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.

'This module is an argument for pleasure in the confusion of boundaries and for responsibility in their construction.'
(quotation taking liberties with Haraway's 'A Cyborg Manifesto'*).

In CYBORG PERSPECTIVES we will assesses the cultural impact of contemporary technologies on women's lives and feminist thought by focussing on one of the key essays in this field - Donna Haraway's 'A Cyborg Manifesto' (1985/1991). Using both traditional and more experimental methodologies to expand our understanding we will look at the internet, cell phones, ultrasound imaging, digital photography, electronic fiction, and much more. There will be space in the module for students to pursue any particular interests in this area. No specific disciplinary background is required, but you need to be willing to work creatively and collaboratively. While a great deal of support will be given, you are expected to work hard and to take full responsibility for out-of-class assignments and workshops, as required. We hope this will be fun as well as intellectually challenging, and students who have taken similar modules in the past have found it so.

WHAT WILL YOU DO?: You might, for instance, design your own web page or produce a visual essay; write your own techno-biography or take photos of 'cyborgs'; read electronic fiction or work on a wikki site; chat via a class discussion list or meet over coffee for collaborative workshops; write a traditional essay or hand in a web-based assignment.

CLASSES will normally be held on Wednesday mornings between 10.15-12.15 in one of the lecture rooms on the 3rd floor of Grimston House.

This WEB SITE will act as a base for the module. The pages will become live as the module continues, and offer weekly worksheets, bibliographies, and links to the discusion list and 'A Cyborg Manifesto'. Pop in to see Julie or Ann if anything is unclear.

* 'This chapter is an argument for pleasure in the confusion of boundaries and for responsibility in their construction.' Haraway, 1991, p150.)

Want to find out more? Contact Ann Kaloski or Julie Palmer

DETAILS

Donna Haraway's 'Cyborg Manifesto' was written over twenty years ago, and since then has become an influential and indeed iconic essay within many areas of feminist thought. The manifesto is a call for feminists to take account of the epistemological, political and cultural effects of computer-mediated technology; it is a complex, interdisciplinary exploration of the effects of 'new technologies' for women living within a globalised monetary and cultural economy.

In this module we take a detailed look at the Manifesto and its legacy. Alongside close textual analysis of Haraway's essay, we investigate some of the varied and often contradictory ways in which this piece has made sense to people, both within the academic environment and beyond. Our investigation will involve using critical articles, novels, digital fiction, video games and image-based material. In addition, students own experiences and understandings of communication technologies will form an integral part of this process and in the spirit of the eclectic style of the manifesto we will make use of a number of innovative methodologies, both text-based and visual. For instance, we will test the usefulness of auto/photography, web page design and online discussion, as well as more traditional approaches, in order to develop our awareness of the issues raised by Haraway and her critics.

A willingness to collaborate in the group and to think creatively are more important than any prior knowledge, although existing literary, cultural or technological expertise is very welcome. Within the remit of the module there is scope for participants to develop particular trains of thought, and there is some choice over the material we look at. Students are encouraged to devise their own assignments in consultation with the convenors, and this can be presented in traditional form or, if more appropriate, as a digital or partly visual essay.