VS-Culture - Gender - Media: Cyborgs, Androids and AIs: Re-Imagining the Human
Sabine Schülting
Kommentar
At the end of the 20th century, several scholars famously pronounced that we had become “posthuman” (N. Katherine Hayles) and that “we are cyborgs” (Donna Haraway). Two and a half decades later, this diagnosis seems even more accurate: cyborgs, androids, and artificial intelligence populate literature and film; ‘cyborg’ technology in medicine can replaces limbs, organs, and senses; and artificial intelligence assists us in various ways in our daily lives, from applications in our phones to digital assistants and chatbots. What are the implications of these developments for a traditional understanding of the human and the relationship between humans and machines? How do these transformations impact ideas about, and representations of, the human body and embodiment? What ethical and socio-political issues are at stake?
We will explore these questions with the help of theoretical approaches from the fields of Posthumanism, Gender Studies and Critical Race Studies, as well as literary texts and films. We will read two contemporary novels – Jeanette Winterson’s Frankissstein (2019) and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun (2021) – and watch two films – Alex Garland’s Ex Machina (2014) and Ridley Scott’s Prometheus (2012). We will also have a chat with Chat GPT.
Texts: Students should purchase and read Jeanette Winterson’s Frankissstein (2019) and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun (2021). Both novels are available in inexpensive paperback editions. Shorter texts will be uploaded on Blackboard.
Assessment will be on the basis of regular attendance, active participation in class activities (such as short presentations, group work, short written assignments etc.) and the submission of an essay (of c. 4000 words). Exchange students with a background in English and/or Cultural Studies are of course welcome; your proficiency in English should be at least B2. Exchange students can get up to 10 ECTS for this course.
Schließen14 Termine
Regelmäßige Termine der Lehrveranstaltung