Want to join the discussion? A quick response is needed!
This summer, Kirkwood will offer a two-week faculty seminar called "Whither and Whether: How Computers are Changing Our Lives," focused on the impact computers have on our lives and the lives of our students.
We hope to bring together 10-15 fulltime Kirkwood faculty to read about, reflect upon and discuss some of the central implications and issues (meanings) of the computer revolution for human communication and especially for education. We hope to attract faculty from across the college who would like to explore these matters with each other and with two highly respected scholars and educators.
At this point, no dates and times have been set for the spring semester meetings, and we haven’t yet decided whether we will meet mornings or afternoons for the June seminar. Those details will depend on participants’ schedules.
Spring Semester (dates to be determined): We will meet several times to plan and begin reading and thinking about the topics we will discuss during the seminar.
Seminar Week One: Tuesday June 12 - Friday June15: Focus on philosophy of technology and changes in human communication brought about by the email and the Internet. Discussions will be led by David DePew from the Communications Department at the University of Iowa. DePew is a down-to-earth philosopher who has studied communications technologies with the eye of an historian and philosopher of technology.
Seminar Week Two: Tuesday June 19 - Friday June 22: Focus on the modern digital culture. Discussions will be led by N. Katherine Hayles, UCLA (and former professor at Iowa). Hayles is renowned as an excellent consultant and teacher and has advanced degrees in both science and humanities.
Please let Bob Sessions (3615 or 5587) or Michele Payne (4974) know right away if you are interested in participating. Be prepared to provide your spring and summer teaching schedules.
Faculty participating in the seminar will receive $300 and will be expected to help disseminate what they learn to other members of the Kirkwood faculty and staff.
A bibliography and set of readings on the topics of the seminar have been placed in the library on the Cedar Rapids campus, or contact Bob for more details.
This seminar is funded from contributions made to the Kirkwood Foundation specifically for faculty development. If you have a project in mind, please contact Michele.