POPULAR CULTURE AND THE AESTHETICS OF THE A.I. APOCALYPSE
Instructor and office hours
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Dr. Georgia M. Roberts
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email: gmr2@uw.edu
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Campus meeting: Tuesday 3:30-5:20
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Location: Denny 259
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Course Description
This course focuses on philosophical, literary, and visual depictions of the technological singularity, or what some have referred to as the AI apocalypse. We will study primary and secondary texts to gain a better understanding of the role art and aesthetics play in shaping the social imagination about advancing technology. Given that this is an interdisciplinary course, we will examine the core topics of aesthetics, apocalypse, and singularity through various theoretical groundings and methodological approaches.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, students will:
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Develop and apply a critical vocabulary of key terms and concepts relating to the study of cultural depictions of the end of the world.
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Develop a historical and contemporary analysis of how aesthetic theory has informed conceptions of the individual, subjects and objects, art and reality, beauty and terror, and the imagined future of humanoid embodiment and consciousness.
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Demonstrate engagement with the topic and themes of the course in a variety of forms, including formal and informal writing assignments, analysis of , class discussion, etc.
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Our course is 50% hybrid and will meet in person on Tuesday afternoons. The structure of the course is meant to allow for time to view assigned films and complete readings before our campus meeting. You will be asked to rent 2-3 films throughout the quarter (not all are available through the UW library), but I'll do my best to keep this to a minimum.
Course Packet -- required (available to purchase at UW Bookstore)