Professional Documents
Culture Documents
MACHINES
Fall 2015 (08/24/15-12/9/15)
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Section 001
9:30-10:45
Section 002
11:00-12:15
Harvill Bldg Room 240
Dr. Victor Braitberg
Assistant Professor
Honors Interdisciplinary Faculty
The Honors College
University of Arizona
Office Hours
Mondays Noon-3PM
Slonaker House 211
And by Appointment
Email: victorb@email.arizona.edu
Office Tel.520-621-0175
COURSE DESCRIPTION
From the world of industrial machines to the world of digital devices, the changing
landscape of technology in our everyday lives has a profound effect on how we think
about and experience our bodies. Using historical and cross-cultural perspectives
alongside out-of-the-classroom research we will explore how a wide range of social
and cultural groups experience and make sense of the relationship between bodies
and machines. Using the frameworks of phenomenological, political-economic, and
discourse analysis, students will analyze body-machine relationships that they will
have studied through first-hand research.
ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS
All required and recommended articles and book chapters will be made available
through the D2L course site.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. Identify and describe how visions and techniques for technologically
transforming the body articulate human values, beliefs, and desires.
2. Describe the political, economic, and cultural contexts for scientific and
technological modifications of the human body.
3. Evaluate how technological bodies transgress existing social and political
arrangements, or conversely, how they reinforce and normalize them.
4. Evaluate the similarities and differences between contemporary and
historical imaginaries of bodies and machines.
EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Increased understanding of how ideas about science, technology, the body
and society are related to one another.
2. Increased understanding of the historical relationships between science,
technology, the body and social thought.
3. Improved ability to think critically about social and political beliefs and their
relationship to understandings of science, technology, and the body.
4. Increased understanding of qualitative research methods.
5. Expanded proficiency in carrying out qualitative research.
6. Expanded proficiency in expository writing.
7. Improved ability to interpret qualitative research data using social theory.
TEACHING METHODOLOGY
The following methods will be used to explore course topics:
Instructor lectures
Out of class research
Online discussions
Class discussions
Presentations
Final Paper
GRADES
Pop Quizzes
D2L Discussion
Ethnography
A
B
C
D
F
= (1000-900)
= (890-800)
= (790-700)
= (690-600)
= (below 590)
means that you will sometimes need to adopt an attitude of critical detachment
regarding your own values and beliefs to get the most out of this class.
Accordingly, for the duration of this class you will be expected to adopt the attitude of
a cultural anthropologist. This will mean being non-judgmental (ethnocentric) about
the behaviors and beliefs that we will read about and discuss. You will be expected to
try and understand foreign behaviors and beliefs from the perspective of those who
hold them. The point here is to strive for understanding, not evaluation and judgment
according to your own values and beliefs, but according to the values and beliefs of
the individuals and groups under consideration- what some anthropologists refer to
as "the natives point of view."
Community: Bodies and Machines has a Facebook page and a YouTube channel that
you will be expected to utilize for class discussion and research purposes. The YouTube
channel has numerous videos that deal with a wide range of topics related to the class
ranging from Cartesian philosophy and robotics, to post-humanism and cell phone
commercials. The Facebook page contains a wide range of resources that relate to the
course.
YouTube playlist can be found @
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRI9krtdYpbQOfnOnHdBaJrE_I-mYzwb7
Please follow classroom rules regarding food and beverages in the classroom.
3.
In that this is a safe environment for sharing and generating unique ideas,
please try to be open to diverse perspectives and learn from others who may pose
5
views that differ from your own. At times, course material might seem offensive,
but try to wrangle with new ideas and consider a variety of perspectives instead of
simply rejecting ideas posed in course-related discussion. When sharing your own
ideas, do not subject others to inappropriate language or problematic assumptions
about social groups.
4.
Rules on academic dishonesty will be strictly enforced. Plagiarism is literary
thievery, taking the words or ideas of another and representing them as your own.
Do not copy another students work, pull text from online sources, or turn in the
same work for this class that you have used in another class. All work turned in
must be original and specific to this course. Students who violate University rules
on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties (e.g., failing grade or
removal from the University). Students are encouraged to share intellectual views
and discuss freely the principles and applications of course materials. However,
graded work/exercises must be the product of independent effort unless otherwise
instructed. As previously mentioned, students are expected to adhere to the UA
Code of Academic Integrity
http://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/codeofacademicintegrity .
Arrangements can be made if you have a physical challenge or condition that could
impair your participation and/or performance in this course. Please notify the
instructor immediately if you need accommodation, and register with Disability
Resources so that I can make accommodation: Disability Resources Center, 1224
East Lowell Street, Tucson, AZ 85721, (520) 621-3268, FAX (520) 621-9423, email:
uadrc@email.arizona.edu, http://drc.arizona.edu/. You must register and request
that the Center or DRC send me official notification of your accommodations needs
as soon as possible. Please plan to meet with me by appointment or during office
hours to discuss accommodations and how my course requirements and activities
may impact your ability to fully participate. The need for accommodations must be
documented by Disability Resources.
The Arizona Board of Regents Student Code of Conduct, ABOR Policy 5-308,
prohibits threats of physical harm to any member of the University community,
including to ones self. See: http://policy.web.arizona.edu/~policy/threaten.shtml.
All student records will be managed and held confidentially.
http://www.registrar.arizona.edu/ferpa/default.htm
Information contained in the course syllabus, other than the grade and
absence policy, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed
appropriate by the instructor.
COURSE OUTLINE
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Ethnography Presentations