JACKSON, Tenn. — Jan. 27, 2011 — Technology and culture will be the topic for the next Town and Gown series at 51社区 from Feb. 10-March 10.
The Town and Gown series is an opportunity for community members interested in various topics to attend lectures and participate in discussions in a classroom setting. The classes are free and open to the public.
鈥淭echnology has become so deeply interwoven into the fabric of our day-to-day lives that it鈥檚 difficult for us to grasp its impact,鈥� said Justin Barnard, associate professor of philosophy at Union. 鈥淚ncreasingly, technology is not simply something we use; it is who we are.鈥�
Barnard said this Town and Gown series 鈥渢akes a look at who we are becoming in and through the various technologies we use. It also wrestles with the crucial question, 鈥楽hould we become who or what we鈥檙e becoming?鈥欌��
The schedule for the series is:
- Feb. 10, 6 p.m., in the Carl Grant Events Center: 鈥淥nly Technology Can Save Us From the Problems Technology Has Caused,鈥� with Read Schuchardt, associate professor of media ecology at Wheaton College.
- Feb. 17, 6 p.m., in Harvey Auditorium (located in the Barefoot Student Union Building): 鈥淧erfecting Ourselves to Death: Technology, Humanity, and the Quest for Perfection,鈥� with C. Ben Mitchell, Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union.
- Feb. 24, 6 p.m., in Harvey Auditorim: 鈥淎ugustine, Aquinas and Asimov: a Christian View on the Creation of Artificial Moral Agents,鈥� with Gene Rohrbaugh, associate professor of computer science at Messiah College.
- March 3, 6 p.m., in the Carl Grant Events Center: 鈥淏ack to the Shire: From English Village, to Global Village, and Back Again,鈥� with Arthur W. Hunt III, associate professor of communications at the University of Tennessee at Martin.
- March 10, 6 p.m., in the Carl Grant Events Center: 鈥淯nnatural Selection: Technological (r)Evolution by Consumer Desire,鈥� with Barnard.
For more information, call Barnard at (731) 661-5963.