Technoculture is a neologism that is not in
standard dictionaries but that has some popularity
in academia, popularized by editors Constance
Penley and Andrew Ross in a book of essays
bearing that title.
It refers to the interactions between, and
politics of, technology and culture.
== Programs of study ==
"Technoculture" is used by a number of universities
to describe subject areas or courses of study.
UC Davis, for instance, has a program of technocultural
studies.
In 2012, the major merged with Film Studies
to form Cinema and Techno-Cultural Studies
(CaTS), but in 2013 is being reviewed to become
Cinema and Technoculture (see below); the
University of Western Ontario offers a degree
in Media, Information and Technoculture (which
they refer to as MIT, offering an "MIT BA").
UC Riverside is in the process of creating
a program in technocultural studies beginning
with the creation of a graduate certificate
program in "Science Fiction and Technoculture
Studies."According to its description, the
Georgetown University course English/CCT 691
titled Technoculture from Frankenstein to
Cyberpunk, covers the "social reception and
representation of technology in literature
and popular culture from the Romantic era
to the present" and includes "all media, including
film, TV, and recent video animation and Web
'zines."
The course focuses "mainly on American culture
and the way in which machines, computers,
and the body have been imagined."The UC Davis
Technocultural Studies department focuses
on "transdisciplinary approaches to artistic,
cultural and scholarly production in contemporary
media and digital arts, community media, and
mutual concerns of the arts with the scientific
and technological disciplines.
In contrast to programs which see technology
as the primary driving force, we place questions
of poetics, aesthetics, history, politics
and the environment at the core of our mission.
In other words, we emphasize the 'culture'
in Technoculture."
The Technocultural Studies major program is
an interdisciplinary integration of current
research in cultural history and theory with
innovative hands-on production in digital
media and "low-tech".
It focuses on the fine and performing arts,
media arts, community media, literature and
cultural studies as they relate to technology
and science.
Backed by critical perspectives and the latest
forms of research and production skills, students
enjoy the mobility to explore individual research
and expression, project-based collaboration
and community engagement.Technocultural Studies
is a fairly new major at UC Davis and is considered
a division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural
Studies.
Film Studies and Technocultural Studies majors
at UC Davis have merged into Cinema and Technoculture.
The faculty have been hard at work on developing
this new major, and it is going through the
review process.
Declared students will be grandfathered in
to the existing programs to complete their
major.
They will also have the option of switching
to the new major if they choose.
The faculty of UC Davis believes these new
additions will improve the program and hope
their students take advantage of them.
== Journals ==
'Technoculture: An Online Journal of Technology
in Society (ISSN 1938-0526) is an independent,
interdisciplinary, annual peer-reviewed journal
that publishes critical and creative works
that explore the ways in which technology
impacts society.
It uses a broad definition of technology.
Founded by Keith Dorwick and Kevin Moberly,
it is now edited by Keith Dorwick.
Technoculture is a member of the Council of
Editors of Learned Journals and is indexed
by EBSCOhost and the Modern Language Association.
== People ==
Marshall McLuhan is most known for his concepts
of a "global village".
In his book Understanding Media he talks about
how media affects society and culture.
He also develops a theory about technology
being an extension of the body.
According to McLuhan, the alphabet is what
gave rise to the idea that sight is more important
than hearing because in order to communicate
one had to be able to see and understand the
alphabet.In her book Technoculture: The Key
Concepts, Debra Benita Shaw "outlines the
place of science and technology in today's
culture" and "explores the power of scientific
ideas, their impact on how we understand the
natural world and how successive technological
developments have influenced our attitudes
to work, art, space, language and the human
body."Clay Shirky writes, teaches, and consults
on the social and economic effects of the
internet, and especially on places where our
social and technological networks overlap.
He is on the faculty of NYU's Interactive
Telecommunications Program, and has consulted
for Nokia, Procter and Gamble, News Corp.,
the BBC, the United States Navy and Lego.
He is also a regular speaker at technology
conferences.In his book "The Work of Art in
the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" Walter
Benjamin attempts to analyze the changed experience
of art in modern society.
He believes that a reproduction of art lacks
presence in time and space and therefore has
no aura.
Original works of art do have an aura.
An aura includes authority, its place in space
and time (when it was made), how the piece's
physical condition suffered and how it's changed
owners over time.
An original work of art derives its authenticity
from history and what has happened to it over
time.
== See also ==
Cyberculture
