WGS 276J - Cultures of Computing

Institution:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Subject:

Description:

Examines computers anthropologically, as artifacts revealing the social orders and cultural practices that create them. Students read classic texts in computer science along with cultural analyses of computing history and contemporary configurations. Explores the history of automata, automation and capitalist manufacturing; cybernetics and WWII operations research; artificial intelligence and gendered subjectivity; robots, cyborgs, and artificial life; creation and commoditization of the personal computer; the growth of the Internet as a military, academic, and commercial project; hackers and gamers; technobodies and virtual sociality. Emphasis is placed on how ideas about gender and other social differences shape labor practices, models of cognition, hacking culture, and social media.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Prereq: None

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

web.mit.edu/student/

Phone Number:

(617) 253-1000

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Four-one-four plan

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