Schedule & Readings

Books and Materials

Ceruzzi, Paul E. Computing: A Concise History. MIT Press, 2012.
Postman, Neil. Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. New York: Vintage, 1992. Sloan, Robin. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. New York: Picador, 2013.

Additional readings linked below or available on Sakai.

Class Schedule

On days marked as “All,” we will all meet for the entire class time. On days marked as “Group” (most Wednesdays), we will meet in smaller groups for half the class period. See Sakai for your assigned group time.

Date	Readings	Discussion
	Unit I: The Problem of Information
W 24 Jan.	Introductions and Course Theme. Practice Annotation Assignment on What Would Plato Say About ChatGPT?	All
F 26 Jan.	O’Donnell, “From the Codex to the Homepage” (pdf). Excerpt from Phaedrus (pdf).	All
M 29 Jan.	Sloan, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore (pgs. 1-48, through Stranger in a Strange Land). David Weinberger, Everything is Miscellaneous (pdf).	All
W 31 Jan.	Sloan, Mr. Penumbra (pgs. 49-122, to the end of Part I, The Bookstore).	Group
F 3 Feb.	Sloan, Mr. Penumbra (pgs. 123-202, through The Dragon-Song Chronicles, Volume II), Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” (pdf also on Sakai)	All
M 5 Feb.	Sloan, Mr. Penumbra (pgs. 202-288, to the end of the book)	All
W 7 Feb.	“History, Digitized (and Abridged).” Vint Cerf: TEDx Talk	Group
F 9 Feb.	Vannevar Bush, “As We May Think.” Alex Wright, “The Secret History of Hypertext.” (pdf also on Sakai)	All
M 12 Feb.	Lee, “A Patent Lie.” This American Life: “When Patents Attack: Part II.”	All
W 14 Feb.	Standage, “The Mother of All Networks” (pdf).	Group
F 16 Feb.	Computing: Introduction and Ch. 1 & 2.	All
M 19 Feb.	Discussion/Research for Historical Essay. Visit from Cece Lasley (?).	All
W 21 Feb.	NO CLASS (Symposium on Democracy)
F 23 Feb.	Test on Unit I	All
	Unit II: Key Enabling Technologies
M 26 Feb.	Reid, “The Real Miracle” (pdf).	All
W 28 Feb.	Computing: Ch. 3 & 4.	Group
F 1 Mar.	Abbate, “Cold War and White Heat.” (pdf)	All
M 4 Mar.	Computing: Ch. 5, 6, & 7. “Computer Visionary Who Invented the Mouse.”	All
W 6 Mar.	Kirschenbaum, “Unseen Hands” (pdf). “Overlooked No More: Karen Sparck Jones, Who Established the Basis for Search Engines.”	Group
F 8 Mar.	HISTORICAL ESSAY DUE. Peer Review and Revision Planning.	All
M 11 Mar.	Planet Money: “When Women Stopped Coding.” “Sept. 24, 1979: First Online Service for Consumers Debuts.”	All
W 13 Mar.	Historical Essay Conferences.	By Appt.
F 15 Mar.	Historical Essay Conferences.	By Appt.
M 18 Mar.–F 22 Mar.	NO CLASS: Spring Break
	Unit III: Critical Reflection
M 25 Mar.	Disinformation/Misinformation: Adrien Chen, “The Agency.”	All
W 27 Mar.	Race After Technology, “The New Jim Code” (pdf). HISTORICAL ESSAY REVISION DUE	Group
F 29 Mar.	Safiya Noble: TEDx Talk and Algorithms of Oppression pgs. 35-55 (pdf). (WARNING: This video is about the problem of racial stereotypes and misogyny and contains some graphic content)	All
M 1 Apr.	Carr, “IT Doesn’t Matter” (pdf).	All
W 3 Apr.	Lessig, “The Vision for the Creative Commons” (pdf pgs 36-49). Lessig: TED Talk. Browse Creative Commons website.	Group
F 5 Apr.	Postman, Introduction & Ch. 1.	All
M 8 Apr.	Postman, Ch. 2 & 3.	All
W 10 Apr.	Postman, Ch. 5 & 6.	Group
F 12 Apr.	Postman, Ch. 8 & 9.	All
M 15 Apr.	Exam on Units II & III.	All
	Unit IV: Futurism (Past & Present)
W 17 Apr.	Big Data and Privacy: You bring an article.	Group
F 19 Apr.	Work of the Future: “Virtual Chiat.” “Lost in Space.” “The Robots are Coming for Phil in Accounting.” Also watching Transcendent Man in class.	All
M 22 Apr.	Home of the Future: “The Future Knocks Again.” Finish Transcendent Man.	All
W 24 Apr.	Research/Discussion for Futurist Essay.	All
F 26 Apr.	“What Is Code?” sections 2.1-2.4.	All
M 29 Apr.	Chiang, “ChatGPT is a Blurry JPEG of the Web” (pdf).	All
W 1 May	Dzieza, “AI is a Lot of Work.”	Group
F 3 May	Peer Review of Futurist Essay.	All
M 6 May	No Class Meeting: Optional Conferences on Futurist Essay	All
F 10 May 9am-Noon	FINAL EXAM PERIOD. No formal exam: FUTURIST ESSAY DUE BEFORE NOON	All