Instructor: Sav Schlauderaff
Wed | 4:00 PM - 4:50 PM | In-Person
Spring 2025
The figure of the cyborg is ever-present in our culture. From the coining of the term in the 1950s, a portmanteau of cybernetic + organism, to discuss the promises of space travel and the future of “the human” through integrated technologies; to Donna Haraway’s continued impact through the Cyborg Manifesto; to the reclamation of cyborg identity by disabled and chronically ill people; to the permanent presence of the cyborg in science fiction media; and the use of “cyborg aesthetics” in high fashion and performance art spaces - as Laura Forlano and Danya Glabau write in their 2024 text Cyborg, “...while cyborgs have traveled widely in popular culture, we argue that they are still often misunderstood creatures…” (112). My aims for this seminar are to have the students engage in interdisciplinary thinking and collaboration with each other, and to increase their ability to engage with a wide range of academic methods and texts. Overall, my goal for this course is for students across disciplines to be able to critically engage with technological advances, and to reflect on the future(s) we aim to create.