Course: ISF 100J (Spring 2025)
Course Title: The Social Life of Computing
Instructor: Shreeharsh Kelkar
Time: MWF 1-2 pm in Physics 1

We live in a time which some characterize as the “second machine age” of automation, artificial intelligence, and big data.  This course introduces students to the technical, social, business, and political entanglements of computing from its late 19th century origins to the 21st century software industry.  The topics covered include the intersections of computing with: calculation, capitalism, intelligence, gender, work, automation, and expertise.  It satisfies the social and behavioral sciences breadth requirement as well as the Human Contexts and Ethics requirement of Berkeley’s Data Science major.

Professor Shreeharsh Kelkar is seeking two readers for this course. Ideal candidates are PhD or Master’s students with a background in Science and Technology Studies (STS) and/or the social studies of computing and information. The reader will be expected to attend lectures and help the instructor manage the classroom (including supervising the active learning activities by walking around the classroom), grade three essay assignments (1000-2500 words each), and make sure that the weekly forum posts are submitted and score them for participation.  The class is expected to have roughly 100 students.  Graduate students interested in STS, information studies, as well as history, anthropology, and sociology will find the topics to be useful in their own work as well.  The reader position is expected to require 10 hours a week (25%) and comes with a full tuition waiver. 

You can find the lectures for this course here: The Social Life of Computing.

If this might be of interest, please send an email to skelkar@berkeley.edu with your CV. In the email, please write a few sentences on your background, your familiarity with the topic based on your research or the courses you have taken, as well as your teaching experiences, especially here at Berkeley.