Studium Generale: "Visions and Values in Design and Technology"

"Vision and Values in Design and Technology - Journal Club Integrative Science and Technology Studies"was a seminar initiated by Wenzel Mehnert and Dr. Sabine Ammon and part of the interdisciplinary interaction between TU Berlin and UdK Berlin. It started on the 9th of April and took place every Tuesday from 2-4 pm at Hardenbergstr. 33 during the summer term 2019.

Question and content:
Visions, values, and imaginaries play a fundamental role in technology development. Visions of technological futures become driving forces of today’s technology development. At the same time, values embedded in technological products turn into co-shapers of societal development. With new and emerging technologies on the threshold to markets, it is not only important to reflect the underly sociotechnical imaginaries. It is also essential to investigate the complex interrelations of visions and values in design and technology critically in order to uncover the hopes and fears related to technology’s future as well as to develop alternative ideas of preferable futures when needed.
The Journal Club “Visions and Values in Design and Technology“ will bring together perspectives from technology of philosophy, technology assessment as well as artistic and designerly practices. Students will analyse in close reading recent research positions, which deal with the assessment of technological visions and values, such as Vision Assessment, Value Sensitive Design, Speculative Design or Design Fictions. They dived into the literature to better understand how visions and values interact with the development of new technologies and how art and design can steer the process of “visioneering“ and stimulate discourses about new and emerging technologies.

Target group:
Desirable prerequisites for participation in the course are higher semesters (BA 5+ or MA), a routine in working with texts by close reading, and an interest in integrating theoretical or empirical research into the artistic practice.

Role of the Hybrid Plattform:
Communication