Technological narratives and the ecological worlds they make

Lehrende: Dr. Dulmini Perera

Stories of our technologies have always been central to our ways of world making.
With the growing power of certain forms of hegemonic technologies (ex: processes of digitalization) many scholars have called for questions of technology within ecological transformation to be considered in terms of multiple ontologies, 'a world where many worlds fit'. This framework presents a direct challenge to universalist ideas of technology perpetuated by modernity where certain faulty assumptions embedded in technologies are exported, internalized, and reproduced across contexts. Those of us operating in the fields of architecture, design, urbanism, media studies have yet to adequately reflect upon the ways in which we are implicated in cultivating or suppressing alternative kinds of technological thought, practices, stories.

This semester we will get together as a reading group to collectively read and explore ten key texts emerging from diverse fields of philosophy, media studies, computational studies, cybernetics, transformations research, decolonial studies, design and architecture that explore the relationships between stories, technologies and worldmaking in different ways. It is hoped that these readings would provide the participants with a conceptual toolbox to think through some of the most pressing questions related to technology and ecology of our times. As a part of the assignment the participants will get to design a framework for exchanging stories about alternative technological futures.

The reading material will be available on Moodle.

Note: The reading group is related to a series of activities, online workshops and events in Germany and the UK in the context of a DFG research project. The participants will be able to design these workshops and participate in these events actively.

If you have any questions about the course contact: dulmini.perera@uni-weimar.de