Well, here we are. Final class of the year. Enjoy.
Hope everyone (+ family & friends) are doing well and staying safe.
In spite of and to some extent because of all the challenges of the latter part of the semester, it really has been fun to teach this course this particular year. There always seems to be things happening in the world that play right into the themes of the course. With a worldwide pandemic, that seems more true than ever. We find ourselves collectively focussed on the role of surveillance (governmental and corporate), the powers of A.I., and the impact of media empires that transcend state interests and potentially regulation. Whatever happens, there is no sign that media and communications technologies and content are going to suddenly become less important. The opposite seems all but certain. How will the world change now that leaving our smaller self-encasements may be more optional than ever. Do we polarize more into our smaller, more self-contained worlds or does this retreat somehow produce the opposite effect, a deeper under of our fragility and interdependence.
Each of you in the class brought something special and it very much felt like what we were doing was a collaborative effort. Thank you in particular for all of the amazing and thoughtful (and they truly were both) contributions to the website.
Don’t be strangers. You know where I am (virtually at least)…
Jon