Non-Binary Code: Gender, Posthumanism, and Technologies of Power

“Better, faster, stronger” are not just Kanye lyrics but also the promise of cyborgs, androids, and artificial intelligence. This course examines how technological advances have complicated politicized definitions of "the human." Whether it is the disciplinary divides between the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and STEM fields, or dystopic visions from film, television, and literature, technological developments and applications are deeply mired in gendered practices.  By combining theoretical approaches from cognitive science, materialist feminism, transgender studies, queer theory, computer and video game studies, disability studies, and posthumanism, students will develop projects around the politics of representation in field formations, archival practices, and cultural productions. In keeping with the goals of MCWP 50, students will examine arguments about this topic in an effort to understand their structures while researching and writing a research-based argument about an issue relevant to the course topic.