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Considering anthropology’s long-standing interest in material culture, this seminar elucidates how anthropological methods offer unique insights to the study of technology at large. The term technology may connote machines, electronics, and cyberspace; however, it may also refer to pre- modern techniques surrounding artisanship and cultivation. Across these varied sites, technological practices involving human labor are, indeed, socially situated and embodied experiences. What can we learn, not only from adopted technologies, but also those which fail? How might technologies in circulation be used in culturally specific ways? What roles do technologies play in the formation and experience of identities? How do technologies facilitate power and resistance?
This seminar is comprised of a tripartite framework for the anthropology of technology (AoT), Part one covers foundational themes in science and technology studies (STS), including material culture, the social construction of technology, actor network theory, and cyborg feminism. Part two deals with topics around how users interact with technological artifacts, focusing on skill, affordances, media practices, and digital methodologies. Part three addresses contemporary topics in digital anthropology and software studies, including the ethnography of software engineers, code, and algorithms. Upon course completion, students will have a broad understanding of key AoT topics and also have demonstrated original research which synthesizes AoT theory and methods.
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