Introduction to Digital Cultures (WT 23/24)
Today we live in a world that is fully visual and sensory: inundated by images, sounds, and interactive experiences and saturated by digital media that shapes minds, bodies and our daily habits. From terrorist events such as 9/11 to the Coronavirus Pandemic to Artificial Intelligence, digital media is transforming society. This course is an introductory survey into how digital technologies and cultures are impacted and shaped by society and history.
This course will examine this new landscape of society by providing a historical and theoretical investigation of the relationship between aesthetics, power, knowledge, and digital media. Weekly lectures and seminars cover a range of topics and case studies, among which may include: platform economies, the politics of visuality; race, gender, and sexuality in digital media; the relationship between digital media, surveillance, and politics; artificial intelligence and society; the Cold War and cybernetics; coloniality of digital media; and computation and environment. The course will also include possible field trips and conferences.
Lecturer: Orit Halpern