Technology Readings
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Readings, Questions, Core & Calendar
September | October | November | Final Exam
Readings by short titles of chapters & selections from authors
Neil Postman, Technopoly
Carroll Pursell, White Heat
Arnold Pacey, Technology in World Civilization, [TWC]
Charles P. Snow, Two Cultures
Michio Kaku, VisionsMark E. Eberhart, Why Things Break.
The class is arranged in four sequential steps: clarify, organize, reflect and examine concepts. That spells core!
Clarify matters we are studying:
• defining technology nine ways!
Monthly problem: technologies play what role in sustaining our contentment?
To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Weeks, Dates, and Days
August
20 M Who are you and how does your favorite tool work?
22 W Postman Chapter 1, What did Thamus decide to do and how is that crucial to our story?
24 F Postman Chapter 2, From Tools to the rule of technical constraints; how we got here.
History of Technology: Week One, recap.
27 M Pursell 1 How does technology alter, or express the essence of humane behavior?
29 W Pursell 2 Myths about inventors, inventions and meeting human needs.
31 F Pursell 3 Technical influences on our perception of the world around us.
Pursell, pp. 37-63. Frankenstein and inventing our world.
5 W Interviews exercise -- Week 4 Bring in completed interviews of 3 to 5 people.
7 F Pursell 4, The madness of any technical rat-race of planned obsolescence.
Interviews due: typed 3 to 5 interview responses and a four page summary of what they said.
Week 3 Critical Reading and finding evidence for technological web’s complexity.
Interviews due
Weeks, Dates, and Days
September
10 M Pacey 1-2 The Asian source of modern western technology
Pacey,TWC, pp. vii-19 . What did Asian inventors give to us?
12 W Pacey 3 How Asian techniques were carried west by war & trade
14 F TJs Writing about what is Technology using three authors analytically.
Essay writing based on notes and evidence about applied science.
17 M Pursell 3 focus on Eadward Muybridge and the bet that changed history
Sept 19-23: Global Peace Film Festival – select 3 films to promote as an alternate to interviews, prepare a promotion packet, describe the films to other classes, bring people to the films and panels [attend at least two panels and describe their content in writing].
19 W Film as a technology (visitor?) What films do you want to see Global Peace Film Festival?
21 F attend a Panel at GPFF and no class
Organize thoughts concerning technology as a dialectic.
Deep technology is a tetrahedron referring to Pacey’s four aspects:
formal, social-organiational, cultural meaning, and personal aspects of tools.24 M Postman 3 What is technopoly as opposed to technocracy?
26 W Pursell 5 How science and technology are hopelessly confused.
28 F Pacey 5 Gunpowder and the acceleration of destructive creation
Week # & Date Focus & assignments Readings by chapters assigned
Monthly problem: What makes any technological change an important problem?
1 M Pacey 6 Concepts in tectonic and organizational changes
3 W Pacey 7 The importance of sociotechnical parallel changes
5 F Postman 4 An Improbable world?
8 M Mid-term break no class
10 W Postman 5 How technological demands leave you defenseless?
12 F Pursell, Pacey & Postman: Essay due "What is Technology?"
15 M Pacey 8 How do metal, guns, and rails build & maintain empires?
17 W Pacey 9 Railroad as the prototype of automation
19 F Pacey 10 scientific revolutions and dreams
22 M C.P Snow The Two Chapters: Science and the Arts forever at war or is this a truce?
24 W Debate prep
26 F Debate teams affirm
29 M Debate teams negate
31 W Debate second teams affirm
Week # & Date Focus & assignments Readings by chapters assigned
2 F Debate second teams negate
5 M Debate review
7 W Kaku 1, pp. 1-19. Welcome to the future as replaceable parts
9 F Kaku 2, pp. 21-69. The Computer Revolution & Moore's law of efficiency
F Analysis & Synthesis Essay due on Revolutions in technology & their importance
12 M Kaku, pp. 70-135. The Computer as a keystone and synthetic exaptation
14 W Pursell & Kaku, pp. 138-180. The Biomedical promise of genetic insights.
16 F Postman & Kaku, pp. 181-261. Bio molecular medicine & gene therapies
19 M Kaku, pp. 265-322. The Quantum world of nanotechnology and electronics.
21 Thanksgiving break
Week # & Date Focus & assignments Readings by chapters assigned
26 M Kaku- pp. 322-337. Can we create a planetary civilization or are we doomed?
28 W All the authors in perspective
30 F Essay due on debatable importance of understanding Kranzberg's "Laws of Technology"
3 M Final Exam 2-4 PM: Presentation on "What you learned," all authors and Snow's themes.
Academic honesty and writing with integrity.
Cheating, borrowing ideas, or copying without proper citation diminishes the integrity of any writing. The habitual resort to these less than responsible practices amounts to plagiarism–a most serious academic offense of novices and experts alike. By the use of words or ideas that are not your own and are insufficiently accredited, or not acknowledged at all, you undermine an essay’s reliability. The consequences are that you can fail that project, or even fail the class, since these offenses are a violation of the College’s honor code. As such, I am obligated to report such violations to the Dean.
Use the internet link to concepts, notes, themes, details, and people discussed in class is at:
http://myweb.rollins.edu/~jsiry/techcomp.html
and
Readings by short titles of chapters & selections from Authors
