Technology and Culture, Fall 2003

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Author:

Helmreich, Stefan

Subject:

Social Sciences

Institution Name:

M.I.T.

Collection:

MIT OpenCourseWare

Grade Level:

Post-secondary

Abstract:

This course examines relationships among technology, culture, and politics in a variety of social and historical settings ranging from 19th century factories to 21st century techno dance floors, from colonial Melanesia to capitalist Massachusetts. We organize our discussions around three broad questions, corresponding to three syllabus themes: What cultural effects and risks follow from treating biology as technology? How have computers and information technologies changed the ways we think about ourselves? How are politics built into the infrastructures within which we live? We will be interested in how technologies have been used both to facilitate and undermine relations of inequality, and in whether technology has produced a better world, and for whom.

Languages:

English

Material Type:

Full Course, Homework and Assignments, Lecture Notes, Syllabi

Media Format:

Text/HTML, Downloadable docs

Conditions of Use:

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5