Course Description

GLS 592: Values and Technology

Instructor: James Brewster

In a fast paced world strongly influenced by the latest technological improvements, how does one evaluate technology? Define its place among our personal choices? Or its appropriate role in contemporary life? This course seeks to respond to these questions. The class outline is taken from Neil Postman’s book Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology in which he traces the history of technology. In ancient times, technology provided tools for survival and religious ritual. Early Hebrews evaluated technologies as good or evil relative to divine will and the good of humankind. In the Middle Ages, there was a growing secularization, yet technology remained the servant of culture. Since the industrial revolution, culture is increasingly dominated by technology. Postman admits to technology’s positive contributions, but also says it “is a good friend who also has a dark side.” In defining the values of technology, students will be examining both its positive and negative potentials. Topics for study include “techno-stress,” technology as new religion, the meanings of progress (“Popular Science”), the relative importance of speed, television and media (Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death) appropriate uses of computers (Clifford Stoll), concepts of labor (Luddism and sabotage), and the military and technology. The Future of Technology, a book of essays from “The Economist” also serves as a text. Besides regular testing, students will write a major term paper, examining a particular potential/problem in contemporary technology and provide their evaluation/solutions.

Last Update: April 4, 2012