Page 2 - ISLA 240 REVIEW PACKET

ISLA 303: Values and Technology SYLLABUS
Term: WINTER 2019
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays 6:10 PM – 7:00 PM
Instructor: Muara C. Johnston
E-mail: mcjohnst@calpoly.edu
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM, or by appointment Office Location: Building 34, Room 224
Course Description: This course offers students the opportunity to understand how technology impacts society and us as individuals as we living today and move into the future. By considering a variety of technological industry advancements, we will look philosophically into the various ways technology serves, isolates and impacts relationships. By better understanding what progress is and what makes us human, we will view technological adaptations thorough the lens of sociology, science and philosophy. Media, analytics, homogenization, content creator vs. content consumer, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and responsibility of the originator of new technology will all be discussed. Individual presentations on a technological advancement will be resented in a TED talk format, with the emphasis on finding the “truth.” Groups will identify a societal problem and determine a technological solution to that issue. They will develop a solution through the lens of understanding that all technological creations change, alter or modify society in both positive and negative ways. There will be an effort to understand key concepts in technology/society theory and acquiring vocabulary for both gaining knowledge on the subject and articulating on the subject both broadly an specifically.
Course texts:
There is no textbook for this course, but there are two required literary works to read: 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Other course texts or videos are provided as PDFs or links through the PolyLearn course site. Students are expected to read or watch all assets.