Understanding Media: The Philosophical and Cultural Impacts of Technology module (PI31019)

In this module, you will use philosophy to explore a vexing and exciting contemporary problem: technology and its impact upon our lives. Technology is problem we encounter at the levels of the everyday and the personal ('should I pay less attention to my phone?', 'are my networks making me anxious?'), and at the level of planetary and civilizational change ('is AI a threat to human existence?', 'will all jobs be automated in the future?', 'are technologies harming the planet?'). On this module, you will engage with the full range of these concerns, and learn to refine and scrutinise them through the lens of philosophy.

You will use historical and up-to-date perspectives to explore technology in interdisciplinary ways, exploring issues related to all branches of philosophy, including the study of:

• knowledge (epistemology)
• reasoning (logic)
• conduct (ethics)
• feeling (aesthetics)
• being (ontology)

Thinkers studied on the module include Zeynep Tufekci, Sherry Turkle, Martin Heidegger, and Walter Benjamin.

What you will learn

In this module, you will:

• establish familiarity with cutting-edge philosophical perspectives on technology
• study important background historical perspectives on technology in the first half of the module
• work together dynamically with your peers to co-create the content of second half of the module

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• articulate different complex perspectives on what technology is, how it impacts and changes our lives, and why it matters as a philosophical issue
• work together effectively and dynamically to co-create and share knowledge with your peers
• engage emerging issues in technology development and design

Assignments / assessment

On this module, you can choose from two assessment streams:

• textual commentary 1,500 words (30%)
• word extended essay 3,500 words (70%)

OR

• art project description 1,500 word (30%)
• art project (70%)

This module does not have a final exam.

Teaching methods / timetable

The first half of this module is taught according to a set curriculum that fulfils the intended-learning outcomes of the module. The second half of the module (lectures included) emerges in co-creative response to issues highlighted by the mid-semester assessment.

Teaching is conducted via:

• lectures
• tutorials
• workshops