LAS 432 TECHNOLOGY, CULTURE AND SOCIETY
DISCUSSION TOPICS
due Sep 5
Week 1: Course Project Topic Selection
Over the next 8 weeks, you will complete a Course Project comprised of eight weekly
assignments. Each assignment is designed to help you deeply explore and critically
analyze a specific technology. You will choose your technology from one of the following
areas: environmental technology, medical technology, social technology, or
economic/financial technology. In your exploration of your chosen technology, you will
address ethical considerations, establish historical context, and consider cultural, social,
and economic implications. Therefore, it is imperative that your technology be
appropriate in scope and able to be researched.
To get started this week, study the Course Project Overview page in the Introduction &
Resources Module. Then begin to consider ideas for your project. What contemporary
technologies are interesting or important to you? What technologies are foundational to
your professional industry or community?
After generating ideas and exploring a few topics, select the technology you will use for
your Course Project and conduct some exploratory research. Once you have a sense of
your topic, address the following in your initial post.
What is your chosen technology? Remember to choose a specific technology
(e.g., surgical robotics) rather than just reflect an area of technology (e.g.,
technology in medicine).
What is your purpose in writing about this technology? What do you want to
learn?
What impressions and assumptions do you have about your topic? What are the
benefits and risks associated with the technology? What potential impacts can
you identify?
What is your research plan? Where will you go to find sources on your topic, and
how will you determine the credibility of those sources?
Finally, what are some of the most significant issues associated with your
technology (e.g., the potential harm to wildlife from wind farms)?
In your follow-up posts, please provide feedback to your peers that is specific and
substantive.
due Sep 12
Week 2: Evaluating Ethics
This study source was downloaded by 100000890439723 from CourseHero.com on 02-11-2025 12:35:42 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/106375970/DISCUSSIONSdocx/
, The reading for this week highlights the centrality of social media platforms, such as
Twitter and Facebook, to the success of political activism movements. Citing the case of
the 2011 Arab Spring, many scholars and cultural critics have suggested that the
spreading of information across social media platforms created the conditions for a
political movement by exposing people to new ideas, providing a forum to communicate
about social injustice, and create an interest in human rights (Quinn, 2020).
Although the Arab Spring movement demonstrates the importance of social media in
advocating for social change, it can also have adverse effects. As we have seen in
recent years, social media platforms are often used to spread false information that can
have serious consequences for democratic structures.
Consider the use of social media in the political arena. For example, social media has
been an important way for social justice movements such as Black Lives Matter to help
organize and facilitate conversations around the importance of systemic racialized
violence and police brutality. Or the case of the Capitol Riots on January 6, 2021, where
rioters willingly shared images and video of their crimes, often resulting in social and
legal consequences. Although these are two examples of how social media is used to
spread information, they are also powerful reminders of how collective consciousness
can operate constantly connected world.
To think about this further, select a social media platform and analyze the ethical
impacts. What are the strengths of the technology and how does it benefit the
population? What are the weaknesses of the technology and its potential limitations?
What are external factors that may contribute to the success of the technology? Finally,
what external factors may pose a threat to the success or adoption of the technology?
What social, political, and cultural trends may influence reception?
Your initial post should include concrete examples. Be sure to provide APA citations for
any outside references used.
due Sep 19
Week 3: Context in the Information Age
We live in the Information Age, an era where computers and automation have
transformed our daily lives. Emerging technologies are being developed at an increased
rate, leading to new behaviors and perceptions of these technologies. The rapid
development of these new advancements makes it difficult for society to assess their
effect. To better understand these new technologies, it is helpful to frame them within an
historical context (Quinn, 2020).
The readings this week explored the development of technology in relation to history.
From early technological advances, such as counters and the alphabet, to the recent
development of broadband internet and cloud storage, we are continuously developing
new technologies to solve problems in our lives. At its core, technology is meant to
make life better; however, emerging technologies can often generate new (unforeseen)
This study source was downloaded by 100000890439723 from CourseHero.com on 02-11-2025 12:35:42 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/106375970/DISCUSSIONSdocx/
DISCUSSION TOPICS
due Sep 5
Week 1: Course Project Topic Selection
Over the next 8 weeks, you will complete a Course Project comprised of eight weekly
assignments. Each assignment is designed to help you deeply explore and critically
analyze a specific technology. You will choose your technology from one of the following
areas: environmental technology, medical technology, social technology, or
economic/financial technology. In your exploration of your chosen technology, you will
address ethical considerations, establish historical context, and consider cultural, social,
and economic implications. Therefore, it is imperative that your technology be
appropriate in scope and able to be researched.
To get started this week, study the Course Project Overview page in the Introduction &
Resources Module. Then begin to consider ideas for your project. What contemporary
technologies are interesting or important to you? What technologies are foundational to
your professional industry or community?
After generating ideas and exploring a few topics, select the technology you will use for
your Course Project and conduct some exploratory research. Once you have a sense of
your topic, address the following in your initial post.
What is your chosen technology? Remember to choose a specific technology
(e.g., surgical robotics) rather than just reflect an area of technology (e.g.,
technology in medicine).
What is your purpose in writing about this technology? What do you want to
learn?
What impressions and assumptions do you have about your topic? What are the
benefits and risks associated with the technology? What potential impacts can
you identify?
What is your research plan? Where will you go to find sources on your topic, and
how will you determine the credibility of those sources?
Finally, what are some of the most significant issues associated with your
technology (e.g., the potential harm to wildlife from wind farms)?
In your follow-up posts, please provide feedback to your peers that is specific and
substantive.
due Sep 12
Week 2: Evaluating Ethics
This study source was downloaded by 100000890439723 from CourseHero.com on 02-11-2025 12:35:42 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/106375970/DISCUSSIONSdocx/
, The reading for this week highlights the centrality of social media platforms, such as
Twitter and Facebook, to the success of political activism movements. Citing the case of
the 2011 Arab Spring, many scholars and cultural critics have suggested that the
spreading of information across social media platforms created the conditions for a
political movement by exposing people to new ideas, providing a forum to communicate
about social injustice, and create an interest in human rights (Quinn, 2020).
Although the Arab Spring movement demonstrates the importance of social media in
advocating for social change, it can also have adverse effects. As we have seen in
recent years, social media platforms are often used to spread false information that can
have serious consequences for democratic structures.
Consider the use of social media in the political arena. For example, social media has
been an important way for social justice movements such as Black Lives Matter to help
organize and facilitate conversations around the importance of systemic racialized
violence and police brutality. Or the case of the Capitol Riots on January 6, 2021, where
rioters willingly shared images and video of their crimes, often resulting in social and
legal consequences. Although these are two examples of how social media is used to
spread information, they are also powerful reminders of how collective consciousness
can operate constantly connected world.
To think about this further, select a social media platform and analyze the ethical
impacts. What are the strengths of the technology and how does it benefit the
population? What are the weaknesses of the technology and its potential limitations?
What are external factors that may contribute to the success of the technology? Finally,
what external factors may pose a threat to the success or adoption of the technology?
What social, political, and cultural trends may influence reception?
Your initial post should include concrete examples. Be sure to provide APA citations for
any outside references used.
due Sep 19
Week 3: Context in the Information Age
We live in the Information Age, an era where computers and automation have
transformed our daily lives. Emerging technologies are being developed at an increased
rate, leading to new behaviors and perceptions of these technologies. The rapid
development of these new advancements makes it difficult for society to assess their
effect. To better understand these new technologies, it is helpful to frame them within an
historical context (Quinn, 2020).
The readings this week explored the development of technology in relation to history.
From early technological advances, such as counters and the alphabet, to the recent
development of broadband internet and cloud storage, we are continuously developing
new technologies to solve problems in our lives. At its core, technology is meant to
make life better; however, emerging technologies can often generate new (unforeseen)
This study source was downloaded by 100000890439723 from CourseHero.com on 02-11-2025 12:35:42 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/106375970/DISCUSSIONSdocx/
