Media and technology characterize modern life; do they also limit our cultural imagination? In this class, we explore the imaginative and narrative dimensions of technology and media in four modes: communication, science, travel, and environment. The course traces the field of media theory, starting from Marshall McLuhan's groundbreaking Understanding Media and broadening out into the recent turn towards the natural world with "elemental" media studies. Course materials include works by Henry James, Benjamin Labatut, Octavia Butler, and Virginia Woolf, as well as screenings of Oppenheimer (2023), The White Lotus (2025), and No Reservations (2008). Together, we'll consider: what kinds of stories are told about technology, today and historically? How does a medium determine the content of a story? Are some media better suited to narrative than others, and why? This is a writing intensive course with a final critical paper. All writing assignments in the class will scaffold towards this paper, modeling the sustained inquiry required to produce scholarly work. Students are encouraged to write on topics and texts of interest to them in consultation with the instructor.
5 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
Media and technology characterize modern life; do they also limit our cultural imagination? In this class, we explore the imaginative and narrative dimensions of technology and media in four modes: communication, science, travel, and environment. The course traces the field of media theory, starting from Marshall McLuhan's groundbreaking Understanding Media and broadening out into the recent turn towards the natural world with "elemental" media studies. Course materials include works by Henry James, Benjamin Labatut, Octavia Butler, and Virginia Woolf, as well as screenings of Oppenheimer (2023), The White Lotus (2025), and No Reservations (2008). Together, we'll consider: what kinds of stories are told about technology, today and historically? How does a medium determine the content of a story? Are some media better suited to narrative than others, and why? This is a writing intensive course with a final critical paper. All writing assignments in the class will scaffold towards this paper, modeling the sustained inquiry required to produce scholarly work. Students are encouraged to write on topics and texts of interest to them in consultation with the instructor.
Offered in Spring 2027 at Stanford University.