1st semester | TAN7

Technological transformations in private, public  and community organisations

This semester takes as an outset that we are living in an age of the Techno-Anthropocene, where we shape technology as technology shapes us, and together we shape the world. One of the main drivers in this constant process of transformation is digital technologies, which are often hidden in black-boxes or invisible and intangible to the human eye and perception. Project work and courses in this semester will focus on how to make these processes of transformation visible and tangible, hence opening black-boxes to make embodiment possible. 

A key academic focus of this master's is the sociotechnical interplay between technologies, people, and organisations. In the master’s programme, major emphasis is put on understanding this interplay specifically in relation to digital transformations. The first semester (TAN7) provides insight into the understanding of the complex technological transformations of digitalization processes.  

PROJECT

Technological Transformations in Private, Public, and Community Organisations

COURSES 

Framing Techno-Anthropological Transformation

Digital Anthropology

Introduction to Scripting, Data Mining, and Machine Learning

Digital Anthropology

1. How do digital technologies (e.g., algorithms, AI, cryptocurrencies) shape human behavior, relationships, and institutions?

2. What are the ethical implications of the increasing role of algorithms in decision-making (e.g., in healthcare, justice, or finance)?

3. In what ways do digital platforms reinforce or challenge existing social structures and inequalities?

4. How do concepts like trust and authority change in digital economies, such as the use of cryptocurrencies or sharing economies?

5. What are the environmental consequences of big data and how do they influence our understanding of ecological management?

6. How do digital infrastructures (e.g., welfare systems) change the relationship between citizens and the state?

7. What are the implications of decentering the human in digital systems, such as AI or machine learning? Can machines be agents, and what does that mean for society?

Framing Techno-Anthropological Transformations

1. How can technological design processes integrate human values (e.g., privacy, inclusivity, fairness) into the final product?

2. What are the societal and ethical challenges in co-designing technologies with users, and how can these be addressed?

3. How do the concepts of co-creation and commoning challenge traditional power dynamics in technological development?

4. What role do political economy and resource sharing (commoning) play in the design and use of digital technologies?

5. How do feminist and intersectional approaches to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) reshape our understanding of inclusivity in technological design?

6. How can technological design be made sustainable, and what are the barriers to integrating sustainability into the design of digital systems?

7. What frameworks can help ensure that technological innovations are both robust and socially responsible?

8. How can we navigate the tension between democratizing technology and the control exerted by powerful institutions (corporations, governments)?

Scripting, Data Mining, and Machine Learning

1. How does the programming process (e.g., writing algorithms) influence the kinds of social interactions digital platforms allow?

2. How can data be ethically cleaned and processed, especially when the data itself may contain biases?

3. What are the ethical considerations in visualizing data? How can data visualizations mislead or influence interpretations of social phenomena?

4. How do machine learning algorithms learn from data, and what are the risks of introducing biases into these models?

5. In what ways can the technical concepts behind AI and machine learning affect broader societal structures (e.g., automation, employment, education)?

6. What challenges arise when training machine learning models on social or environmental datasets? How can these models misinterpret human contexts?

7. How can programming and data mining skills be used to critically assess the digital infrastructures that govern our lives (e.g., digital welfare systems, social media)?

8. What are the benefits and limitations of using AI in areas like translation, healthcare, and environmental monitoring? How can these systems fail to consider cultural or contextual factors?

Interdisciplinary Questions

1. How can we balance the technical capabilities of digital technologies with their social and ethical implications?

2. In what ways can the insights from digital anthropology help us design better algorithms and data-driven technologies?

3. How does the framing of technology as either human-centered or machine-centered affect the way technologies are designed and implemented?

4. What strategies can be employed to ensure that technological transformations are both responsible and inclusive across diverse communities and contexts?

5. How do the environmental impacts of digital technologies (e.g., data centers, blockchain) influence the design of future technologies?

6. In what ways can you combine the practical skills of programming with the critical reflections from anthropology to engage in more ethically aware technology development?

7. How does the relationship between users and designers change when users become co-creators in the design process?

8. How can data science and machine learning tools be used to analyse and critique the social impact of digital infrastructures, algorithms, and AI systems?

September

• September 5th: First class of Framing Techno-Anthropological Transformations ✔️

• September 11th: Visit to AAU Library on information search ✔️

• September 12th: Study Start Test ✔️

• September 13th: First class of Introduction to Scripting, Data Mining, and Machine Learning ✔️

• September 26th: PBL Introduction Course - Part 2 ✔️

• September 30th: First class of Digital Anthropology✔️

October

• October 2nd: First Status Seminar✔️

• October 4th: First Steering Group Meeting✔️

• October 9th: 

  • Latex/Overleaf workshop at 12.30, no address yet.

  • DSE Job Fair, Gigantium - Start-up meeting/networking event 12.30 - 15.00

• October 9th to the 10th: DSE Job Fair✔️

November

• November 7th: Second Status Seminar ✔️

• November 8th: Second Steering Group Meeting ✔️

• November 22, 2024: Exam - Framing Techno-Anthropological Transformation ✔️

• November 29, 2024: Exam - Introduction to Scripting, Data Mining, and Machine Learning ✔️

December

• December 9-10, 2024: Exam - Digital Anthropology ✔️ 

• December 12th: End-of-Semester Meeting ✔️ 

January

• January 10, 2025, at 12.00: Hand-in date for Project ✔️

• January 20-31, 2025: Project Exam ✔️