FYS 57 Low-Tech Futures
Our world faces multiple crises: the ecological crisis of the Anthropocene, the crisis of economic inequality, and the emergent AI-driven crisis in our ability to speak about and make sense of the world for ourselves. More often than not we’re told that there are technological fixes to these problems. Yet is this true? And is a high-tech, high-consumption, future actually realistic? Our course will question this logic, ask what constitutes a good life, and look at an array of low-tech alternatives to high-tech futures. In doing so we will examine different types of writing, media, and art. Students will also develop a foundation for scholarly research and writing, and engage with these issues beyond the college. In keeping with the low-tech theme, we will try to limit our screen time by reading books, having class outside, and looking at low-tech projects taking place in Los Angeles.
Open only to first-year frosh.