HNRS 353: Technology and Contemporary Society Dr. John M. Woolsey ([email protected]) Sections and class times: 353.004: T, R from 10:30-11:45am in Enterprise Hall 274 353.003: T, R from 1:30-2:45pm in Thompson Hall L004 Office Hours: M, W 10-12 and by appointment (ENT 352A) “The dropping of the atomic bombs effected what Michel Foucault would call a major shift in epistemes, a fundamental change in the organization, production and circulation of knowledge.” Rey Chow “[With the advent of satellite technology,], we are looking at a new type of landscape literacy, in which the ‘modern’ perspective of the human eye is rendered obsolete—arguably turning Galileo’s telescope, the first direct optical challenge to the combined rule of divine authority and common sense, backwards to view the earth, and so creating a radically new type of divine knowledge.” –Jody Berland Playing on and developing the notion of “globalization from above,” this course focuses on two oftenoverlooked contributors to contemporary notions of the global: satellites and aerial bombs. Readings and assignments address how the history and current usage of these technologies inform everyday political and social globalisms. After briefly identifying objective and subjective conceptualizations of globalization, the first half of the course addresses aerial bombs and drones as technologies that both literally and perceptually shape “the global” as a geostrategic space to be known, traversed and managed. The second half of the course focuses on the way in which various satellite technologies prompt us to feel, think and act as members of “the global.” Required texts: § Lindqvist, S. (2003). A History of Bombing. § Benjamin, M. (2013). Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control. All other course readings and materials will be provided via the course Blackboard site or are available online. Assignments and Expectations: § Participation (10%): The success of this course depends on active student engagement. You are expected to attend every class and come prepared to discuss the daily readings. § Weekly Reading Responses (20%): Short, 250-word posts are due to the Blackboard discussion board before each class. Posts should address the main theme(s) of the reading and/or productively connect it to related readings or class discussions. § Midterm Essay (20%): A 5-page essay analyzing the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s exhibit on Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. This assignment requires a visit to the museum. All essays must adhere to academic and ethical protocols. § Project Presentation (20%): A 5-minute Prezi presentation that introduces your final project. Presentations should introduce the case, propose a relevant analytical question, and explain the primary evidence and method being used. § Final Project (30%): A 12 to 15-page essay that analyzes primary evidence from a specific case study of “globalization from above” as explored in the course readings and discussions. All essays must adhere to academic and ethical protocols. See the course Blackboard site for more detailed assignment descriptions and rubrics. Tentative Schedule for HNRS 353. 03 and HNRS 353.04 (S2015) Week One Tuesday, January 20 Thursday, January 22 Daily Reading to be Discussed Supplemental Materials and Suggested Readings Intros Steger. The Rise of the Global Imaginary. 2008. (1-15, 129-134). Steger and James. “Levels of Subjective Globalization: Ideologies, Imaginaries, Ontologies.” 2013 Kamola. “US Universities and the Production of the Global Imaginary.” 2014 Week Two Tuesday, January 27 Thursday, January 29 Lindqvist. A History of Bombing. 2003. “Bang, You’re Dead,” “In the Beginning was the Bomb,” “The History of the Future,” “Death Comes Flying” and “What is Permissible in War?” Lindqvist. A History of Bombing. 2003. “Bombing the Savages,” “Bombed into Savagery,” “The Law of the Prophets,” and “From Chechaouen to Guernica.” The History of Bombing 1/6 The History of Bombing 2/6 The History of Bombing 3/6 Week Three Tuesday, February 3 Thursday, February 5 Lindqvist. A History of Bombing. 2003. “The Splendid Decision,” “Hamburg, Auschwitz, Dresden,” “Tokyo,” “The Dream of a Superweapon,” “Hiroshima,” “Living with the Superweapon.” Lindqvist. A History of Bombing. 2003. “Bombs Against Independence,” “Korea,” “Massive Retaliation,” “Flexible Retaliation,” “Surgical Precision,” “The Bomb on Trial,” “Nothing Human.” The History of Bombing 4/6 The History of Bombing 5/6 Watch the US Drop 2.5 Million Tons of Bombs on Laos The History of Bombing 6/6 Week Four Tuesday, February 10 Chow. “Age of the World Target” (2543) A Time-Lapse Map of Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945 by Isao Hashimoto The Hiroshima and Nagasaki film they didn't want us to see Thursday, February 12 Benjamin. Drone Warfare. 2013. (1-30) A New iPhone App Catalogues and Maps U.S. Drone Killings Our Bombs What are Drones? Broughton. “The Bomb’s-Eye View” First Gulf War Air Strikes Week Five Tuesday, February 17 Thursday, February 19 Week Six Tuesday, February 24 Thursday, February 26 Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday: Week Seven (40-65). Benjamin. Drone Warfare. 2013. (3182) Tuesday, March 3 Benjamin. Drone Warfare. 2013. (149219) Thursday, March 5 Friday, March 6 Week Eight Tuesday, March 10 Thursday, March 12 Week Nine Tuesday, March 17 Thursday, March 19 Benjamin. Drone Warfare. 2013. (83148) Delmont. “Drone Encounters.” (193202) Go to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Living Under Drones Drones/Amnesty International 5,000 Feet is the Best Naming the Dead Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) (The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum) Boyle. “The costs and consequences of Drone Warfare.” 2013. Midterm Essay Peer Review Workshop Midterm Essay Due by 11:59pm SPRING BREAK NO CLASSES Di Palma. “Zoom: Google Earth and Global Intimacy.” 2009. (230-270) Berland. “Mapping Space: Imaging Technologies and the Planetary Body.” 1996. (123-137). Powers of Ten Google Earth Brannon. “Standardized Spaces: Satellite Imagery in the Age of Big Data.” 2013. (271-299) Week Ten Tuesday, March 24 Thursday, March 26 Week Eleven Tuesday, March 31 Shim. “Seeing from Above: The Geopolitics of Satellite Vision and North Korea.” 2012. Campbell. “Tele-Vision: Satellite Images and Security.” (16-23) Parks. “Satellite Witnessing: Views and Coverage of the War in Bosnia.” (77107) Warf. “Dethroning the View from Above: Toward a Critical Social Analysis of Satellite Ocularcentrism.” 2012. (4260) CIA video showing suspected Syrian nuclear reactor O Tuathail. “Between a Holocaust and a Quagmire: ‘Bosnia’ in the U.S. Geopolitical Imagination, 1991- 1994.” (187-223) Thursday, April 2 Crutcher and Zook. “Placemarks and waterlines: Racialized cyberscapes in post-Katrina Google Earth.” 2009. (523-534) Satellite images show devastation of Boko Haram attacks, rights groups say Week Twelve Tuesday, April 7 Thursday, April 9 Week Thirteen Tuesday, April 14 Thursday, April 16 Week Fourteen Tuesday, April 21 Thursday, April 23 Week Fifteen Tuesday, April 28 Thursday, April 30 Friday, May 1 Collins. “‘Freedom to Communicate’ Ideology and the Global in the Iridium Satellite Venture.” 2012. (83-95) Visit from Dr. Martin Collins Project Prezis Project Prezis Project Prezis Project Prezis NGA joins GitHub, offers code to help disaster response RFI Generator manages emergency geospatial info requests NGA's belief in open source, crowdsourcing heating up (read the article and listen to the audio file starting at the 17 minute mark) Chris Rasmussen, NGA Final Projects Due by 11:59pm Dr. Martin Collins
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