Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi HS1 4 cr. Wed 2;00p-3:30p, Fri 9:00a- 10:30 a C 02 Spring 2013 Dr.

Leon Morenas leon.a.morenas@gmail.com

Technology and Society- An Introduction

As our understanding of the history of technology increases, it becomes clear that a new device merely opens a door; it does not compel one to enter. The acceptance or rejection of an invention, or the extent to which its implications are realized if it is accepted, depends quite as much upon the condition of a society, and upon the imagination of its leaders, as upon the nature of the technological item itself. Medieval Technology & Social Change, Lynn White, Jr. (Oxford, 1962), pg. 28 Drawing from Whites writing about technology, the course has been designed to help students [a] understand some of the ways technology influences and structures human experience; [b] grasp key interdisciplinary issues that relate social theory with the discipline of science and technology studies; and [c] apply this knowledge when making technological choices in social and political contexts.

Brief Description
Studies of technology, whether relating to simple technological instruments or complex technological systems and arrangements, tend to focus on their form and functionality, rather than social dimensions. This course draws from the discipline of the humanities to introduce engineering students to a different set of questions: How does technology influence society? What are the ways in which these influences could be studied? The purpose of drawing from the humanities is to enrich our understanding of the human condition in which technology plays a vital role. Scholarship in this discipline has demonstrated that technology and society are far more dynamic, far more malleable and far more intertwined than traditionally acknowledged. Through a series of weekly themes, the students will be introduced to various perspectives on the relationship between technology and society.
Week 1 Themes/ Topics Covered Introduction Selected readings from : Winner, Langdon. The Whale and the Reactor (University of Chicago Press, 1986) pp. 03- 18 Nature of assignments / labs and (expected hours of work) Close reading of articles, writing a response to the paper (6 hours), Class Participation

Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi HS1 4 cr. Wed 2;00p-3:30p, Fri 9:00a- 10:30 a C 02 Spring 2013 Dr. Leon Morenas leon.a.morenas@gmail.com

Introduction Selected readings from : Ellul, Jacques. The Technological Society (Random House, 1964). pp. 03- 60 Historical Perspectives on Technology Selections from : Marx, Karl. Theses on Feuerbach, pp. 143-145; The German Ideoloogy, pp.146-200; Marx on the History of His Opinions, pp. 36; and Capital, Volume I, selections, pp. 319-328, pp. 392411. In The Marx-Engels Reader. The Social Construction of Technology Pinch, Trevor J. and Wiebe E. Bijker. "The Social Construction of Facts and Artefacts: Or How the Sociology of Science and the Sociology of Technology Might Benefit Each Other." Social Studies of Science 14 (August 1984): 399441. Technology and Social Theory Selections from : Feenberg, Andrew. Questioning Technology (Routledge, 1999) pp. vii- xvii and 01- 17 Cultural Dimensions of Technological Change Selections from : Uberoi, JPS. Science and Culture. (Oxford University Press, 1978) Uberoi, JPS. The Other Mind of Europe (Oxford University Press, 1984) Anthropology and Sociology Selections from : Dumit, Joseph. Picturing Personhood: Brain Scans and Biomedical Identity. (Princeton University Press, 2004) Critical Theory and Technology Selections from : Marcuse, Herbert. OneDimensional Man: Studies In The Ideology Of Advanced Industrial Society. (Beacon Press, 1964)

Close reading of articles, writing a response to the paper (6 hours), Class Participation Close reading of articles, writing a response to the paper (6 hours), Class Participation

Close reading of articles, writing a response to the paper (6 hours), Class Participation

Close reading of articles, writing a response to the paper (6 hours), Class Participation Close reading of articles, writing a response to the paper (6 hours), Class Participation

Close reading of articles, writing a response to the paper (6 hours), Class Participation

Close reading of articles, writing a response to the paper (6 hours), Class Participation

Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi HS1 4 cr. Wed 2;00p-3:30p, Fri 9:00a- 10:30 a C 02 Spring 2013 Dr. Leon Morenas leon.a.morenas@gmail.com

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Globalization and Technology Raj, Kapil. British Orientalism in Early Nineteenth Century in Relocating Modern Science. (Permanent Black 2006) Kargon, Robert and Arthur Molella. Selections from Invented Edens: Techno-Cities of the Twentieth Century. (MIT Press, 2008) Gender and Technology Haraway, Donna. A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century, in Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature (New York; Routledge, 1991), pp.149-181. Selections from Cynthia Cockburn and Susan Ormrod, Gender and Technology in the Making Technology and the Global South- I Selections from : Escobar, Arturo. Encountering Development. The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. (Princeton University Press, 1994) Information Technology and Society- I Upadhya, Carol, Software and the New Middle Class in the New India, from Elite and Everyman: The Cultural Politics of the Indian Middle Classes ed. By Baviskar, Amita and Raka Ray (Routledge, 2011) Information Technology and Society- II Radhakrishnan, Smitha, Gender, the IT Revolution and the Making of a Middle-class India, from Elite and Everyman: The Cultural Politics of the Indian Middle Classes ed. By Baviskar, Amita and Raka Ray (Routledge, 2011) Information Technology and Society- III Selected Readings from: Lanier, Jaron. You Are Not A Gadget. (Penguin Books, 2011)

Close reading of articles, writing a response to the paper (6 hours), Class Participation

Close reading of articles, writing a response to the paper (6 hours), Class Participation

Close reading of articles, writing a response to the paper (6 hours), Class Participation

Close reading of articles, writing a response to the paper (6 hours), Class Par-pticipation

Close reading of articles, writing a response to the paper (6 hours), Class Participation

Close reading of articles, writing a response to the paper (6 hours), Class Participation

Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi HS1 4 cr. Wed 2;00p-3:30p, Fri 9:00a- 10:30 a C 02 Spring 2013 Dr. Leon Morenas leon.a.morenas@gmail.com

Evaluation
Evaluation is based on the quality of the work in which entails: [a] depth and originality of insights; [b] strength of involvement; [c] development of the implications of issues; and [d] evidence of personal growth Unusual understanding and development during the course will result in an A grade; a B grade represents thorough engagement; and a C indicates a relatively perfunctory commitment. D and F indicate grades of insufficiency, with F resulting in a fail grade. Full attendance at the reading discussions and lectures is required; two unexcused absences will result in an automatic F. Since this is a humanities course, the deliverables are in keeping with the discipline: in addition to class participation (25% of total grade), students are expected to submit weekly papers on their understanding of the readings (25% of total grade). Additionally students will conduct a group research project (25% of the grade) and at the end of the course, complete a final exam (25% of total grade). To help make this a good learning environment students are expected to be full participants in class discussions by, completing the readings and assignments, and to come to each class prepared with questions or comments in relation to the readings, and to engage with course and guest lectures and discussions. Class participation will be monitored and graded on an ongoing basis throughout the semester. Each assignment is due on or before 9:00 pm of the designated class and will not be accepted if late.

Academic Integrity
I uphold the policies of the Institute with respect to academic integrity. In other words, cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Direct quotes should be shown as such. Quotes should generally be used to reinforce a point you have already made rather than make the point itself. Avoid long quotes. Please ask the instructor if you have any doubts about what you should cite or how something should be cited. Submission of any assignment that is in violation of this policy will result in an F for the assignment and a repeat violation

Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi HS1 4 cr. Wed 2;00p-3:30p, Fri 9:00a- 10:30 a C 02 Spring 2013 Dr. Leon Morenas leon.a.morenas@gmail.com

will result in the failure of the course.