Sociology 3280: Society and Technology

Assignments, Readings, and Class Schedule

FS 2007

This course will be structured along a seminar/discussion format. There will be three broad areas of concern addressed with both general and specific reading assignments given for each section. Besides the readings listed at the beginning of the syllabus, an additional bibliography of relevant work- both written and electronic will be provided as we move through the semester. Students are expected to acquaint themselves with the material listed below, and explore (and report to class on their findings) other resources- This is a field of study in the making. Our course is part of this process!

• August 20: Introduction and overview. MyGateway, Wikis, Blogs, E-Mail, and the WWW: Communicating in the modern world.

Part 2: Society, Technology and Social Change

• August 27 : Defining Society and Technology- Human Community, Interaction, and Production.
• Read: Pages vii through 27 in The Social Shaping of Technology.
• Lecture Notes: Volti: 1 and 2
• Lecture Notes: Social Structure, Technology, and Change
• Lecture Notes: Society and Technology
• Assignment of Essays from The Social Shaping of Technology, 2nd edition, Donald MacKenzie and Judy Wajcman, Open University Press, Philadelphia, 1999.
  
  
• September 3: Labor Day Holiday--No Class
  • Group wiki setup and personal wiki pages (Project 1): due on Tuesday, September 4 by end of day (11:59 PM). See the "Project Requirements" web page for details.
    
    
• September 10 : The Impact of Technology and Social Change. 
  • Group Project 2: 24 Hours with Technology due end of day. See the "Project Requirements" web page for details.
  • Pages 28-40 in The Social Shaping of Technology. (Winner, "Do Artifacts have Politics") and pages 50-63 (Hughes, "Edison and the Electric Light")
  • Lecture Notes: Volti: Chapter 3-5.
  • Comments on at least two (2) other students' (or groups') "24 Hours with Technology" wiki presentations (end of day).
    
    
• September 17 : Who Controls Technology:
  • Lecture Notes: Social Philosophy, Technology, and Modern Life;  Socio-Cultural Contexts.
  • Volti: Chapters 15-17.
  • Pages 41-50 in The Social Shaping of Technology (Haraway, "Modest_Witness@Second_Millennium").
    

• September 24 : Theories of the Relationship between Society and Technology: Technological Determinism.
• Lecture Notes: Technological Determinism and Alternatives to Technological Determinism
• Lecture Notes: The Social Construction of Technology
• Be reading the other essays in The Social Shaping of Technology, besides the ones assigned to your group.
  

• October 1: Theories of the Relationship between Society and Technology: The Social Construction of Technology.  Actor Network/Technological Systems Theory.
• All Group project 3 wikis due beginning of class.
• Group Wiki Presentation (project 3) of assigned articles from the Mackenzie reader due by beginning of class. See the "Project Requirements" web page for details.
• Be reading the other essays in The Social Shaping of Technology, besides the ones assigned to your group.
  
  
• October 8: Theories of the Relationship between Society and Technology: The Social Construction of Technology.  Actor Network/Technological Systems Theory.
  • Group Wiki Presentation (project 3) of assigned articles from the Mackenzie reader due by beginning of class. See the "Project Requirements" web page for details.
  • Be reading the other essays in The Social Shaping of Technology, besides the ones assigned to your group.
  • Commentary on at least 2 other group presentations due by the end of the day.
    
    
• October 15 : Theories of the Relationship between Society and Technology: Critical Theory.
• Lecture Notes:Marx, Conflict, and Critical Theory: Power, Social Control and Technology
• Be reading the other essays in The Social Shaping of Technology, besides the ones assigned to your group.

Part 3: Understanding the Impact of a Technological Society: Social Philosophy of Technology: Embodiment, EDL and Technological Consciousness.

• October 22: Technology and Everyday Life.
  • Lecture Notes: Technology: Embodiment, Self, and Everyday Life.
  • Lecture Notes: Technology, Groups and Social Institutions.
  • Lecture Notes: Combined notes from Turkle.
  • Deadline for topics for final group project (project 5).
    
    
• October 29 : Technology and Everyday Life.
  • All Group project 4 wikis due beginning of class.
  • Group Wiki Presentation (project 4) of assigned chapters from the Volti book due by beginning of class. See the "Project Requirements" web page for details.
    
    
• November 5: Self, Internet, and Society
  • Group Wiki Presentation (project 4) of assigned chapters from the Volti book due by beginning of class. See the "Project Requirements" web page for details.
  • Comments on two other group presentations due end of day
  • Test available, November 11. Due, Sunday, November 11 by 6:00 PM
    
    
• November 12: Contemporary Issues
  • Anthropology of Design
  • Ubiquitous Computing
  • The Internet and Identity
    
    
• November 19: No Class--Thanksgiving Holiday Break
  
  
• November 26: Student Presentations--Final Projects. See the "Project Requirements" web page for details.
  
  
• December 3: Student Presentations--Final Projects. See the "Project Requirements" web page for details.

URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/280/280assign.html
Owner: Robert O. Keel: rok@umsl.edu
Last Updated: Monday, September 10, 2007 10:25