BST307

How does contemporary digital technology shape what it means to be human? This is a question students will have an opportunity to discuss. We often use digital gadgets – whether it’s computers, smartphones, or social media platforms – as neutral and objective tools that help us easily connect with friends, stay entertained, or remain informed. These systems, however, and the companies that create them, play a more complex role in social life than we often recognize. They influence how we understand ourselves, and as importantly, how others come to see and understand us. By examining how digital technology is used in different settings – private communication, policing, advertising, healthcare – students are invited to evaluate how digital technology and the personal data they produce variously shape, and are themselves shaped by, notions of race, gender, or social inequality.