Schedule

Week 1

  • Monday 8/29: Introduction (course description, objectives, schedule, assignments, grading, policies, personal introductions and questions)
  • Wednesday 8/31: Being Digital  
    • Before Class: Explore Computer History Museum, Digital Logic [online exhibit]
  • Friday 9/2: Section Introductions

Week 2

  • Monday 9/5: No Class – Labor Day
  • Wednesday 9/7: Theoretical Frameworks (internalism, externalism, determinism, and the Social Construction of Technology)
    • Before Class: Read Ronald Kline and Trevor Pinch. “Users as Agents of Technological Change: The Social Construction of the Automobile in the Rural United States.” Technology and Culture 37, no. 4 (1996): 763–95. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3107097. (Available from the UConn Library. If you don’t know how to use the Library and its online databases, you can ask a librarian.)
  • Friday 9/9: Readings Discussion

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

  • Monday 9/26: Tron: Background and Watch Guide
  • Wednesday 9/28: No Class – Watch Tron (1982 version) at home (available to stream on Disney+ with audio description and Amazon Prime Video without audio description)
  • Friday 9/30: Tron Discussion

Week 6

  • Monday 10/3: The Internet and The Web
    • Before Class: Explore Computer History Museum, Networking [online exhibit] and The Web [online exhibit]
  • Wednesday 10/5: The Dot-Com Boom and Bust
  • Friday 10/7: No Class – Midterm Essay due at 11:59 pm

Week 7

  • Monday 10/10: The Matrix: Background and Watch Guide
  • Wednesday 10/12: No Class – Watch The Matrix (1999) at home (available to stream on HBOMax or Amazon Prime Video, both with audio description)
  • Friday 10/14: The Matrix Discussion

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13  Thanksgiving Break

Week 14

Week 15

  • Monday 12/5: Final Exam Review – Take-home Exam released at 2:00 p.m.
  • Wednesday 12/7: No Class – Work on Take-home Exam 
  • Friday 12/9: No Class – Take-home Exam due at 11:59 p.m.