Information
Technology, Society, and Culture
Fall
1999Course #
STSS 2550T
R 2:00 - 3:50. Instructor: Ron Eglash
Description:
This
course will examine the social and cultural ramifications of information
technology, focusing on race, sex, and class. While advances in communication,
computation and control technologies have dramatically transformed many
aspects of society, impoverished living conditions and diminished social
power still exists for many individuals and communities. How might information
technology be deployed in ways that address these problems?
To
contact instructor:
Office
Hours: Thurs 12:00-2:00 and by appointment, 5114 Sage. Email: eglash@rpi.edu,
phone: 276-2048. course webpage: www.rpi.edu/~eglash/eglash.dir/itsc.htm
Requirements:
Evaluation
will be based on the two exams (30% each), the research project (30%),
and class participation (10%). You are required to bring the reading
to class so that we can discuss the texts in detail.
The
research project:
The
research project for this quarter will address a problem on the relation
between IT and social problems. You may approach this in one of three ways:
1)A
design project create a software or hardware system
2)An
ethnographic project conduct your own empirical study
3)A
library project synthesize existing research to create a new analysis
Texts:
Eglash,
R. African Fractals: modern computing and indigenous design.
Harcourt,
W. (ed) Women@Internet: creating new cultures in cyberspace. London:
Zed Books 1999.
Donald A. Schon (Editor), Bish Sanyal (Editor),
William J. Mitchell (Editor). High Technology and Low-Income Communities
: Prospects for the Positive Use of Advanced Information Technology.
Cambridge:MIT Press 1999
Course Schedule:
Jan
11: Lecture the biological origins of human culture; the cultural origins
of human inequality.
Jan
13 A short history of biological determinism in the USA.
Jan
18 film: GATTACA (Bioinformatics/Genomics as the new determinism)
Jan
20 African Fractals ch 1-2
Jan
25 African Fractals ch 3-4
Jan
27 African Fractals ch 4-5
Feb
1 African Fractals ch 5-6
Feb
3 African Fractals ch 7-8
Feb
8 African Fractals ch 9-10
Feb
10 African Fractals ch 11-12
Feb
15 African Fractals ch 13-14
Feb
17 First exam
Feb
22 no class -- follow Monday schedule
Feb
24 Women@InternetCyborg Melody,
ch 1-2
Feb
29 Women@Internetch 3-5
Mar
2 Women@Internetch 7-9
Mar
7 Women@Internetch 10-11
Mar
9 Women@Internetch 12-13
Mar
14 no class spring recess
Mar
16no class spring recess
Mar
21 Women@Internetch 14-15
Mar
23 Women@Internetch 16-17
Part
IV: Anti-classist applications of information technology
Mar
28 High Tech/Low-Income ch 2-3
Mar
30 High Tech/Low-Income ch 4-5
April
4 High Tech/Low-Income ch 6,8
April
6 High Tech/Low-Income ch 9,10
April
11 High Tech/Low-Income ch 11,12
April
13 High Tech/Low-Income ch 13,14
April
18 High Tech/Low-Income ch 15,16
April
20 Second Exam
April
25 Student presentations
April
27 Student presentations