This oughta be fun….
_________________________
J/MC 410: Communication, Technology, & Christianity
Midterm
March 17, 2005

Instructions
Answer four of the following questions. Be specific. Be thorough. Use examples where appropriate. And yes, your writing style counts.

1. Postman’s three-stage model of economic development posits that contemporary America is the world’s first technopoly. However, class discussion has raised the question as to whether the great cultural debate between technology and institutions of moral authority is as settled as Postman suggests. When discussing long, broad cultural trends, of course, it’s nearly impossible to draw hard, conclusive lines between one epoch and the next, and as such, we might occasionally be lured into overestimating the importance of lingering exceptions.

   With this in mind, analyze contemporary America with respect to the technocracy/technopoly question. Where along this continuum do you believe we are, and why? Give examples illustrating your point, and be sure to address what you perceive as major objections to your conclusions.

2. Pick a popular cultural artifact – a movie, novel, graphic novel, magazine/zine, CD, Web entertainment site, television show, etc. – you’re familiar with that in some way embodies/expresses the technotopian ideologies of technological development we have discussed in class. Analyze this artifact in light of the theorists we have read to date (Postman, Pacey, McLuhan, Dewey, Bacon, Noble, Carey & Quirk, etc.). (You can reference multiple theorists if necessary, but you’re encouraged to focus your answers as much as possible, so restricting yourself to a single framework might make it easier for you.)
3. Pick a new technology – one that has been talked about, promoted, researched, etc., but that has not yet been rolled out for commercial use. You can draw on what you already know about fusion, nanotechnology, and HMI from class discussion, for instance, or you can select another technology that exists in a “near-future” state (that is, promoters of the tech expect that it will be broadly available in the next few years). Then write a brief speech (@ 10 minutes) for the president to deliver (a la VP Gore’s ITU speech, cited in the primary text) at a major international conference on technology.
4. Once humans controlled technology. Now technology controls us. Discuss.
5. The Millennarians apparently interpreted the Bible in ways that were strange and unfamiliar to many students in the class. Trace the thinking of this peculiar strain of theology as it rationalized Eden, Adam, the useful arts, and the path back to Paradise. Be thorough.
6. Arnold Pacey teaches us that technology, properly understood, involves much more than the technics – the technical apparatus itself. Select a prominent technology that currently plays a major role in your life. Using Pacey’s framework, analyze and articulate its technical, organizational, and cultural aspects.