Undergraduate Module Descriptor

SOC2096: Cyborg Studies

This module descriptor refers to the 2022/3 academic year.

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

What’s posthumanism?, What’s a human anyway?
Are you already a Cyborg?,
What’s Transhumanism? The history of transhumanism,
Has humanism failed?: Cyborg as deconstruction,
Do you want to live forever?: Life extension technologies,
Are humans special in any way? Against human exceptionalism - cybernetics and deep ecology.
What are the risks of human enhancement? Cognitive and moral enhancement and existential risk.
Should we enhance other animals? Animal uplifting.
What’s real anyway? The simulation argument.
Will the robots take over? The risks of AI.
Can synthetic minds be conscious? How should we interact with robots?

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	128	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	22	Weekly 2-hour lectures/seminars or 1 hour lecture + 1 hour seminar
Guided independent study	66	Weekly reading and working through assigned articles and book chapters
Guided independent study	62	Essay writing

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).