Capacity Building

Date and Location: First session online via Zoom 3 April,  on site 14-15 April in Stockholm (TBD).
Teaching methods: Lectures, group work, group discussions and seminars.
Examination: Active attendance, completion and presentation of group assignment, short paper.
Course coordinator: Helena Lindgren, Umeå University, and André Holzapfel, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Guest lecturers: Charles E. Ess, Cecilia Åsberg
Registration: Closed
Student limit: Max 30 students

Course information

The course Human Identity and Culture reflects on how humans shape their identities in cultural contexts, and how these processes are (potentially) transformed by employing AI in various cultural practices.

The aim is to develop an understanding of how technology influences the formation of identities and how to intervene to direct development into socio-culturally less harmful directions. This interdisciplinary course will challenge the concepts of identity and culture, and current practices of designing technology, shifting towards designing futures.

After the course the student will be able to:

• understand the concepts identity and culture
• understand how technology influences the formation of identities and cultures
• explain and discuss how to develop strategies/methodology to intervene in the development of technology, and to redirect development into socio-culturally less harmful directions
• have a hands-on experience with designing for futures
• describe the relevance of key concepts for their dissertation work, identify fundamental issues and problems of relevance for their dissertation work and explain how these might be approached.