Interdisiplinary profile course: Digital transformation, culture and society

In this course, you will get to explore possible digital future scenarios for mankind. The course is interdisciplinary and is situated in the crossing between the technologically based competence on digitalization at the Department of Computer Science, and the anthropological perspective on holistic cultural relations at the Department of Social Anthropology. The course unites technological and social scientific perspectives on technological development, with a particular focus on digital technologies.

The course focuses on existing and emerging technologies and introduces principles for comprehensive social analysis. The main element is the exploration of different future scenarios for emerging digital technologies and the analysis of human and societal consequences through different future scenarios. The course focuses on how the human and societal aspects influence, and are influenced by, the development and use of technology.

The teaching in this course is project-based, which means that the students will be exploring emerging technologies through a partly self-chosen group project which includes working out specific scenarios. In the imagined scenarios the students are going to evaluate the human, cultural, and societal possibilities and consequences that the emerging technology creates. The technologies that will be explored are related to:

• Our daily life, such as the controlling of transportation and commerce
• The working life in different branches, such as organizing, remote controlling and automatization
• Social life
• Social media
• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Extended reality (XR)

SANT2025 is the profile course in the interdisciplinary profile Digital transformation, culture and society. The profile consists of the profile course and three electives (a total of 30 ECTS). Interdisciplinary profiles give the students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with academic areas of specific relevance to the major societal challenges and for sustainable societal development. Learning methods and learning activities will provide interdisciplinary interaction competence. The course is also open for other students who wish to acquire this competence.

A student who has completed this course should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills, and general competence.

Knowledge:

• has good knowledge of essential emerging digital technologies and principles
• has good knowledge of principles of comprehensive cultural analysis of the essential emerging digital technologies
• has an understanding of the philosophy behind the technology
• has knowledge of creative processes and the different stages in project development/innovation.

Skills:

• can analyze the relationship and the dynamic between technology, humans, and society with a focus on identifying possibilities and consequences of emerging technologies, including unintended consequences
• can identify critical aspects related to the environment, working life, societal organization, and human decency in relation to innovation, development, and implementation of technology
• can present analyses in interesting, convincing, and comprehensible manners, orally and through digital media.
• has experience working with complex societal challenges

General competence:

• has a general understanding of the connection between technology and culture
• can use its competence in collaboration with people from other disciplines, and together define and answer research questions

The Interdisciplinary profile course consists of a mix of knowledge-based and experience-based learning. Each profile course has its theme and knowledge elements linked to this. Development of collaborative skills, innovation competence and work on major societal challenges is experience-based and based on project work in interdisciplinary groups. The lectures are in close connection to the students’ ongoing group projects.

Lessons 4 hours per week.

Under the guidance of scientific staff, the students will be exploring emerging digital technologies through a comprehensive group project. Students are expected to participate actively in the group work, including forming a group and creating a collaboration agreement. At the end of the semester, the group is going to present its work to examiners and co-students in the form of an oral exam. The use of digital media is recommended. One of the objectives of this presentation is to share experiences with, and give inspiration to, co-students.

Be aware that the lessons and compulsory activities might begin before the final date for registration.

Compulsory assignments

Approved attendance of 80 % is required.

Obligatory activity is graded as approved or not approved. The obligatory activity must be approved to qualify for the exam.