STS.441 Technology and Self: Technology and Conversation

Spring 2016: Tuesdays 1-3pm in E51-061
Graduate Level; Prereq: None
2-0-10 units
Instructor: Professor Sherry Turkle
Enrollment limited to 15; no listeners**

Explores the relationship between technology and conversation, with an emphasis on conversation in our digital age when so many say they would rather text than talk. Topics center on the psychology of online life, such as the way in which we both share and withhold information about the self. Discussion about the ways new kinds of online conversation are playing out in education, the workplace, and in families and what the changes in conversation mean for collaboration, innovation, and leadership. Readings include works in history, literature, anthropology, psychology, and linguistics. Open to undergraduates by permission of instructor.

**IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT INFORMATION**

The first day of classes is Tuesday, February 2. All students interested in taking the class MUST come to the first class, including preregistered students.
The first class will be spent doing a full review of the class assignments and class format. During class the instructor will distribute index cards on which students who are sure they want to take the course will write something about their backgrounds and reasons for wanting to enroll.

If there are more than 15 students who submit completed index cards, Professor Turkle will notify students who have been accepted on the following day so that the students not accepted can find an alternate class.

No students should take a Technology and Self class whose academic schedule demands regular absences from class or an extended period of time during which they will be absent from class.