The Radical Outside

CRITICAL THINKING OF TECHNOLOGY: The Radical Outside | Fall 2017

Instructor: Morehshin Allahyari | http://morehshin.com | morehshin@gmail.com Class Times: Tuesdays at 10am Class Location: School for Poetic Computation | http://sfpc.io/ @sfpc_school | https://twitter.com/sfpc_school | 155 Bank St, New York, NY 10014 Office Hours: Tuesdays, 2-5pm

Course description

This is a theory course for critical thinking of technology through the lens of activism, politics, and the 'outside'; to think and create beyond technology for technology's sake; to ask difficult questions; to read, learn, and engage in technology as a field of contemporary art practices and theories, as well as art historical systems. What will separate this course from many others is a collective effort (by all of us) for 'reflective thinking'; to not find comfort in how - up to this very day - the story of technology is told to us; by which figures and which systems. I hope that together we can build a new library of critical thinking and reading; written and processed by women (+LGBT) and POC. This is a collaborative course for interrupting and re-building.

Expectations and Structure

Each week, two students from the class will present that week's readings. We will focus on one historical and one contemporary reading.
Read all the material and come prepared to discuss it in depth. Please bring other resources, authors and artists that you find relevant. Please see here for presentation guidelines.
Blog weekly about the readings and your thoughts. Think critically and post something that questions, criticizes, endorses, and/or adds to the reading or find other related material or resources that can juxtapose or compare the reading to something else you find relevant.
Participation in class discussions for readings, material that we watch in class, giving feedback to your peers is essential.
As this is primarily a discussion-based class, let's have all phones off. Best policy for laptop use: guidelines
Classroom hygiene
Best policy for speaking up, listening in

Schedule (Please keep an eye on the schedule in this document every week). This is under construction and will be changed throughout the course. Please feel free to give feedback.

Week 1 - Introduction to Critical Thinking and Re-Figuring

Tuesday, September 12, 10am

In Class

Artist talk (introduction by Morehshin): On Digital Colonialism, Re-Figuring, and Monstrosity What is critical thinking? Introduction to students How can this be applied to technology? In class we'll watch “All Watched Over by Machines of Love and Grace” and discuss the goals for the class. Introduction by Melanie Hoff: Melanie will talk about her work and current research around algorithms as ubiquitous, underlying systems of behavioral regulation as well as the need to ethically regulate algorithms themselves.

Week 2 - Who owns what history? On Singularities, Silicon Valley, and Futures (Plural)

Tuesday, September 19, 10am
Readings Due (post one paragraph response on class website) Do Artifacts Have Politics? Author(s): Langdon Winner

In Class Morehshin: Introduction to Singularities and Futures

Presentation by Matthew Ortega

1-A Brief History of Women in Computing by Faruk Ateş + BBC documentary : Calculating Ada - The Countess of Computing 2015

Presentation by Amit Runchal

2- The Californian Ideology by Richard Barbrook and Andy Cameron + Technology, the Faux Equalizer by Adrienne Lafrance

Additional Resources: 1- Close to the Machine: Technophilia and Its Discontents by Ellen Ullman
2- “The Singularity is dear” - the Cybertwee Manifesto 3- Vernor Vinge singularity 4- Her - white singularity

“A singularity is a point in space-time of such unfathomable density that the very nature of reality is brought into question. Associated with elusive black holes and the alien particles that bubble up from quantum foam at their event horizon, the term ‘singularity’ has also been co-opted by cultural theorists and techno-utopianists to describe moments of profound social, ontological, or material transformation—the coming-into-being of new worlds that redefine their own origins. By reflecting on Afrofuturism and digital colonialism, they will also question narcissistic singularities of ‘I,’ ‘here,’ and ‘now’, counter the rhetoric of technological utopias, and confound principles of human universality.” Morehshin Allahyari and Daniel Rourke