Gender, Technology, and Computer Culture Professor Sherry Turkle Fall Semester 1995 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Sherry Turkle Program in Science, Technology and Society MIT Room E51-296C (formerly 201C; I havenÕt moved; MIT numbers have changed] 253-4068/sturkle@media.mit.edu Office hours: by appointment; send email to set it up All selections included in reader except where noted by *. * = to buy. 1. September 12. Introduction 2. September 19. Voices and Silence ¥ Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice* (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982), pp. 1-105. ¥ Susan Herring, ÒPoliteness in Computer Culture: Why Women Thank and Men FlameÓ, to appear in M. Bucholtz and L. Sutton (eds.), Communication Across Cultures: Proceedings of the Third Berkeley Women and Language Conference (Berkeley: Berkeley Women and Language Group, 1993). ¥ ÒGender Differences in Computer-Mediated Discourse: Bringing Familiar Baggage to the New FrontierÓ, Unpublished manuscript. ¥ ÒGender and Democracy in Computer-Mediated CommunicationÓ in Thomas Benson (ed.), Computer-Mediated Communication: A special edition of the Electronic Journal of Communication, 3(2). 3. September 26. Reticence and Pluralism ¥ Sherry Turkle, ÒComputational Reticence, Ó in Chris Kramerae (ed.), Technology and WomenÕs Voices : Keeping in Touch (New York: Pergamon Press, 1986). ¥ Sherry Turkle and Seymour Papert, ÒEpistemological Pluralism and the Revaluation of the ConcreteÓ, Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 11, 3-33, (1992). ¥ Cheris Kramerae and Jeannie Taylor, 1992, ÒElectronic Networks: Safe for Women,Ó The Electronic Salon. 4. October 3. The Social Construction of Gender and Technology : 1 ¥ Sherry Turkle, ÒHackers; Loving the Machine for Itself,Ó in The Second Self (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984). ¥ Sara Kiesler, Lee Sproull, and Jaclyn Eccles, ÒPool Halls, Chips and War GamesÓ, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 9, 1985, pp. 451-462. 5. October 17. The Social Construction of Gender and Technology : 2 ¥ Ursula Huws, ÒHow It Feels: The Human Aspects of TeleworkÓ in Ursula Huws (ed.), Telework: Towards the Elusive Office (Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons, 1990). ¥ Sally Otos and Ellen Levy, ÒWord Processing: This is Not a Final Draft,Ó in Jan Zimmerman (ed.), The Technological Woman (New York: Praeger Publishing, 1983). ¥ Office of Technology Assessment, The Electronic Supervisor: Introduction (Washington, DC: Congress of the United States, Office of Technology Assessment, 1983). ¥ Lucy Suchman, ÒSupporting Articulation Work,Ó unpub. ms, 1994. 6. October 24. Feminist Epistemology: 1 ¥ Evelyn Fox Keller, Reflections on Gender and Science * (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985). pp. 1-126. ¥ Elizabeth Fee, ÒCritiques of Modern Science: The Relationship of Feminism to Other Radical EpistemologiesÓ, in Ruth Bleier (ed.), Feminist Approaches to Science (New York: Pergamon Press, 1986). 7. October 31. Feminist Epistemology: 2 ¥ Evelyn Fox Keller, Reflections on Gender and Science* (ibid.). pp. 126-157. ¥ Hilary Rose, ÒBeyond Masculinist Realities: A Feminist Epistemology for the SciencesÓ in Ruth Bleier (ed.), Feminist Approaches to Science (New York: Pergamon Press, 1986). ¥ Donna Haraway, ÒAnimal Sociology and a Natural Economy of the Body Politic, Part I: A Political Physiology of DominanceÓ in Sandra Harding and Jean F. OÕBarr (eds.), Sex and Scientific Inquiry (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987). 8. November 7. The Notion of the Cyborg ¥ Donna Haraway, ÒA Cyborg ManifestoÓ in Simians, Cyborgs and Women (New York: Routledge, 1991). ¥ Donna Haraway, ÒPostscriptÓ in Constance Penley and Andrew Ross (eds.), Technoculture (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1991). 9. November 14. Virtual Selves ¥ Rosanne Allacuquere Stone, ÒWill the Real Body Please Stand Up: Boundary Stories About Virtual CulturesÓ in Michael Benedikt, Cyberspace: First Steps (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1991). ¥ Sherry Turkle, ÒTiny Sex and Gender Trouble,Ó from Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. ¥ Julian Dibbell, ÒA Rape in CyberspaceÓ Village Voice (Dec. 21, 1993). 10. November 14. Gender and Science Fiction: 1 (Extra Class Session; 7 pm for dinner; place to be announced) ¥ William Gibson, (New York: Ace, 1984).* ¥ Andrew Ross, ÒCyberpunk in BoystownÓ in Strange Weather (London: Verson, 1991). ¥ Wendy Wahl, ÒBodies and Technologies: Dora, Neuromancer, and Strategies of ResistanceÓ Postmodern Culture, v3 n2, Jan. 1993. ¥ Kathleen Hayles, ÒSeductions of CyberspaceÓ in Verena Conley (ed.), Rethinking Technologies (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993). 11. November 21. Gender and Science Fiction: 2 ¥ Pat Cadigan, Synners, (New York: Bantam, 1991). ¥ Jenny Wolmark, ÒCyberpunk, Cyborgs, and Feminist Science FictionÓ in Aliens and Others (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1994). ¥ Kathleen Hayles, ÒGender and Cyberspace,Ó Unpublished manuscript. November 28. no class December 5. no class 12. December 12. Down to Earth ¥ Laboratories for Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at MIT, ÒBarriers to EqualityÓ (Cambridge: MIT Report, 1983). ¥ Dale Strok, ÒWomen in AI, IEEE Expert, V 7, n 4, August 1992. ¥ Ellen Spertus, ÒWhy Are There so Few Female Computer Scientists?Ó (Cambridge: MIT AI Lab Publications Office, 1991). 13. December 12. Presentation of Papers; Discussion of the Politics of Networking (Extra Class Session; 7pm for dinner; place to be announced) ¥ Jennifer Light, ÒThe Digital Landscape: A New Place for Women,Ó Gender, Place, and Culture, forthcoming. ¥ Barbara Kantrowitz, ÒMen, Women, and ComputersÓ Newsweek (May 16, 1994). ¥Leslie Regan Shade, ÒGender Issues in Computer Networking,Ó unpub ms., 1993. [and Bibliographical Resource: Gender Issues Bibliography, compiled by Leslie Regan Shade.] Class format: The class will be divided into three groups. One group will write a short paper (4-5 pages) each week, presenting some reaction to the weekÕs reading. It may link it to personal experiences or observations, to other writings, or to film, visual art, or popular culture. Each of the students who have prepared a paper for any given week will lead off discussion with a brief (about 5 minute) presentation of their ideas. This will be followed by a short presentation by the instructor, a break of fifteen minutes, and an all-class discussion. Each student should have written three short papers by the end of the term. Final paper: A final paper is due in class on December 12 of approximately ten pages. It should examine some aspect of the course is greater detail. For example, the paper could examine some aspect of gender on the Internet (in MUDs, on IRC, on newsgroups); experiences of women in the world of computing; the rhetoric of computer science (including artificial intelligence and artificial life) seen from a gender-sensitive perspective; gender and science fiction; WomenÕs political action on the Internet and Web. Graduate Student Requirements: Graduate students will participate in the program of short papers. The final paper for graduate students should be a seminar style paper of 25-30 pages. Grades: For undergraduates, the grade will be based on short papers and class participation (approximately 70) and final paper (approximately 30%). For graduate students, the final paper will contribute as 70% of the final grade. The graduate students will meet periodically with the instructor at times to be arranged to discuss readings and papers in progress. Syllabus/ page