lot of time discussing the moral and ethical dimensions of these new technologies.
In the spring we examined the effects of changing technologies on human societies. We explored such issues as the "digital divide" in this country and globally. We also explored international issues inherent in these new technologies by studying E-waste and the Basel Convention.
My Syllabii:
