Course Description
This course enables MSc students to become critical thinkers and better decision makers on contemporary issues related to the increasingly significant role of digital technology in our economy and society. We focus on issues at the intersection of technology and humanity, but go beyond the superficial changes that are more readily perceived in organizations, at work, and at home. Instead, we engage with the deep historical and institutional structures upon which technology is changing our economy, society, and the very nature our humanity. With a sharper, broader critical lens with which to see our unfolding future, students who complete this course will be better equipped to make decisions that create more inclusive long-term prosperity while building a better future for all.
In this course, we pose the questions: Are digital technologies producing a better society? If so, for whom? What are the managerial and leadership challenges associated with the digital transformation of society? We will explore and learn various modes of thinking about these issues so that we can have a deeper understanding of how technology, particularly digital technology, is transforming our society, governance, economics, and culture. Rapid advances in digital technologies are fundamentally changing the way we work, organize, govern, trade, and interact with each other. That is why responsible and effective leadership in the digital age requires a good understanding of the mechanisms underlying these changes.
In this course, we will take a deep dive into issues at the heart of how new manifestations of digital technology, such as artificial intelligence, big data, social networks, and digital platforms, are reshaping our humanity. Topics examined in the course include the future of work, algorithmic biases, privacy and security, digital inequality, and the surveillance economy.
Learning Outcomes
Content related outcomes:
- Students will learn key conceptual models and methods for analyzing and assessing issues at the intersection of technology and society;
- Students will use these models to assess key topics raised in class to develop their skills in analytical reasoning and approaches to knowledge discovery;
Skills related outcomes:
- Students will learn to communicate persuasively and work collaboratively to build opportunities and solutions at the intersection of technology and society;
Attitude related outcomes:
- Students will develop an interest and passion for critical analysis of contemporary Technology and Society issues and will seek opportunities to engage with these issues.
Elective