Magic and Technology
HNRS 2033 Sec. 060 - Spring 2021
Professor Wesley Shrum, Jr. Department of Sociology
Tu
4:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Location TBA
Arthur C. Clarke once wrote, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” How can we understand recent and future technological developments that promise to change the very nature of what it means to be human? The entities created by Artificial Intelligence may be compared and contrasted with the ways that humans have conceptualized unseen but often influential entities such as gods and ghosts, androids and cyborgs. Course topics include shamanism, the technologies of consciousness, witchcraft, magical beings, and the afterlife.
Fulfills General Education:
English Composition
Social Sciences
