Week 12 reflection: seeya later alligator!

I have really enjoyed this unit as it has been quite different to any I have done before, and it has linked in nicely with a number of units I have done in the past, particularly Anthropology of Media and Postmodern Narrative.

The lectures have been my favourite part of this unit, particularly the week on media resistance and culture jamming, as well as one of the earlier lectures on race and gender (with the clip from M. Butterfly). I also think that the use of examples of work from contemporary artists such as Stelarc and Piccinnini hs been a really useful and interesting way of expanding upon more complex theories of posthumanism and the cyborg.

I also really enjoyed the weekly readings because the topics seemed really relevant to how we are living today (and will possibly be living in the future), and it is definitely much easier to understand and relate to readings thathave some significance to our own lives. Also the readings were never too long which was great!

My least favourite part of the unit would have to be doing a tut presentation, but this is just something that I should really get over!

How did the blog work for me?
I think that the idea of having a blog an an extra learning forum is a great idea. It proved useful for me in that I had the time to gather my thoughts together in a way that made some sense, rather than being put on the spot in tutorials. I also found to be a useful way of remembering tut discussions and furthering these discussions through the integration of images, video clips and articles.

Cyborg?
Up until yesterdays tutorial discussions, I considered myself a cyborg due to the fact that I find it hard to function without technology, and seem to be always checking my phone for the time, date, texts or missed calls without even realising that I am doing it. Now after yesterday I am no longer sure. I agree with what a few people said about not really liking the label cyborg, as to me it does sound quite futuristic - ie people walking around with Stelarc-like contraptions as arms. Maybe if the label was substituted with something less revolutionary, more people would be willing to consider themselvs cyborgs?