TECHNOLOGY AND THE AESTHETICS OF SPECULATIVE VIOLENCE
Instructor and office hours
Dr. Georgia M. Roberts
Email: gmr2@uw.edu
Course is 100% online and asynchronous; summer session is not cross-listed with HSTCMP 206/JEW ST 206. Please feel free to email me with questions.
Course Description
This course explores the aesthetics of speculative violence in relationship to advancing technology and artificial intelligence. We will begin by reviewing primary and secondary philosophical texts on aesthetics to gain a better understanding of the role art plays in shaping popular understandings of violence and the technological future. This is an interdisciplinary course, so we will examine the core topics through various theoretical groundings and methodological approaches.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, students will:
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Develop and apply a critical vocabulary of key terms and concepts relating to the study of aesthetic depictions of technology and violence.
- Develop a historical and contemporary analysis of how Western aesthetic theory has informed conceptions of the individual, subjects and objects, art and reality, beauty and terror, and the imagined future of humanoid embodiment and consciousness.
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Demonstrate engagement with the topic and themes of the course in a variety of forms, including formal and informal writing assignments, analysis of , class discussion, etc.
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Our course is fully online and asynchronous. Each week, you'll be asked to read 1-2 theoretical texts, watch a film, and participate in a Canvas discussion. Around midterm, you'll be asked to propose a topic and submit a research plan for your final creative project. I will offer several optional Zoom sessions throughout the quarter. You are not required to attend, but it will be an opportunity to talk about the texts in more depth and ask questions.
Reading and Film List
Coming soon!