Fall 2018 - CMNS 858 G100
Selected Topics in Communication Studies (5)
Class Number: 8467
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
-
Course Times + Location:
Sep 4 – Dec 3, 2018: Tue, 1:30–5:20 p.m.
Vancouver
-
Instructor:
Andrew Feenberg
feenberg@sfu.ca
778-782-5169
Office: HC-3598
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
Specialized graduate course offering on a topic related to the current research of school faculty or visiting professor.
COURSE DETAILS:
“Frankfurt Scholars”
Overview:
This course will introduce philosophy and sociology of technology through major texts in the Continental tradition, and recent approaches to technology studies in the social sciences. We will begin with the philosophical work of Heidegger and his student Marcuse. Heidegger proposed the now classic theory of the “enframing”, the most sophisticated version of the idea of the domination of human beings by their own technology. Marcuse’s neo-Marxist theory has some similarities to Heidegger’s; however, he opens up the possibility of a radical transformation of technology. Habermas tried to reformulate Critical Theory as a radical liberal-democratic approach. These radical critiques of technology appear outdated to Lyotard, the chief philosopher behind the “postmodern” movement. We will next discuss a book by Don Ihde on the phenomenology of technology. The approach here is less critical and emphasizes the everyday experience of technology in its cultural aspect. The contributions of recent science and technology studies are represented by articles by Pinch and Bijker, Latour, and case studies by Collins and Pinch. The constructivist approach is non-determinist and focuses on the empirical study of cases. We will then read my recent collection with Norm Friesen that applies an approach I call “critical constructivism” to the Internet, followed by the presentation of a similar method in a book by Maria Bakardjieva. We will conclude with chapters from my forthcoming book on philosophy of technology.
Format:
This is a graduate seminar. There will be lectures, brief student presentations, and discussions. Students are expected to participate actively. Grading will be based on participation (50%) and a research paper (50%). Classroom discussions will be supplemented by an online forum. The instructor will be available after class to meet with students.
Grading
- Class Participation 50%
- Research Paper 50%
NOTES:
Note: This course is open to 4th year CMNS Undergraduate students, with Instructor’s written consent.
The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices with respect to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, The School will follow Policy S10.01 with respect to Academic Integrity, and Policies S10.02, S10.03, and S10.04 as regards Student Discipline. [Note: As of May 1, 2009 the previous T10 series of policies covering Intellectual Honesty (T10.02), and Academic Discipline (T10.03) have been replaced with the new S10 series of policies.]
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
Lukacs, Georg, History and Class Consciousness: Studies in Marxist Dialectics. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1972.
ISBN: 9780262620208
Lowy, Michael, Fire Alarm: Reading Walter Benjamin’s ‘On the Concept of History’. London & New York: Verso, 2005.
ISBN: 9781784786410
Feenberg, Andrew and William Leiss, The Essential Marcuse: selected writings of philosopher and social critic Herbert Marcuse. Boston: Beacon Press, 2007.
ISBN: 9780807014332
Horkheimer, Max and Theodore Adorno, Dialectic of Enlightenment (Cultural Memory in the Present. Stanford University Press, 2007.
ISBN: 9780804736336
Marcuse, Herbert, One Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society (2nd edition). Boston: Beacon Press, 1991.
ISBN: 9780807014172
Marcuse, Herbert, An Essay On Liberation. Boston: Beacon Press, 1971.
ISBN: 9780807005958
Habermas, Jürgen, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1991.
ISBN: 9780262581080
Marx, Karl, Writings of the Young Marx on Philosophy and Society. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1997.
ISBN: 9780872203686
Articles (available on Feenberg's website: www.sfu.ca/~andrewf):
· Feenberg, "Subversive Rationalization: Technology, Power and Democracy".
· Feenberg, “From Information to Communication”.
· Pinch and Bijker, "The Social Construction of Facts and Artifacts".
· Heidegger, “Traditional Language and Technological Language”.
· Dreyfus, “Heidegger on Gaining a Free Relation to Technology”.
· Latour, “Where are the Missing Masses?”
Graduate Studies Notes:
Important dates and deadlines for graduate students are found here: http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/current/important_dates/guidelines.html. The deadline to drop a course with a 100% refund is the end of week 2. The deadline to drop with no notation on your transcript is the end of week 3.
Registrar Notes:
SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.
Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS