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Course Schedule
The schedule of readings will almost certainly change during the course of the semester, depending on the interests in the class. We may not discuss all readings in class, but you should be prepared to discuss the readings if and when they come up in class discussions.
Week 1 (Aug 28): Course Intro
Reading: Wiener Intro, Chapters 1 – 2
Week 2 (Sept 3): Labor day: No classes
Week 3 (Sept 11): Information and Secrecy
Reading: Wiener Chapters 3, 5, & 7
Smith, "What is POSAT?"
Response 1 (on Wiener and Smith)
Week 4 (Sept 18): Psychology and Paranoia
Reading: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? [DADES] Chapters 1 – 10
Quiz 1 (on DADES ch 1-10)
Week 5 (Sept 25): Reality
Reading Assignment: DADES Chapters 11 – 20
Response 2 (on DADES)
Week 6 (Oct 2): Writing about Literature
Essay topics and discussions
Midterm review
Essay 1 due Friday Oct 6
Week 7 (Oct 10): Midterm
Columbus Day: Monday classes meet Tuesday; Tuesday classes do not meet.
Midterm Exam in class
Week 8 (Oct 16): Cyborgs
McCaffrey The Ship Who Sang [TSWS] parts 1 - 3 (The Ship Who Sang, The Ship Who Mourned, & The Ship Who Killed)
Quiz 2 (0n TSWS)
Week 9 (Oct 23): Humans
TSWS parts 4-6 (Dramatic Mission, The Ship Who Dissembled & The Partnered Ship)
Response 3 (on TSWS)
Week 10 (Oct 30): The Singularity
Reading: Vinge, Technological Singularity; Kurzweil "The Coming Merging of Mind and Machine" (87), "Who Am I? What Am I?" (78), "Live Forever—Uploading the Human Brain" (81)
Response 4 (on Kurzweil)
Week 11 (Nov 6): Cyberspace
Neuromancer Chapters 1 – 7
Quiz 3
Week 12 (Nov 13): AI
(Virtual) Realities
Neuromancer Chapters 8 – 14
Quiz 4
Week 13 (Nov 20): The Future
Neuromancer Chapters 15 – 21
Response 5 (on Neuromancer)
Week 14 (Nov 27): The Self
Neuromancer Chapters 22 – 24
Essay topics and Discussions
Essay 2 due Friday Dec 1
Week 15 (Dec 4): Final Week
Rambo, "Left Behind"
Bostrum, "Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?"
Quiz 5
Review for Final
Exam
Final Exam: Monday Dec 18, 7:30 pm – 10:15 pm
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