The inofficial title of this seminar is "The Black Mirror Seminar", drawing from the Netflix series of the same title. Students will dive deeply into the technological visions of science fiction and challenge these in the light of varying posthumanist perspectives on our future. Students will also be introduced to cognitive science perspectives on human-world interaction as well as AI technology. The goal of the class is to critically reflect the realism in currently popular and sci-fi driven visions for humanity.

By the end of this seminar students will have gained a deeper understanding of various social,  cultural, philosophical and psychological issues raised by posthumanism. They will further appreciate the relevance of transdisplinary approaches to related contentious aspects of ICT, and acquire skill in accessing, interpreting, and deploying material from a variety of sources.

Students will also gain a deeper insight into their chosen research domain, and have the opportunity to further develop writng and artistic skills.

Standard FS (=”Forschungsseminar”) attendance policy applies. Attendance in the first unit and overall for 80% of the time is required. Attendance in the first unit is mandatory (unqualified absence will result in deregistration from the course). For more information on the WU FS attendance policy please refer to https://www.wu.ac.at/studierende/mein-studium/bachelorguide/lv-und-pruefungsinfos/forschungsseminar-fs
See below for mandatory attendance policy in the first unit.

This course is a mixture of an in-class setting and a field-experiment/creative work. After being introduced to the various forms of posthumanism as well as the transhumanistic idea of mankind, students will engage in a creative seminar project. They will chose a science fictin scenario (technology, person, scenario) and discuss it creatively through text (seminar paper) and a poster they develop. Text & poster critically reflect posthumanistic visions, how they are embedded in science fiction and to what extend these visions are realistic.

20% in between seminar presentation

80% final seminar project work

Successful completion of course 1 (“Basics of ICT” / “Grundzüge der IKT”) of the SBWL Business Information Systems.
It is strongly recommended to also have completed course 2 to 4 of the SBWL before commencing with this course.
If you hold a valid registration for the course but are unable to participate, please deregister during the open registration period in LPIS. Your spot can be granted to other fellow students.
Spots are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis during the registration period.
After completion of the registration period, available spots will be allocated to students on the waiting list who have no valid registration for the relevant curricula's point. Students will be ranked by their study progress as determined by the vice rectorat for teaching ("hardship principle"), not by their rank on the waiting list.
Important Note: The participation in the first unit is mandatory; students who fail to come forfeit their place to students on the waiting list (in the  sequence of the waiting list). Students can excuse themselves if the reason for missing the first unit is serious and will concern only the first unit.

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