We are proposing a combined MAKE and TALK session:
For the Talk– Are our present concerns about “information overload” and “digital distraction” and the need for “Walden zones” and “digital
sabbaths” simply a form of “moral panic?” Are they merely the latest iteration of longstanding fears about the new and unknown? Didn’t
earlier generations’ worry about the way that movies, or rock and roll, or television, were affecting America’s youth? Or are our
present worries something to be taken seriously? What insights can the humanities bring to bear in answering these questions?
For the Make–What digital technologies might help to alleviate the concerns about distractions enumerated above? Here’s a cartoon storyline idea for one such ap: tinyurl.com/anb3xwk
Susan Matt and Luke Fernandez are jointly proposing this.
Susan and Luke,
Great questions. I have my own take on these issues, but I wonder if our undergraduate students would answer them differently than we would.
Good session idea and one I’d be interested in seeing happen.