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)
  

Lecture 7: Electronic & Digital Age

Textbook Chapter:

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

Further Reading:

• A Hypertext Field Guide to "Understanding Media"
• Clocks and The Printed Word (from "Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man" by Marshall McLuhan)
• Five Views of St. Marshall (from Wired Magazine)
• Scream of Consciousness (Camille Paglia on Marshall McLuhan, profile from the first issue of Wired Magazine)
• Marshall McLuhan (Official Website)
• Media Ecology Association

Paper 1: Deadline Moved to December 9

Gary Larson

The deadline for Paper 1 has been moved to December 9 (Friday) in order provide more time for you to work and put more thought on it. The date also coincides with the first plenary lecture for Sci 10. The paper will be collected before the lecture starts. Make sure to look for me or Bro. Tony to hand it in.

Additional Notes:

You will be marked according to understanding of the material discussed in class, and supported by the assigned readings. Whereas the lectures provide a broad framework of ideas, it is your turn provide concrete examples in your paper. Examples must be explained in detail and explicitly related to your main points/assertions. This should demonstrate your mastery of the concepts, as well as personalize your essay.

A lot of materials are provided for further reading on the topics covered. You need not cover all the materials, but do read in depth on the topics that you choose to write about. You may use print or online sources (make sure to vet the latter's "legitimacy") as needed and cite them accordingly.

Additional Topic:

7. How has the "condition of knowledge" been altered by the linguistic turn in the leading sciences and technologies? By its computerization, miniaturization, and commercialization in the post-industrialized West? In what way has science become the "game of the rich" in that whoever is wealthiest has the best chance of being "right"? In what way does science nevertheless appeals to narrative knowledges that, by its own denotative criterion, it deems as illegitimate? How do these impact the functional turn in education? Do you think it has become more of a game of efficiency than of truth?

8. Elaborate on McLuhan's mantra: "the medium is the message". How did the clock and the printing press of the Middle Ages lead to the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century? Explain in terms of their psychic and social effects. Explain how technology as extensions of our senses/bodies also change us. Give some examples from the digital/Internet age.

Lecture 5: Industrialization

Textbook Chapter:

• Technology, Society, and National Development by Jerrold J. Garcia
• Nanotechnology for the Philippines by Erwin P. Enriquez

Further Reading:

• "Industrialization and Development" by Ray Kiely (browse Chapters 1-4 and 10 at Google Books)
• "The Industrial Revolution" by Joseph A. Montagna (at the Yale-New Haven Teaching Institute)
• Industrial Revolution, Second Industrial Revolution (at Wikipedia)