95556 Technology, Society and Change

Requisite(s): 48 credit points of completed study
Subject coordinator: Associate Professor Kendal McGuffie

This is a university-wide subject which examines and illustrates the interdependence and tensions between society, technology and change. It is a transdisciplinary subject, with students and teaching staff coming from many parts of the university. A transdisciplinary approach can be particularly crucial in understanding the mutual shaping of technology and society across cultures and time, however, it is an approach that requires stepping out of one's disciplinary boundaries, and hence presents difficulties for students who are educated within closed academic and professional discourses.

This subject provides an opportunity for students to recognise what new ways of thinking a transdisciplinary approach can offer. It also engages students in grappling with some of the tensions between discipline-specific discourses and transdisciplinary thinking. Topics discussed include: technological knowledge and transfer; making risky decisions; energy and sustainable futures; and factors affecting environmental pollution. These topics are developed and taught by interdisciplinary teams of staff.

Typical availability

Autumn semester, City campus