Technology and Solitude

Welcome Back!  Hey everyone!  Welcome back from break.  I'm super excited to see you guys again- Ashley and I have a really great month planned for you in January, and then in February, we launch full on into Senior Project research mode.  Here we go!  One semester left!

Business/Announcements:

1. Binder cleanout/re-organization
2. January 19 and 20:  Senior project check-ins will be January 19 and 20.  The vast majority of you have goals you need to accomplish by then.  Be ready to talk about your progress with Lori and your peers by this date!
3. .January 7 (yes, this Thursday!) is a day for seniors and juniors to get ready for next steps.  Alumni panel, surviving college workshops, etc.  If you have not already signed up for sessions (you received a few emails about this) please do so TODAY.
4. Senior project hits hard on February 1.  Be ready to research!
5. Honors:  If you’re interested in honors, I’ll have more details for you towards the end of this month.

Course of Study Introduction:
Through STS, we will be exploring the effects technology in general, and social media in particular, has on our societal well-being as well as the role it plays in our individual lives. We will explore the relationship between being alone and being lonely.  We will examine the ways in which solitude and nature can effect our well-being and the merits and limitations of individualism and nonconformity. 

We will start by studying various contemporary responses to the role of technology in our lives before going back in time to Transcendentalists like Thoreau and Emerson and trace their impact on Chris McCandless,  a young man from a well-to-do family who, in  April 1992, hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley.  

We will end by experiencing solitude for ourselves through walking meditations, journaling in nature and responding, in some sort of creative fashion, to various artists, poets and guest speakers who may have some wisdom to offer us on this idea of solitude.

1. Week 1:  Technology, social media, and connection
2. Week 2:  Solitude
3. Weeks 3 and 4:  Experience and Creativity

 
Starter 1

1.Summarize:  What is this cartoon trying to say about social media?

2.To what extent does this message ring true to you?  Explain your reasoning!
 
 











Four Corners:
Take 10 minutes to jot down your initial position on each of these questions.  Be ready to discuss in 4 corners format!

1. Using social media/technology makes me happier than I would be without it.
2. The use of technology and social media ultimately makes us less connected to other people.
3. I would have a hard time going an entire day without using some type of social media, checking email, etc.
4. I use technology and social media to define myself.
5. Social networking makes us more connected to the world around us.
6. I share, therefore, I am.

-BREAK-
 
Turkle TED Talk:  Connected But Alone TED Talk (20 min) 

1. Watch TED Talk (20 minutes)
2. During talk, students write down one idea/phrase/word,/concept that stands out to them
3. After talk, students write down one question they would like to ask this researcher, or that this talk sparked for them.

 
Round Robin Discussions

1. Share your idea/phrase/word/concept, and talk about them.  Notice similarities and differences.
2. What was the thesis of this talk?  What, ultimately, is she trying to say about our use of technology?
3. Share your questions.  Choose two of the questions, and discuss them in your group.
4. “…our little devices, those little devices in our pockets, are so psychologically powerful that they don’t only change what we do, they change who we are.”  What does she mean?  Do you agree or disagree?  Why?  Dig deep!
5. She talks in this TED Talk about the following question:  “What’s wrong with having a conversation?”  How would you answer this question?  Why do you think that people are more comfortable with other modes of conversation?  Do you see this in your own life?
6. “We’re lonely, but we’re afraid of intimacy.”  True?  Untrue?  In what ways?
7. Turkle lists three fantasies she believes are perpetuated by technology.  Which of these does your group think you, as a group, have bought into the most?  Why is this fantasy attractive?  What are the dangers of believing these things?  (That we can put our attention wherever we want it to be, That we will always be heard, and That we will never have to be alone)
8. If your identity is created through connections via social media and technology, what happens to your identity if those connections are taken away?  Is there a problem in having an identity so shaped by these forces, or is this just a new way of being, no better or worse than other ways, just different?

HOMEWORK:
None!

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