CYBORG PERSPECTIVES: women and technology today

MENU :: OVERVIEW :: RESOURCES :: DISCUSSION :: TIMETABLE :: MANIFESTO :: MENU

WEEK :: TWO :: THREE :: FOUR :: FIVE :: SIX :: SEVEN :: EIGHT :: NINE :: TEN :: WEEK

taught by Ann Kaloski and Julie Palmer, Centre for Women's Studies, autumn term 2005.

WEEK THREE
CYBORG MANIFESTO

The aims of this session are:
        1. to start to become familiar with 'A Cyborg Manifesto';
        2. to develop an understanding of the main themes, tropes, and arguments of the essay;
        3. to begin to assess different ways of approaching the essay.

This essay has been a richly generative text for feminism since it was first written in the 1980s to encourage US socialist feminists to take account of the radical, political and cultural effects of computer mediated technology.

check out the wiki at < http://cyborg.wikispaces.com/ >

KEY READING:

Donna Haraway 'A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century'. In her Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature, Free Association Books, 1991. Also available online, with page numbers from Simians: http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/Haraway/CyborgManifesto.html
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Please read the essay as carefully as possible. It may seem quite difficult at first, as Haraway deploys references from many different fields of knowledge - biology, science fiction, feminist theory, post-colonial theory, science, politics, technology - and not all of her allusions will be familiar, or accessible. Such a lively essay can be read in multiple ways, and you are encouraged to find your own routes through her arguments. For instance, try reading the piece as 'poetry' paying attention to your responses - both emotional and intellectual - and to the associations that arise from your reading.

EXERCISE:

Before the next session:
1. Pick out five phrases from the essay, write these out and think about how they relate to one another, and how they help construct Haraway's thinking.
2. Write or type your chosen phrases onto pieces of paper (1/4 of A4) and bring them to class.

In class:

Come prepared to talk (for no more than 5 minutes) about the phrases you have selected and the connections between them.

ADDITIONAL READING:

Browse the general bibliography or library catalogue for additional texts directly related to the manifesto. See what interests you and what might add to your understanding of the key text. Read at least one additional piece.

Any problems? Contact Ann Kaloski or Julie Palmer