What does it mean to be human when the most distinctively human of activities--thinking, working, learning, and caring for others--are mediated by tools and machines? How does technology enrich human experience, and how does it threaten to dehumanize its users? How do we interpret and evaluate new technologies with our individual and collective flourishing in mind? Can we as individuals cultivate a mindful, intentional approach to the technologies we use on a daily basis?
These questions are not new. Philosophers, scientists, artists, and other thinkers have debated them for millennia. This class offers a thematic selection of texts that engage the problem of being human in a technological world. Readings, discussions, and projects will examine technologies of memory, perception, knowledge, work, and communication. Students should arrive ready to experiment "old" technologies. Ours will be a mostly screen-free classroom focused on in-person interaction. The class will intersperse live lecture with in-class discussion and hands-on activities.