Spring 2025
MEDIAST 168 001 - LEC 001
Cybernetics and Cybercultures: The Psychosocial Impact of Digital Media
Matthew Berry
Class #:25175
Units: 4
Instruction Mode:
In-Person Instruction
Offered through
Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Studies
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
- 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
- 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.
Guide to Open, Free, & Affordable Course Materials
Associated Sections
None