Culture tech

1 session / week, 1 hour / session

1 session / week, 2 hours / session

Each session is either used as a lecture (discussion) or a lab, but which session is used for which purpose changes weekly.

The Experimental Study Group (ESG) is an alternative academic program that offers experimental, small group learning in the core freshmen subjects within a community-based setting. This course, as part of the ESG Seminar Series, offers students the opportunity to participate in a small discussion-based class taught by an MIT upperclassman under the guidance of a faculty supervisor. Students James Rising (S.B. '05, Philosophy) and Amilio Aviles (S.B. '03, Aero-Astro) taught this seminar, loosely supervised by ESG faculty. Seminars taught in this format are all graded Pass/Fail and receive 1/2 of the academic credit assigned to regular academic classes.

Culture Tech evolved from a more extensive, two-semester course which formed the centerpiece of the Integrated Studies Program at MIT. For 13 years, ISP was an alternative first-year program combining humanities, physics, learning-by-doing, and weekly luncheons. Culture Tech represents the core principles of ISP distilled into a 6-unit seminar. Although many collections of topics have been used over the years, the modules presented here are a representative sequence.

This class is divided into a series of sections or "modules," each of which concentrates on a large technology-related topic in a cultural context. We will use most of two modules previously developed by the ISP program for depth and parts of three others for variety. The class starts with a four-week module on Samurai Swords and Blacksmithing, followed by smaller units on Chinese Cooking, the Invention of Clocks, and Andean Weaving, and ends with a four-week module on Automobiles and Engines.

There are two class meetings per week, at which assigned readings and related topics are discussed. In addition, there will be a series of hands-on projects that tie theory and practice together. The discussions range across anthropology, history, and individual development, emphasizing recurring themes, such as the interaction between technology and culture and the relations between "skill" knowledge and "craft" knowledge.

The 6 units for this class are divided as follows:

The writing is split up into one 4-5 page paper, one 2-3 page paper, and a series of evaluation topic questions to help us track students' reading. The papers are largely on topics of the students' choice. The topic questions ask for short answers (1-2 paragraphs) which require information from the readings, and will be administered (as take-home assignments) every week or two.

This list is organized as a sequence of class meetings (of which each two make a week). Each class time has associated readings and discussion. Citations and questions for the readings and details about lab activities can be found on each module page.

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