Technologies of the Self

Critical Theory 200B STS 250, Spring 2016

Instructor: Kris Fallon

Schedule: 1-4 Tuesdays

Office Hours: 12-2 Mondays

Office: 224a Cruess Mailbox: Cruess Hall
Course Description: While current social and digital media appear to signify an unprecedented focus on celebrating “me”, the ability to explore and document the self using technology is an enduring interest that stretches back to the earliest cameras and beyond. Indeed the self-portrait is a longstanding gesture in Western Art that has found unique expression in a variety media. As the medium of the self-portraiture has shifted, the definition of the self has evolved alongside the technological and artistic means for doing so. This course will explore four models of the self that have emerged alongside various technologies and scientific theories in the 20th century. Readings will include selections from Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Gilbert Simondon, Norbert Weiner and others. Alongside these texts we will consider a variety of forms of self-portraiture, including photography, documentary film and digital/social media.