Reading the Algorithm

Catalog description

What is an algorithm? Seeks to define the algorithm in terms of its cultural shadow, incorporating computational as well as philosophical understandings of how technical systems shape human activity to understand the stories we tell ourselves about algorithms. Students learn a toolkit for 'algorithmic reading' which they can use to analyze a modern algorithm and its footprint in society. Features reading and writing assignments centered on science fiction, popular and news articles, and social media/other artifact analysis.