Philosophy and
Film: Visions of Technology

It's nice (sometimes) to think that

technology will save us and make the world

perfect. It's nice (sometimes) to think that

we can blame technology for

what's wrong with the world today.

It's nice (sometimes) to think that

technology makes no difference -- that

we can justly ignore it.

Those ways of thinking,

nice though they may be, are

superficial and sadly suspect.

Course
Information

PHIL 3110
Summer 1, 2001
Webster University
Pearson House Room 2

Instructor Information

Dr. Bruce Umbaugh
office: Pearson House basement
phone: 961-2660 x7826
or 968-7170 (PHIL office)
e-mail: bumbaugh@webster.edu
office hours: M 12:00-12:30 and by appointment

This course aims at reviewing diverse visions of technology with an eye towards crafting a sensible viewpoint. We will focus on

the role of television and newer information technologies, and

changes in the character of and control we have over our work and over privacy,

to try to understand

how technologies embody values, and

how we might make responsible technological choices.

The course is "Philosophy and Film." We will watch films in class. The movies we view will span more than forty years, present various visions of diverse technologies, and star Katherine Hepburn, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway, and Gene Hackman, among others.

The course is "Philosophy and Film." We will read, reflect, write, and discuss. Readings will all be of relatively recent vintage. Grading based on three short essays, class presentations and participation. Details below.

Textbooks:





Course Schedule

Week 1 (June 4)

Monday: Introduction. Read Feenberg, Preface, Marx, "The Case of the Omniscient Organization" (handout)

Wednesday: Read Boal, "A Flow of Monsters," and Schiller, "The Global Information Highway" (Resisting).

Week 2 (June 11)

Monday: Read Feenberg, Preface, Chs. 1-2, as well as Miller, "Women and Children First," and Neill, "Computers, Thinking, Schools" (Resisting).

Wednesday: Read Bok, "Secrecy and Moral Choice," Fiske and Hartley, "The Functions of Television" (handouts).

Week 3 (June 18)

Monday: Read Drew, "Media Activism and Radical Democracy," (Resisting), and Feenberg, Chs. 5-6.
Essay due.

Wednesday: Read Agre, "Building an Internet Culture," Schiller, "Internet Television: Net Makeover?" (handouts), Carlsson, "The Shape of Truth to Come," and Sclove, "Making Technology Democratic" (Resisting).

Week 4 (June 25)

Monday: Read Ullman, "Out of Time," Henwood, "Info Fetishim," Hayes, "Digital Palsy" (Resisting) and TBA (handouts).

Wednesday: Gandy, "It's Discrimination, Stupid" Solnit, "The Garden of Merging Paths" (Resisting).
Essay due.

Week 5 (July 2)

Monday: readings TBA. Final Essay assigned
Wednesday: no class
Friday: Final Essay due.

Grading

Students will each write three short essays in the class. Finished work should be typewritten or word-processed, double-spaced, grammatically correct, and show evidence of having been proofread as necessary. Finished work should be relevant, clear and coherent. This work accounts for fifty percent of your grade for the course.

Each student will make one or two short presentations about assigned readings. The presentations should, first, summarize one or two of the main points of the reading. Second, they should go beyond the reading to say something relevant to the course, for example critically analyzing the author's argument, or perhaps illustrating the author's claims by reference to films viewed in the class.

Collegial participation is expected of every student. Much of the class will be taught as a seminar, and that works only if students carry a measure of the burden for making class time worthwhile. I expect you to contribute to your colleagues' education in class discussion, and I will regularly ask all of you to shoulder responsibility for improving your classmates' written work. Your collegial participation is worth thirty percent of your overall grade in the course.

    To review that:
  • 50% Essays
  • 30% Collegial participation
  • 20% Presentations
Attendance in class is required, and you would be foolish to blow it off. Class meetings are an occasion for you to learn. All sorts of information will presented in class, including elaboration of the assigned texts. Announcements will be made. Films will be screened. Essays will be assigned, writing on them begun, and advice offered. You are responsible for knowing everything covered in class and for having any additional materials distributed in class. Besides, there is ordinarily a strong correlation between good class attendance and good grades in a class such as this one, not least due to the role of participation in grading. Although I will make myself available to help students outside of class, students who do not attend class meetings should not expect to be rewarded with intensive assistance. Finally, note that I reserve the right to reward students who have attended class faithfully, displayed significant effort, and made important contributions to the class.

Policy on academic dishonesty

 You are adults, attending a university. I expect you to behave responsibly. Students in this class are expected to do their own work and not to rely on the work of others. Students are welcome to work with one another to understand the material, but any student plagiarizing, cheating on an exam, aiding another student to cheat, or committing any other act of academic dishonesty will be referred for appropriate disciplinary action. Please consult with me if you have questions in this regard, either about your own work or that of another person.

Other links:

Bruce Umbaugh's Home Page or Course Info Page.

The X-ray Net weblog

Philosophy Department home page

to the Webster University home page

Comments?

Last modified: June 4, 2001.