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last.updated 2.3.09

Cyborgs

Purpose

The cyborg is a prevalent metaphor in cybercultures. The image of wo/man's integration with technology evokes emotions of both fear and promise. We will look at different visions of the cyborg to understand how this metaphor functions or can function within our technology culture and what it mean for those who write with computer technologies.

Activity: Haraway's "The Cyborg Manifesto"

In three groups, you will spend the first forty-five minutes of class, answering one of the following question that the instructor assigns you:

• What are radical feminists? What are social/Marxist feminists? What is Haraway's critique of each?
• What is the "informatics of domination"? How does this concept explain certain people's oppression and other's potential agency?
• What are cyborgs? How do cyborgs offer a corrective to radical and social/Marxist feminism?

Discussion I: Cyborgs Abound

As a class we will discuss the following questions:

• What questions did you have about the readings?
• What practical applications does Haraway's cyborg have?
• How does Clark's cyborg compare to Haraway's? Which is more utopian?
• How would you explain popular images of cyborgs (e.g., "Star Trek: NG," "Battlestar Galatica," Blade Runner) in terms of Haraway or Clark?
• What is a cyberwriter? How is the cyberwriter a cyborg? Porter stops his discussion in the mid-1990's, how might Web 2.0 have shaped the cyberwriter?