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Robots, Androids, Clones and Transhumanism in Literature, Film and Culture

Course CVL0001026 in WS 2022/3

General Data

Course Type workshop
Semester Weekly Hours 1.5 SWS
Organisational Unit Academic Programs WTG
Lecturers Stefanie Fricke
Assistants:
Franziska Recknagel
Dates Wed, 09:00–10:30, 1229

Further Information

Courses are together with exams the building blocks for modules. Please keep in mind that information on the contents, learning outcomes and, especially examination conditions are given on the module level only – see section "Assignment to Modules" above.

additional remarks Since antiquity humans have been fascinated by the idea of artificial life and have imagined its creation in different media. Thus, long before these fictions can become reality, literature and art already provide fictional spaces in which fundamental questions can be asked: Why do humans want to create artificial life? How do they treat the resulting creatures? How can we define “human”? Which gender dynamics are involved? How are society and human relationships changed by the existence of artificial life forms? And are there borders which should not be crossed? In this seminar we will discuss the current state of science, technology and ethics and analyze the depiction of artificial life forms in literature (e.g. in Ovid´s Metamorphoses, E. T. A. Hoffman´s “Der Sandmann”; Mary Shelley´s “Frankenstein”; the stories of Isaac Asimov and contemporary novels such as Kazuo Ishiguro´s “Klara and the Sun”), films (e.g. Metropolis, Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049, Robocop, Ex Machina, Moon), TV series (e.g. Star Trek, Westworld, Black Mirror, Humans) and other media (computer games, comics and graphic novels). Students are very welcome to suggest additional texts and films.
Links E-Learning course (e. g. Moodle)
TUMonline entry
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