Technology and Social Change (LAT404-01 and 02) Course Schedule
All classes meet in Knott 224
Section 1 and 2 lectures meet MF 12-12:50 in KH124
Section 1 discussion meets W 12-12:50 in KH124
Section 2 discussion meets W 1-1:50 in KH104
Syllabus is available on separate page
Date |
Subject (note: online lecture notes may be changed up through the end of the week each lecture is delivered, updated lecture notes will be announced in iClass and noted in red on this page) |
Reading to complete before class for that week The exceptions to this are the 1st week of the semester and the book Prey. Quizzes will be available to take on iClass by wednesday of the week they're due. |
| 8/23 | How Technology Can Shape People's Lives What is a technology? What is society? Does the adoption of new technologies cause a society to change? What are the kinds of pressures the adoption of new technologies put on societies to change? [Technological Determinism] How might some technologies serve to reinforce the existing order in a society? Could the adoption of a technology technologies instead be the result of which groups have power (and which don't) within the society? [Social Determinism] If so, what groups in a society have the power to choose which technologies get built? What motivates the decisions of those groups with the power to choose? What sort of effects do these decision-makers want to achieve? |
Winner, Ch 2, 3 (Online Quiz #1 will be due Friday and will cover the required readings assigned for this week as well as the written version of the lecture. All other quizzes will follow the same rule except as noted.) |
| 8/30 | Education (Revised 9/1/04) How will (and how should) the availability of increasingly cheap computers and internet access change how teachers teach and how students learn? What are some of the benefits of computers and net access for learning? What are some of the disadvantages of using computers as opposed to other teaching techniques? What are the conflicting sets of beliefs (one held by pro-technology advocates and the other held by the skeptics of technology) regarding what it means to properly educate a student? How might the politics of school funding lead to the adoption of computers in the classroom even if, objectively, the money might be spent better elsewhere within education? |
(Online quiz #2 is due Friday) (Writing Assignment #1 is due Saturday) Crichton: Prey (read foreword and pages 1-130) Technology Literacy "Class Wars" (a debate between Seymour Papert and Theodore Roszak) Optional: Some examples of Papert-style use of computers in education The Hazards of High-Stakes Testing by Lorrie A. Shepard
Digital Diploma Mills by David Noble Some general-purpose sourcesIssues in Science and Technology back issues |
| 9/8
(No class Monday or Friday) |
Technology and Democracy | (Online Quiz #3 on Winner Ch 6 is due Friday) Crichton: Prey (pages 131-260) Winner Ch. 6 Optional: |
| 9/13 |
How has technology changed humanity's relationship to the ecological system which they are a part of? How will some new and predicted technologies change that relationship? How have social systems been evolving to account for humanity's rapidly increasing ability to destroy the ecosystem on which they depend? Discussion of perspectives of Technological Optimism vs. Pessimism |
(Online Quiz #4 is due Friday, has no questions about Prey) Crichton: Prey (pages 261-407) Winner Ch. 7 Eisely handout from The Firmament Of Time Handout interview with Lester Brown. Optional: If you are interested in researching social implications of nanotechnology for the course you might want to start by reading about Eric Drexler's book containing vision for a technology of making things using self-replicating molecular machines called assemblers , which would be built out of molecules and could "grow" (or destroy) a huge variety of things. Start with Chapters 4, 5, and 7. Here's one scholar's ideas on how best to evaluate which sorts of nanotechnology applications we should research, and which we should not: Science Policy and the Push for Nanotechnology by Langdon Winner. For some good visions of nanotechnology in common use (along with the social and technical structures that are created to prevent undesirable use of such powerful technology) read either or both of these novels: The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson and Aristoi by Walter Jon Williams |
9/20 |
Technology, privacy and accountability How can a society's members be free while keeping people from abusing that freedom in harmful ways? How can a society where people do more and more of their daily activities on-line, both protect people’s on-line privacy (freedom) and protect against the abuse of on-line privacy? How might people's constant interaction with databases (both in having one's actions recorded and allowed/disallowed) create situations where people with access to (or control over) those databases have more power than others?How could wireless networking technologies and very cheap computer chips be used to invade people's privacy at the same time they help businesses cut costs? |
(Online Quiz #5 is due Friday) (Writing Assignment #2 is due Saturday) Weyker, “Clipper: How much privacy can we afford? How much security do we need?” We will view portions of the movie "Minority Report" and "Enemy of the State" in class. Read about Radio-Frequency ID (RFID) chips used on some consumer goods that transmit a unique identifier from every single object carrying an RFID tag. To get an idea of the power that can be exercised over people through the control of databases, consider the example of a civil liberties activist who coincidentally shares the same name as someone else the government decided to put on a terrorist watch list (for reasons which remain secret). (Note: you will have to register at the website to view this article. If you give your real email or postal address you run the risk of being sent junk mail or spam.) Optional: While highly useful for inventory control, RFID tags can be used to link the possession of an object with the purchaser. Note too the use of surveillance cameras in combination with RFID. (Acrobat reader required) It should be no surprise that some people use the prevention of terrorism as a reason allow the broad use of RFID. Because people have used terrorism as reason to adopt many other privacy invading technologies, including the mining of a huge variety of private commercial databases containing information about U.S. residents. Many good articles on privacy destroying technology are available at the Electronic Privacy Information Center web site. An interesting slide show about the widespread use of surveillance cameras in public areas of Washington D.C. An online dating service (True.com) whose distinctive feature is that they background check all users and prosecute those who lie about being single for fraud. Discussion of how Google's e-mail service Gmail profiles its users by the content of messages they read or write to target them with related advertising. A controversial article by David Brin about how loss of privacy is both inevitable and not a problem, as long as those in power lose their ability to keep secrets along with everyone else. The question is, will that happen? (reader is required to view an ad before viewing article) EFF's concerns about biometric identification systems. |
| 9/27 | Technology, government and democratic elections Discussion about Technology and Government Lecture on Technology and Government How will governments more efficiently gather information from the public, regulate industries, and provide services, all by using new technology? How will this change the lives of people who work in bureaucracies and who are their "customers". How will some of these improvements in democracies likely reduce people’s privacy? How will undemocratic governments that dislike public criticism of their policies try to gain the benefits of free-flowing information while still suppressing public dissent? How might technology be used to allow more direct democracy where votes decide important policy questions? Why do some argue this is a bad idea even if it becomes practical? How has the rise of global corporations (and other organizations) with no primary national identity created a need for governments to transfer some of their power to trans-national governmental organizations like the UN or treaty-based organizations of nations in order to control them? What are the risks and effects of adopting electronic ballot voting machines? Why might election officials be so fond of the new machines if they are new untested technology and the effects of failure on democracy are so severe? |
(Online Quiz #6 is due Friday) Weyker "Information technology's relationship to democracy" Summary of the Digital Democracy teach-in Listen to the story “Rock, Paper, Computer” about e-voting, start at 5 minutes 25 seconds into the program, stop at 22:05. Also watch the Daily Show segment on the same subject. Optional: VerifiedVoting.org's FAQ on E-voting A useful book on technology and democracy in less democratic countries is: Open Networks, Closed Regimes by Kalathil and Boas |
| 10/4 | Week 5: Politics, The News Media, and Activism Lecture on Bureaucracy, Technocracy, and Democracy Lecture on Technology and News Media The way political parties like the Democrats and Republicans do their job of getting donations and votes changed with the arrival of TV and radio. The parties may have to change again now that more people using the internet to get information and interact with other people. Political activism outside of the party system has been helped greatly by a cheap new means of communicating with a lot of people quickly across long distances (fax, email, on-line forums). This can be used to raise money from members, send information to members (or get information from them), coordinate calls for action by members, and so on. What does this empowerment of these non-governmental organizations imply? |
(No quiz this week) Weyker, “The Ironies of information technology” Independent Media Centers: Cyber-Suberversion and the Alternate Press by Gene Hyde Browse: takeaction.amnestyusa.org Browse the images in the Photoshop contests at Worth 1000 and consider what undetectable digital modification of images might mean for people's ability to trust what they see in the news. Optional: Useful books for those doing writing assignments include Future Active by Graham Mielke Cyberactivism by McCaughey and Ayers Phototruth or Photoficiton by Thomas Wheeler |
| 10/11 | Week 6: Copyright, Fair Use, and Publishing Lecture on Copyright and Technology The ability for computer programs and data to be perfectly copied infinite numbers of times cheaply all over the internet has created new models of exchange and challenged old ones. First there was shareware software where the frequent user was asked to send money to the programmer. Then came free and user-modifiable “open source” software, where users contribute their labor or donations to support the authors. The term “Gift Economy” is used to describe the free sharing of content created by users, in the expectation that others will do the same. File sharing networks like Kazaa and Napster along with audio and video data compression technology (MP3 and MP4) opened up the sharing of copyrighted music and movies to millions of users. This has finally begun to break down the music publishers’ resistance to changing the way they sell music to the public to allow them to buy music by the song via the internet. How will other forms of commerce involving things which can be copied and shared via computers change in the future? |
Writing assignment deleted (Online Quiz #7 is due Friday) Cory Doctorow Digital Rights Management (this is a PDF file, it requires Adobe Acrobat reader software to open) Downhill Battle's reasons why the world will be better off without publishers and other middlemen between creative people and their fans. John Gilmore What's Wrong With Copy Protection Ross Anderson The Trusted Computing FAQ Optional: Weyker “Some thoughts on piracy, hacking and phreaking” (focus on the piracy part) The EFF archive of copyright issue articles The EFF archive of Digital Rights Management issue articles Primer article on the Broadcast Flag technology intended to to prevent recording of broadcast High-Definition Video programs. It circumvents the long-held ability (protected by law) for people to tape for personal use or share with friends copies of broadcast television programs. |
| 10/18 | Week 7: Disability and Family NOTE: A required library research skills session to help your with the writing assignments for this class will be held Friday 10/22 in LRC17 (in the library) 12-12:50. Lecture on Disability and Technology Lecture on Reproduction and Technology Surrogate parenthood, and in vitro fertilization created the possibility of families that look different from traditional families. Human cloning would create even more change if it became practical. As it becomes possible to genetically manipulate children or even clone oneself, how will the power to do that change parents’ relationship towards their children? Will children take on some of the properties of a commodity in how parents think about them? At the same time technologies such as robotic prosthetic limbs and computers adapted for use by people who are paralyzed or near-blind, all promise disabled people more independence than ever before. There is seemingly a contradiction between the pursuit of bodily perfection through genetics just as the tools become available to help people live independently even with serious disabilities. It is important to remember that some of the most important changes that can be made to improve the lives of the disabled are to change the attitudes of people who are not. |
(No quiz this week) We will be watching portions of the movie “Gattaca” in class. Can Technology Make the Handicapped Whole? by Steve Talbott On the New Eugenics by Steve Talbott Optional: NPR radio stories on Genetic Testing The genetic engineering of babies so they will be able to donate tissue to treat the diseases of siblings. |
| 10/25 | Week 8: Work and Automation Lecture on Work and Automation Technology How has experience of being a worker changed as technology has advanced? What does it mean to workers that they no longer make something, but instead provide a service? How do employers’ use of concealed video cameras and employers’ monitoring of computer use by employees reduce the freedom of workers? How does corporations’ ability to move production to poorer areas of the world with lower wages affect the ability of workers in wealthier countries to keep their current pay and safe working conditions? If workers cannot protect their position, will worker pay and conditions fall everywhere in the wealthier countries to near-developing world levels as people struggle to stay employed? There is an increasing trend to hire people as short-term contractors rather than employees with benefits that must be fired or laid-off. What will it be like to work in an economy where this is the norm instead of the exception? |
(Online Quiz #8 due friday)
Part 1 of Jeremy Rifkin’s “The End of Work” We will be watching portions of the movie "Roger and Me" in class. If you are absent then, you will need to watch it at home. |
| 11/1 | Week 9: Work and Globalization Lecture on Work, Unemployment, and Economics (Note: This lecture is the form of a PowerPoint file. Therefore you may need to save it and open it with PowerPoint if using Netscape or an older version of Internet Explorer) What are agricultural, manufacturing, and service economies? What does it mean for a society to transition from being one to being another? How has the spread of systems of production across the globe (with cheap long-distance transport and communication) changed how people work and what they do for work? How has the spread of production across national boundaries undermined the identity of companies as being “American”, “Japanese”, or “German”? What is the result of multi-billion dollar corporations having unelected leaders, huge economic power, and not owing allegiance to the people of any one country? What do the anti-globalization protests have to do with this? |
(Writing Assignment #3 is due Saturday) Part 2 of “The End of Work” |
| 11/8 | Week 10: Work and Class Lecture on End of Work's part 4 Some people think that very wide disparities in different standards of living within a society are destructive to the stability of that society. What can governments do about the increasingly wide gap in the wages of hourly workers such as clerks, care providers, administrative workers, customer service representatives, and factory workers) versus highly-trained specialists such as programmers, accountants, lawyers, and doctors? How much of that wage gap is a result of adoption of new technology that replaces human labor? How much of this is the result of the current economic system and the value that system places on some skills versus others? There is also chronic unemployment among those people on the lower side of that pay divide. What are currently unmet needs in our society that some of these people could fulfill? What will these unemployed people do if government will not employ them to work on those needs? If machines eventually produce every manufactured good (and provide many services), and people just design, maintain, program, and operate the machines, what would that society look like? |
(Online Quiz #9 is due Friday) Part 3-4 of “The End of Work” Optional: Books that may be useful for writing assignments Forces of Production by David Noble |
| 11/15 | Week 11: Community Lecture on End of Work's part 5 Lecture on Technology and Community People used to make friends and form groups based on who lived near them. Now it is possible to make friends and join groups with people very far away. These communities are also different because people are only known by their words and deeds, not by their age, gender, race, class or profession. That makes these communities new and different. But can they really replace face to face association? And will an increasingly graphics- and video-based web begin to undermine the anonymous and egalitarian qualities of early net communities? And what of the new wireless networking technologies which allow people to share information from anywhere they happen to be? How will that change the ways people interact? |
(No quiz this week) Part 5 of “The End of Work” "Look Who's Talking" by Howard Rheingold Wearable Computing Meets Virtual Community By Howard Rheingold (Note: you will have to register at the website to view this article. If you give your real email or postal address you run the risk of being sent junk mail or spam.) Browse: Dodgeball.com |
11/22 No class Wednesday or Friday |
How have the U.S., Europe’s and Japan’s vitally important (but fragile) high-tech systems of finance, transport, electrical power, and communication created the possibility of a war where those infrastructures are the targets? What could be done to make such systems less fragile? What could be done to reduce the likelihood that people would want to attack our infrastructure systems in the first place? How have the invention of small and portable weapons of mass destruction along with cheap international transportation caused the U.S. to change its definition of national security? How do the nuclear power and agricultural chemical/biotechnology industries’ mass-production technologies make it easy for any countries with those kinds of facilities to re-engineer them to make weapons? What can the U.S. do to minimize the ability to use such weapons against the U.S. and minimize various groups’ desire to create and use them against the U.S. in the first place? What does each strategy require of the U.S.? |
(Writing Assignment #4 is due Saturday) Listen to security expert Bruce Schneier talk about how different security technologies have widely varying effectiveness as well as negative side-effects and costs. Particularly note how the decision to use or not use security methods too often is not really based on getting the greatest increase in protection for the money paid and freedom/privacy lost. Terror.net a report on the ways terrorists have been able to adopt the internet fro their own purposes. The summary from The Office of Technology Assessment's reports on the technologies which enable people to build of weapons of mass destruction. (PDF file, requires Adobe Acrobat reader software to open) |
| 11/29 | Week 13: War and Course Conclusion Technology, Governments, and War lecture |
Online Quiz #10 due Friday Krepinevich The Unfinished Revolution in Military Affairs Conn Hallinan Rise of the Machines "Nonlethal" Chemical Weapons by Mark Wheelis Winner Ch 8, 10 Optional: Listen to Anti-U.S. Propaganda Boosts Iraq Insurgency about low-budget war propaganda in Iraq using Camcorders, PCs and DVD-Recordable drives. The War Room (article on military training simulators) Weyker: Is technological advancement irreversible? A proposal for "Science Courts" by the scientist Eric Drexler. It would allow experts to decide scientific questions of public concern such as whether a certain technology should be adopted. Of course some scientists are even more distrustful of the public's judgement than Drexler. See the article by Henry Miller. Contrast this with the far more balanced article on the same subject by Jerry Cayford. For a well researched short book on the GM foods issue see Biotechnology and the Future of World Agriculture A book review by David Moore which discusses the problems of relying on the press to inform the public about scientific controversies. Useful books for those needing sources: Virtuous War by James Der Derian |
12/8 NOTE DATE & TIME CHANGE |
FINAL EXAM 10:30AM-12:30PM in KH124, includes all required readings and lecture material for the semester. |