2025 Spring MEDIAST 168 001 LEC 001

Spring 2025

MEDIAST 168 001 - LEC 001

Cybernetics and Cybercultures: The Psychosocial Impact of Digital Media

Matthew Berry

Jan 21, 2025 - May 09, 2025
Mo, We
09:00 am - 10:59 am
Class #:25175
Units: 4

Instruction Mode: In-Person Instruction

Current Enrollment

Total Open Seats: 3
Enrolled: 45
Waitlisted: 0
Capacity: 48
Waitlist Max: 0
Open Reserved Seats:
3 reserved for Students with Enrollment Permission
3 reserved for Undergraduate Students with 3 or more Terms in Attendance and all Graduate students

Hours & Workload

4 hours of instructor presentation of course materials per week, and 8 hours of outside work hours per week.

Final Exam

MON, MAY 12TH
07:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Dwinelle 182

Other classes by Matthew Berry

Course Catalog Description

How have the realities and representations of digital media affected how we think, feel, and interact? What impulses, events, and personalities gave rise to the relentless digitization of information, choice, and even life itself? In this interdisciplinary course, we will attempt to answers these questions together by reading, discussing, and writing about histories and theories of cybernetics and cybercultures. We will consider competing cybernetic models of the mind, human behavior, ecological environments, and complex immersive virtual worlds. We will also survey the vast range of visionary, skeptical, and delightfully eccentric responses to the promises and perils of a cybernetic future.

Class Notes

- During Phase I, most seats will be saved for declared Media Studies students only. Other interested students may place themselves on the waitlist. Remaining reserved seats will be released during Phase 2 of enrollment.
- Enrollment Permission seats are saved for emergencies and will be rele.. show more
- During Phase I, most seats will be saved for declared Media Studies students only. Other interested students may place themselves on the waitlist. Remaining reserved seats will be released during Phase 2 of enrollment.
- Enrollment Permission seats are saved for emergencies and will be released much closer to the start of class instruction.
- Freshmen are not permitted to enroll in this course.

For more information on the enrollment process for this course, please visit https://mediastudies.ugis.berkeley.edu/course-enrollment-information/ show less

Rules & Requirements

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Reserved Seats

Reserved Seating For This Term

Current Enrollment

Open Reserved Seats:

Terms in Attendance:
Undergraduate Classifications Information

Textbooks & Materials

See class syllabus or https://calstudentstore.berkeley.edu/textbooks for the most current information.

Textbook Lookup

Guide to Open, Free, & Affordable Course Materials

eTextbooks

Associated Sections

None