Course Outline
Topical Outline
| World brain motifs in contemporary interpretations of the World Wide Web:
| Current examples of web versions of the world brain motif in popular culture |
| Derrick de Kerckhove's "webness" or connected intelligence; |
| Pierre Lévy's dream of collective intelligence; |
| Connecting intelligence to serve C3I
(command, control, communications, intelligence/information) readings from The Closed
World).
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| The historical origins of world brain motifs:
| Nineteenth century documentalism, and Paul Otlets modernist dream of a mechanism
for the organization and retrieval of all scientific knowledge; |
| The World Brain as a solution to the crisis of the early twentieth century; H. G. Wells,
the world brain, and the world state; |
| Memex, MIT, and the Cold War State; Vannevar Bushs "mind machine" as
technological support for the military-university-industrial axis. |
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| Summary.
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Chronological Outline
Date |
Topic |
Readings |
Week 1: 11/09 |
Introduction; Derrick de Kerckhove's "webness" |
de Kerckhove: Prologue, Ch.1-4,9 |
Week 2: 18/09 |
de Kerckhove |
de Kerckhove: Ch. 1-4, 9 |
Week 3: 25/09 |
Pierre Lévy's "collective intelligence" |
Lévy, Prologue, Introduction, Chs. 1-3 |
Week 4: 2/10 |
Paul Edwards's "Closed World" |
Edwards, Chs. 1-3 |
Week 5: 9/10 |
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY |
|
Week 6: 16/10 |
Lévy
Explication de texte DUE |
Lévy, Chs. 4, 7-8, 12 |
Week 7: 23/10 |
Edwards |
Edwards, Chs. 4, 6-8
Slide show, Chs 4-7 |
Week 8: 30/10 |
Paul Otlets documentalism |
Buckland 1991,
1997; Day 1997;
Rayward 1991, 1994. |
Week 9: 6/11 |
H.G. Wells's World Brain |
Rayward 1999;
Wells 1938 |
Week 10: 13/11 |
TEST |
|
Week 11: 20/11 |
Wells |
Rayward 1999;
Wells 1938 |
Week 12: 27/11 |
Edwards; Vannevar Bush's "memex" |
Edwards, Ch. 10; Bush 1945 |
Week 13: 4/12 |
Course summary
Research Paper due |
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Page last updated: 20 Nov 2000
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