WRIT 089: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY

Spring 2022 Courses

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WRIT 089 302

TR 10:15 AM - 11:45 AM

Rahman

Race after Technology

Fulfills the Writing Requirement

In 1996, the self-styled cyberlibertarian John Perry Barlow wrote, "A Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace," in which he claimed the internet set up "a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth." Needless to say, it failed to live up to this promise. But it did set up a world in which people, by choice or not, were ignorant of how privilege, prejudice, race, and economic power impact the internet. Rather than creating a world where anyone might express their beliefs, Barlow and others set the stage for something akin to online post-racial colorblindness. This course will explore how the appearance of technological neutrality has further engrained racial inequity in society, and how efforts to fix racism in tech often end up exacerbating it. This course is designed to foster each student's writing through metacognitive practices, process-oriented project builders, multiple drafts and revisions of papers, and a final portfolio of work paired with an extensive reflection.

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