Do new technologies always leave something to be desired, affirming what we like to think of as the irreducibly human? Or with the arrival of every new app and device are we losing bit by bit (byte by byte) a sense of who we are and how to form meaningful relationships? These sorts of questions will guide our study of stories and films that try to gauge the effects of advanced communications technology on human relationships. For perspective, we will also study older works featuring “new” distance-cancelling technologies like the phonograph, the radio, airplanes, and television, and consider how such inventions disrupted the way people conceived of themselves and their relationships. Throughout, we will pay particular attention to the formal effects of such advances, from the penny post as plot driver to video conferencing and text messages adding a new layer to the moving image. We will be concerned to articulate what evolves and what endures as humans encounter newfangled devices that bring us together and yet drive us apart.

Written work to include in-class reflections and analytical essays. There is no final exam.