Unit 9: Synthesizing Perspectives

HU310Culture, Society and

Advanced Technology

Aimee B. James

Seminar Outline

Unit Overview Seminar Discussion Unit Reading Unit Project Preview of the Next Unit

Unit Overview

• Learning Outcomes

• Synthesize perspectives on technology, happiness and human progress.

• Analyze how advanced technology is currently transforming your field of study, profession, job, hobby, community, religious practice, or some other directly relevant aspect of your daily life.

• Reflect on the process of completing a case study and explain your goals and conclusions.

Unit Overview

• Learning Activities

• Reading

• Discussion

• Seminar

• Project

Seminar Discussion

• Can science and technology promote happiness? Why or why not?

• We will share information about your Final Projects with the rest of the class. When I call on you, give us a brief summary of what your project is about, where you went on your field trip, what kind of sources you used, and what your final conclusions were.

Technology and Happiness

• What does Sarewitz say about technology and happiness?

• The happiness potential of technology. (n.d.). Retrieved July 23, 2011 from http://www.healthvideoss.com/3152/The_Happiness_Potential_of_Technology.html. (1:55)

• “Dan Gilbert, professor of Psychology at Harvard University, talks about how technology could make us happier if we used it in the right ways.”

Technology and Happiness

• In a study conducted in 2010, “positive links” were found “between access to technology and feelings of well-being.”

• Technology linked to happiness, study claims. (2010, May 12). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10108551.

Technology and Happiness

• However, another 2010 survey revealed that for teenagers, the more “plugged in” they are, the less happy they are.

• Toppo, G. (2010, January 21). Technology and happiness: Kids less happy as they’re more plugged into TV, music, web? Retrieved from: http://theteenagertimes.blogspot.com/2010/01/technology-and-happiness.html.

Technology and Happiness

• And yet another study released in 2011 says that people equate being without their technology to “having a hand chopped off”

• People deprived of the internet feel ‘upset and lonely’ and find going offline as hard as quitting smoking or drinking. (2011, July 22). MailOnline. Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2017543/Britons-deprived-internet-feel-upset-lonely.html?printingPage=true.

Technology and Happiness

• What do you think about these findings?

• Do you agree or disagree? Why?

• How can/does technology affect our relationships?

• The BIG QUESTION: Does technology serve us, or are we slaves to it?

Unit Reading

Living with the Genie Chapter 10: Science and Happiness

• Is technology a “golden staircase” or “hamster wheel?”

• Does it make us happier, or are we so busy chasing after the next big thing that we can't even enjoy the technology or the other aspects of our lives?

Final Project

Your final project is a 5-7 page "case study," applying the issues and concepts studied this term in an analysis of how advanced technology is currently transforming your field of study, profession, job, hobby, community, religious practice, or some other directly relevant aspect of your daily life. This is not a "research paper" but an organized set of investigations, analyses and predictions on your topic. Your case study should draw on direct observation and informed speculation as well as formal sources (the latter should be properly cited according to APA guidelines).

Final Project

In Unit 5, you prepared a field trip report based on a visit to a place where advanced technology is in use. Your case study may paraphrase or otherwise integrate key observations and conclusions from this report; however, do not resubmit the full report as part of the final project.

For more information on case studies

http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/casestudy/pop2a.cfm

Final Project

Use the following headings to help the reader separate and absorb information visually:

Introduction (include a synopsis sentence and several bulleted items explaining your project structure)

Overview (include the context, immediate history and current situation of your subject, and note any problems or conflicts)

Observations

Source Analysis or Literature Review

Possible Futures (include potential innovations, problems and/or solutions)

Conclusions (include several summary sentences as well as new questions raised)

Bibliography

Final Project

• While you are not strictly required to prepare a final project directly relevant to your profession or studies, it is important that you select a topic that is of great significance to you: your Final Project should be more than a merely academic exercise, but should allow you to apply the concepts and issues we have studied to something that is relevant to your direct experience and that really matters to you.

• The final project should cite a minimum of seven (7) external sources in addition to any interviews, observations or materials collected as part of your Unit 5 Project. At least three sources must be "non-Internet" (ask your instructor for further guidelines). All quotations, paraphrases and summaries must be cited in the text using APA parenthetical citation, and all sources consulted should be listed in a concluding bibliography formatted according to APA guidelines. For general guidance on writing or on APA format, please visit the Kaplan University Writing Center.

Share Your Final Project

• Everyone take a minute to share your final project topics and what you’ve learned from the project.

Preview of the Next Unit

Unit 10: Looking Forward: Technology, Work and Leisure

No seminar.