FYS 1 Digital Worldmaking
For the programmers who built the first video games, controlling computers meant controlling miniature worlds, having the power to shape both fantasy and reality. Yet if computers are tools of transformation, how have they been used so far? We are sold the fantasy of technology companies as progressive and utopian disrupters of a repressive status quo, while these companies’ products often deepen and reinforce oppressive systems of rules such as racism, sexism, binary cis gender, colonialism, and capitalism. If you had the chance to make your own world using technology, what would you do differently? In the hands of a new generation of programmers, could the process of designing virtual worlds with their own systems of rules help reimagine technology, building what Ruha Benjamin calls an “emancipatory approach”? Through this class, students will use science fiction, video games, movies, and works of history and theory as inspiration to artistically and technologically transform real-world practices such as game design, AI ethics, virtual reality, disability and accessibility, and environmental science. Students will also leave prepared to build strong thesis-driven written arguments and exercise their critical thinking skills throughout their time at Occidental College. This seminar will be part of the Computer Science Oxy Immersive Semester.
Prerequisite
Open only to first year frosh