From its earliest glimmers in scientific and popular imagination, the computer has promised to reinvent what it means to be human. Current studies of the impacts of digital technology reveal that this "reinvention" has had varied success in living up to its spectacular promises. This course will survey the history of computer science and the internet alongside the speculations and actual cultural transformations these technologies have promised. In this course, students will engage the traditional skills of the scientific method (including observation, experimentation, reasoning, interpretation, and modeling) to understand how computers work and how they work upon us by studying examples from art, popular culture, and current research about the impact computer design and digital networking have had on how we imagine contemporary life. Topics include: computer science, technology studies, internet, cyborgs, memory, artificial intelligence, electronic waste, virtual realities, digital art/new media

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