Plenary 1: Technology and Lifestyle

Marshall McLuhan's "Acoustic Space"
(Image source: pilotingpedagogies.pbworks.com)

Our first plenary lecture will be held this Friday, 9 Dec 2011. We will meet during class time (2:30-3:30 p.m.) at Leong Hall.

Reminder: Please personally hand-in your first paper to either Ted or Bro. Tony who will both be in attendance. This will serve as your attendance for the day. If you cannot make it to the plenary, you may submit your paper anytime during the day in my designated drop box at Schmitt Hall (Chemistry Department) to meet the deadline.

Speaker:

Fabian M. Dayrit, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Chemistry
Dean, School of Science & Engineering

Abstract:

At no time in the past is human society as immersed in technology as it is today. This dependence on technology, in particular Information and Communication Technology (ICT), has a profound effect on our personal lives and social behavior.

In 1964, Marshall McLuhan made his famous statement that: "the medium is the message." He believed that communications technology (the "medium") would have wide ranging effects on society which go beyond the actual content (the "message"). This talk will reflect on how ICT is impacting individuals and society and what each one can do about it.

About the Speaker:

Fabian M. Dayrit finished B.S. Chemistry at the Ateneo de Manila University (cum laude), then attended Princeton University (Princeton, NJ, USA) where he finished M.A. and Ph.D. Chemistry. He is also the current Director of the National Chemistry Instrumentation Center (NCIC) housed in Schmitt Hall, Ateneo de Manila University.

Survey

Please download, print, and fill out the survey form prior to attending the lecture.

Textbook Chapter:

• Telecommunications in the 21st Century by Catherine Manuela L. Ramos and Nina Rosario L. Rojas

Further Reading:

• Is Google Making Us Stupid: What the Internet is doing to our brains (Nicholas Carr, The Atlantic)
• Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips (from Science)
• Pathological Internet Use May Cause Teen Depression (from Live Science)
• Microstructure Abnormalities in Adolescents with Internet Addiction Disorder (from PLoS ONE)
• Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction (from NY Times)
• Raising your kids in the time of Facebook (from Inquirer Lifestyle)
• Eric Schmidt: Every 2 Days We Create As Much Information As We Did Up To 2003 (from www.techcrunch.com)
• U.N. Report Declares Internet Access a Human Right (from www.wired.com)
• A New Capital of Call Centers (from NY Times)