IMED 380-03 Technology & Society

TTh 12:30-2:00

Room 1xxx 3 credits

John Carter McKnight, JD, PhD

jmcknight@harrisburgu.edu
Office Hours 10:00 11:30 MW Room 13xx
Course Description
Technology is neither good nor bad, nor is it neutral.
- Melvin Kranzberg, 1986
Technology is a powerful force in the modern world. It has been hailed as a way to
cure everything from world hunger to bad breath. Nevertheless, technological
development is not an unqualified blessing: Technologies frequently have negative
effects for some people, at some times, in some circumstances. Some negative
consequences are unanticipated, some are predictable, and some are intentional
features of the design or implementation. But because technologies are rightly
seen as indispensable for solving problems and improving the quality of life,
societies invest in the design and development of technologies, hoping to shape
and direct it.
This class will explore the relationship between technology and society to
understand where technologies come from, how they are used, and how they may
be shaped to create better futures. It is not a class where memorization is the
primary goal. Instead we will develop skills for critical analysis and argument
development. As we do this we will continually pose four important questions:

First, where do technologies come from and why do they work as they do?
Technologies are human creations, and so their forms and uses reveal the
interests and purposes of the people, institutions, and societies that build
them.
Second, how do technologies shape our world? We will explore the variety of
ways by which machines and techniques become embedded in society and
thereby shape institutions, relationships, and values.
Third, what kind of future do we want? Many of the articles we will read argue
that certain values are of key importance to a just society, which challenges
us to consider which values we should hold most dear and defend.
And fourth, how can we make decisions about technology that will get us to
the future we want? Once we understand the role of technology in society
and the world we want to build, we must develop strategies for getting us
from here to there.

The basic structure of the course is, over the weekend well read (usually) three
scholarly articles on a topic. Youll submit one question about the readings before
class. In class on Tuesday well discuss the readings carefully to build a solid
understanding of a core concept, focusing on your questions. Thursdays will be
devoted to applications and special topics, often with an expert guest speaker via
Skype. Youll have a good bit of say on the topics we cover in the non-guest-speaker
Thursdays: we can either go into a topic like video games, software ethics, robotics,
or human enhancement in depth over the term, or spend a day on each of a range

of topics. There will be an in-class midterm and final, and a term project which does
not have to be an individual term paper, but can be absolutely anything you can
make a convincing case for.
(This syllabus is based upon the one created by Dr. Jamey Wetmore for his course
at Arizona State University, and is used and adapted with his written consent)
Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

analyze technologies past, present, and imagined

describe the ways in which technologies shape our world
the ways in which we shape those technologies
play a productive role in and even facilitate conversations that tease out the
relationships between values and technology
through the skills you will refine in writing your research papers, clearly
explain how a specific technology shapes the social world that we live in

Course Materials
The core book for the course is Johnson, D. G., & Wetmore, J. M. (2009). Technology
and society: building our sociotechnical future. (ISBN-13: 978-0262600736; ISBN10: 0262600730) It is generally available to order from booksellers and is also
available in Kindle format.

Schedule of Assignments
This schedule is *subject to change*. Any changes to the reading materials will be
announced in class and changed on Moodle.
Readings from the course book are in bold. Other readings are *starred where they
appear in the schedule of assignments below, and will be available on Moodle.
You must read all the readings for the week *before Tuesdays class,* as your
assignment on the weekly reading is due Monday evening.
wee
k
1
8/29

topic

learning outcomes

reading

doing

Sociotechnical Systems

Recognize interplay of
technology, society, and
human values

Introduction, pp. xi-xv;

Visoins of a Technological
Future, pp. 1-3

no
assignme
nt

E.M. Forster, The Machine

Utopia and Dystopia

Understand and use

concepts of utopia and
dystopia, role of
imagined futures in
shaping the present

Stops

Dyson, Technology & Social

Justice

no
assignme
nt

*Marx, The Idea of

Technology and Postmodern
Pessimism
2
9/5

Technological
Determinism and
Momentum

Define, apply, and

critique theories of
technological
determinism and
momentum

3
9/12

Social Construction

Define, apply, and

critique theories of
social construction of
technologies

4
9/19

Actor-Network Theory

Define, apply, and

critique Actor-Network
Theory

9/22

Guest Speaker: Dr.

Mark Chen,
Pepperdine U.: ANT
and Games

5
9/26

Values and Technology

Begin to identify and

critique values
embodied in
sociotechnical systems

6
10/3

Technologies of Gender

Understand and
diagnose gendered
biases in sociotechnical
systems

Heilbroner, Do Machines
Make History?
*Bulliet, Determinism and
Pre-Industrial Technology
Hughes, Technological
Momentum
Pinch and Bijker, The
Social Construction of Facts
and Artifacts
*Kline and Pinch, Users as
Agents of Technological
Change
Latour, Where are the
Missing Masses? The
sociology of a Few mundane
Artifacts
*Callon, Some Elements of a
Sociology of Translation
*Cypher and Richardson, An
actor-network approach to
games and virtual
environments

questions

Introduction, pp. 205-207

Winner, Do Artifacts have
Politics?
Ritzer, Control: Human and
Nonhuman Robots
*Lanier, Missing Persons
Wajcman, The Feminization
of Work in the Information
Age
Weber, Manufacturing
Gender in Commercial and
Military Cockpit Design
Carme Alemany Gomez,

questions

questions

questions

questions

10/6

7
10/1
0

10/1
3

Guest Speaker:
Associate Professor
Rhiannon Bury,
Athabasca U.:
Platforms and Trolling Gamergate
In-Class Exam

Guest Speaker: Dr.

Tony Milligan, Kings
College London:
Technology, Ethics, and
Emotion

Understand how social

media and gaming
platforms shaped
discourse in a gendered
controversy

Apply theories and

values to a
contemporary
sociotechnical issue

Designers and Users

9
10/1
4

Software: Code and

Algorithms

10
10/3
1

Technologies of Race
and Class

Understand and
diagnose racial and class
biases in sociotechnical
systems

11
11/7

The Digital Body

Guest Speaker: Evan
Hayles Gledhill, U. of
Reading: Biopower
and the X-Men Films
Guest Speaker:
Assistant Professor
Katrin Tiidenberg,
Aarhus U.: Selfies and
the Digital Body
Biotechnologies and

Understand
sociotechnical forces
shaping concepts and
presentations of the
human body via digital
platforms

12
11/1

none

midterm
exam

term
project
proposals
due

8
10/1
7

11/1
0

Bodies, Machines, and Male

Power

Understand the role of

users and non-users in
shaping sociotechnical
systems

Understand developing
issues and perspectives

*Lindsay, From The

Shadows
*Kline, Resisting Consumer
Technology in Rural America
Wetmore, Amish
Technology: Reinforcing
Values, Building Community
Lessig, Code Is Law
*Sicart, The Ethics of
Computer Game Design
*Kraemer et al., Is There an
Ethics of Algorithms?
Dyer, White
*Laegran, Escape Vehicles?
The Internet and Automobile
in a Local-Global
Intersection

questions

questions

questions

questions

term
project
updates
due
Fukuyama, The
Prolongation of Life

questions

11/1
7

13
11/2
1

Human Enhancement

Guest Speaker: Dr.

Michael BurnamFink, Arizona State
U.: Mental Illness
Social Science vs.
Natural Science
Governing Science &
Technology

in biotechnology

Understand and apply

social science vs. natural
science approaches to
mental illness

Understand theories of
national and global
governance of
technologies

Thanksgiving
no
clas
s
11/2
4
14
11/2
8

n/a

Bess, Icarus 2.0

*Roco and Bainbridge,
Converging Technologies for
Improving Human
Performance

* Bush, Science, The

Endless Frontier

questions

*Miller, Civic
Epistemologies
*Roco and Bainbridge,
Societal Implications of
Nanoscience and
Nanotechnology
none

Imagining and Building

Sociotechnical Futures

Guest Speaker TBD:

Simulations Lab

Evaluate and practice a

range of tools for
advocating and
governing innovation

*Sobchack, Science Fiction

Film and the Technological
Imagination
*McCurdy, Fiction and
Imagination: How They
Affect Public Administration
*Bradfield et al., The Origins
and Evolution of Scenario
Techniques in Long Range
Business Planning

questions

12/1
15
12/5

Final Presentations

final
presentati
on
deliverabl
es due

12/8

Final Exam

final exam

Class Rules and Grading Policies

Classroom Expectations
You are required to use Moodle (the course management system for HU:
http://moodle.harrisburgu.edu) during and outside of class. Course materials,
reading assignments, due dates and outlines are posted on Moodle and may be
updated weekly: this means that assigned readings, assignments and due dates
*may change.* You are responsible for reading any course announcements that are
posted on Moodle. In addition, you may have to complete assignments or upload
documents to Moodle.
This class, online and offline, is a safe space from racist, sexist and homophobic
speech. Dont do it. If you do use hate speech in any forum associated with the
class you will be subject to removal from class and possibly University disciplinary
action. Keep it clean, polite and respectful on class time.
I do not take attendance: this is not high school. However, you will note that 20% of
your grade comes from a mix of online and offline participation. If you miss class,
Im not interested in reasons or excuses: youll simply have to work harder to make
up points in the other components of the participation grade.
Electronic media use during class *for class purposes* is encouraged. I may call on
students to google topics during discussion, summarize findings, and report to the
group. I may also suggest websites or other online tools to examine and evaluate
during class time.
Dont plagiarize. Dont copy work and dont purchase work. Provide sources for all
material, even a few words in a row, that comes from somewhere else. We will
discuss citation systems in class. Please familiarize yourself with, and follow, the HU
Honor Code, at http://www.harrisburgu.net/current-students/.
Dont try to rules-lawyer. You wont win.
If youre unsure, ask me before you do it, say it, copy it, or take it.
Competency Assessment
One or more assignments in this class must be uploaded to TaskStream to evaluate
the students level of proficiency in an HU core competency or program goal directly
connected to that assignment. Students will be informed which assignments must
be uploaded on the TaskStream and also the resulting TaskStream scores impact on
the students overall grade on the evaluated assignment. This score can also be
used as a gauge for the student to self-evaluate his or her progress in developing
the skill level in specified core competencies or program goals attached to the
assignment. This additional evaluation can be a point of discussion between the
student and his or her academic advisor as well as a key component of the work in
SEMR 200, SEMR 300, and SEMR 400. The students final grade in SEMR400 will be
influenced by these TaskStream scores and related ePortfolio artifacts throughout
the students coursework at Harrisburg University.
Late Assignments
Assignments must be completed and submitted on time. If you submit any
assignment (including the reading questions) after the due date and time, you will
receive a 2 point deduction from your final grade for each late assignment. To be
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clear, questions are due by 5 PM every Monday and Wednesday, as thats when Ill
read and record them. At 5:10 PM, youll lose two points. Submit on time.
Grades
Grades will be based one midterm and one final exam, one term project and
presentation, and class participation.
Midterm
Term Project and Presentation*
Final Exam
Participation*

10%
35%
35%
20%

*see below for specific breakdown of points within this category

Percentage Grade
95-100%
A
90-94%
A86-89%
B+
83-85%
B
80-82%
B76-79%
C+

Percentage Grade
73-75%
C
70-72%
66-69%
63-65%
60-62%
0-59%
F

CD+
D
D-

Exams and Projects

*Your questions + online participation + class participation grade:

You will get *one* grade for each of those three elements combined, that will
be worth 20 points/20% of your grade.

This allows your strengths in any one area to offset possible weaknesses in
another: if youre uncomfortable talking in class, you can still get a high score
through excelling at the questions. If you dont quite get the question format,
effective online and class discussion can still see you through.

The midterm exam :

will be of the same format as the final exam: you will be given a recent news
story and asked to discuss it, applying tools provided in the course sessions
and reading.

The final exam:

will be of the same format as the midterm exam: you will be given a recent
news story and asked to discuss it, applying tools provided in the course
sessions and reading.

*The term project:

In week 7 you will submit a one-page project proposal, using the proposal
template Ill provide on Moodle, on a topic of interest to you. This will be
worth 5% of your final grade.
o

Group projects are strongly encouraged.

Do *not* submit a proposal without discussing it with me first. I will

provide you with suggestions for research and development, along
with helping you refine your topic and project deliverable.

Deliverables can include scholarly research papers, fieldwork reports,

media creations, app/software design, or other things in consultation
with me.

Use your imagination and dont be boring.

In week 11 you will submit a project progress report. This will focus on what
youve done to meet the goals you set out in your proposal and what you
need to do to complete successfully. This will be worth 5% of your final
grade.

In week 15 you will deliver a pecha kucha presentation on your project. This
will address what your topic was, why you chose it, why it should matter to
your audience, what you did to investigate it, and what you concluded. This
will be worth 5% of your final grade.
o

Pecha kucha (a Japanese term that means "chatter") was created as a

way to revitalize the traditional PowerPoint format by ensuring that
presentations stay concise and fast-paced, prompting presenters to
think in terms of performance rather than information dump. The rules
are simple:
1. Your presentation should consist of 20 slides, no more and no
less.
2. Each slide is onscreen for 20 seconds.
To do this in PowerPoint: There should be a menu called Slide Show.
On this menu, theres a choice called Slide transition (or just
Transitions) . . . When you select it, youll see options for advancing
the slide. Clear the check box beside On Mouse Click, and put 20
in the box: Automatically after __
seconds.
3. You thus have a total of 6 minutes and 40 seconds for the
presentation.
See: http://www.pecha-kucha.org/ and
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/1509/st_pechakucha#

Pecha Kucha is *hard.* Rehearse, and then rehearse a lot more. I will
book a time for rehearsals the week before presentation day.
Attendance will be optional but strongly encouraged. I will provide
food and make sure the tech is working, and then will leave the room,
so that you can practice and take feedback from your fellow students
without worrying about making an impression on me.

In week 15 you will also submit your deliverable. This will be worth 20% of
your final grade.

The written questions:

In the weeks specified on the schedule (pay careful attention!):

By 5pm Monday each week post one substantive* question or

comment related to any of the readings for the following week.

*See Reading Questions & Responses below for detail on what a

substantive question is and how to write a good one.

The question assignment is designed to do several things.

It shows whats interesting to all of you: are there particular

points or issues that consistently draw the classs attention?

It also highlights things people might not have understood, or

would like to see expressed more clearly during our class
sessions.

It also helps us all get to know *you* better are you the one
who always asks about economics, or politics, or pop culture?

Reading questions and responses:

A *bad* question will be superficial, like a grade-school pop quiz question:

How does the author define X? How many copies of Halo Reach were sold
last year? Bad questions have answers in the material or are stock questions
that could be applied to anything, without thought. Isnt this bad for kids?
A *fine* question asks for explanation or clarification: Does Huizinga mean
that games played for money arent games at all, or that they somehow stop
being games when people get paid?
A *great* question links the reading to something else: How does
Huizingas attitude towards being paid to play relate to the role of
amateurism in the Olympics and European aristocratic attitudes towards
labor?

A sentence or two is fine. You wont get more credit for more words: conciseness
and clarity are good things.
Below are two examples of questions from a previous class (on games studies) that
represent fine and great questions.
Example #1:
I want to primarily focus on "Bow, N****". How has the internet and by
extension online gaming allowed for individuals to express racial views that
are considered socially unacceptable? Do these people truly feel this way or
is there some sort of stimulus that promotes this usage online?
Example #2
I'm talking about Alter Ego . . . . The more options and choices that were
presented, the more unrealistic portions of the game seemed. . . . At what
point do we sacrifice realism in favor of control over the story? And at what
point do we sacrifice control for the sake of realism? In my experience some
of the best entertainment has come from finding the proper balance of these
two, be it in a book, video game, or other form of media. . . . It is this choice
that leads to the complexity and realism in life that I don't think video games
are able to capture in its complexity and nuances.

GE Learning Competencies
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving: The exam and term project formats are
designed to confront students with a case drawn from current events in order to
demonstrate their ability to apply theories, diagnose problems, and suggest
solutions, both in a real-time, in-class exercise and over the course of the term in a
more deliberative manner. In-class discussion focuses on students developing and
defending personal views on key issues based upon evidence and theoretical
frames.
Communication: Students are encouraged to develop strengths in both written and
oral communication, both deliberative and spontaneous, while the grading rubric
recognizes that students have different strengths and comfort levels across media
of expression. The pecha kucha format of the final presentation places a premium
on conciseness, mastery of the material to be presented, and audience impact.
Ethical Decision Making: This course examines the ethical underpinnings of
technology design and use. It actively encourages students to discern and critique
the ethical components of technology and to assert their own ethical values in
technological analysis. The exams in particular call upon students to articulate an
ethical and theoretical underpinning for their diagnoses of current problems and
advocacy of solutions to those problems.
Global Awareness: This course addresses the impact of technologies at the global
scale, introduces concepts of global technological governance, and provides a range
of readings and guest speakers from outside the US.
Civic Engagement: This course does not call upon students to demonstrate civic
engagement. Rather, it provides tools of critical thinking, ability to recognize global
and local impacts, and the articulation of personal political lenses based upon
theoretical frameworks and data analysis, in order to empower students with the
tools for informed and effective engagement with the impacts of technologies at
local, national, and global levels.

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