Love and Technology Course OutlineDavid Ngo, Spring 2017, Projector Required for Some Sessions

By the end of this course, you will:

Be familiarized with the concept of romantic love and its origins Recognize the difference between romantic love and other classifications of love Assess how technology has affected contemporary love in the modern age Have improved your critical thinking and discussion skills Re-evaluate the idea of romance in your own life

Week 1: Introduction

Topic: Introduction/Explaining the Syllabus (20 min)o General facts about the authors of the main texts that we’ll be reading

o Aziz Ansari’s a comedian, and most people love him. His anecdotal book revolved around research/surveys of people’s relationships and romances in relation to what technology (such as phones or online dating) was used

o Irving Singer was an American professor of philosophy. Wrote over 20 books, but is most famous for his trilogy The Nature of Love. The text used for this course, Philosophy of Love is a general summary of the essential topics in his trilogy.

o Warn class that some assigned readings during may have a large amount of pages to go through, but they’re very easy and fast reads that they’ll find enjoyable

o Emphasize the fact that this is a discussion class. If there are any topics that they might not feel comfortable discussing, they’re free to stay silent or leave the room.

Icebreaker/Learning Activity: Note Cards (1 hour)o Pass out a note card to each person. Tell them to write down their answer to the

question: What do you think when you hear the phrase, “love and technology”?

o Once everyone’s finished, pass the note cards up. I’ll mix and match, and pass each one out again. If someone gets theirs trade with someone else.

o Have someone read their card aloud. Ask if anyone has a similar answer. Ask if anyone has any different answers. Have this discussion which will lead into next time.

o Remind them to do the readings for next week

Week 2: What is Romantic Love?

Topic: What is Romantic Love? 1 hour 20 min discussion

o How it evolved from Courtly Love, Christian ideology, and other factors during the end of the 18th century.

o It’s actually still a fairly new concept embedded in a rich history of the concept of “love” itself. There is “Romantic love” and “romantic love”

o Reference the article: Ask students about their reaction the statistics shown on the article. Do they think it’s accurate? If it were real, how would they think about how much has changed since the article itself was published (2014)?

o Questions to lead the Discussion Based on the brief history that Singer provides, what do you guys think

about how love has developed as a concept? Would you guys say love has had religious influences? Do you guys have a better understanding of romantic love now, or do you

think we’ve only scratched the surface? Based on the article, is technology really that much of a nonfactor when it

comes to love and relationships? I want you guys to think back on your relationships or your friend’s

relationships. How significant was the use of technology for the relationship to begin, keep going, or end?

o Take Home Assignment for Next Week: Take the 5 Love Languages Quiz and Remember your Results

o http://www.5lovelanguages.com/profile/

Week 3: The Variety of Love

Topic: The Types of Romantic Love According to Singer and Ancient Greece

o Romantic Puritanism vs Romantic Pessimism, and the six Greek words for love discussion (40 min)

Discussion Question: Is Romantic love really doomed (pessimism)? Does romantic love require sexual passion (puritanism)? Would you say modern relationships nowadays are a different kind of romantic love as to what Singer describes? Is it something else entirely?

Discussion Question (Online Article) According to the six varieties of love, which ones are most important for a romantic relationship? Would those specific types be required for any healthy relationship? Are some of these types of love harder to attain or maintain now because of technology?

Topic: The 5 Love Languages (40 min)o Class Survey

Based on raising of hands, find out the trend of love languages among the class, from most to least.

o Reminder of the 5 love languages Words of Affirmation Acts of Service Receiving Gifts Quality Time

Physical Touch

o Using Survey, Lead into Discussion

Discussion Questions: Based on these different classifications of love that we’ve covered, which ones do you think relate to each other the most? Could some be analogous to others, such as physical touch to eros?

Discussion Question: Based on your top love language, what does that tell your about yourself? About the others around you? Would you say this fact is a lot easier to find out about now, since you can just look up someone online to see what they’re like?

Week 4: Communication and Publicity of Relationships

Topic: Communication

o Go over readings (10 min)

o Activity: Passing Notes (30 minutes) Classes are split into groups of 3 or 4 Each group is separated across the classroom from each other Scraps of paper are needed. Each group starts writing a message

that will initiate a conversation with the other—it can be about anything and they can pretend to be whoever they want.

Notes are passed between each group in pairs. They must do their best to not react or show any emotion.

o Purpose of the Activity: Lead into Discussion (40 min)

Show firsthand how communication is both a beneficial and negative factor in beginning relationships

Relate it to the readings. How ambiguity is one factor as to why messages that hold no sort of intonation or characteristic of the actual person can be seen as attractive.

Relate to the publicizing of romantic relationships.

Discussion Question: So with how communication is so much easier but also still limited in its conveyance, how does that change the “playing field” when it comes to communicating with someone that you are interested in?

Discussion Question: What do you think about announcing your relationship to others? We can do it so remotely now—does that necessarily change anything? Does it change the dynamic of how people act towards you or your partner?

Relate back to the one of the article’s statistics explaining how people in relationships posted less on social media than those who were single.

Week 5: Marriage and Monogamy

Go Over Midterm Papers, due at the End of Week 7 (Roughly 20 minutes, based on how many questions the students have)

o Any work of literature, film, music, or personal experience of their choice that they can work on and analyze in relation to the topics we’ve discussed.

o Must write a one-paragraph proposal of what they plan on writing about and give to me so that I can confirm with them. Remind them that they can talk to me after class or during office hours to discuss what they should choose.

Topic: Marriage (1-hour discussion, talk amongst yourselves for 5 minutes)

o Go over Philosophy of Love Readings: Summary of Nietzche and Schopenhauer general philosophies Discuss what marriage was initially for

In regards to it being a part of the religious institution How it was more for social purposes rather than for the idea of

passionate and romantic love How did it turn out that way?

o Note: Half the time for marriage, half the time for monogamy/polygamy

Discussion Question: If marriage originally started out as a social agreement with influences from religious institutions, how exactly has it developed into this extravagant, symbolic view of romantic love?

Discussion Question: At this point the concept of marriage has become so intertwined with romantic love that they tend to be seen as inseparable. Think of other reasons as to why people get married where the incentive isn’t for love. How is it similar to the initial utilization of marriage in history? What about arranged marriage? There have been people who come to love the people they marry rather than marry the one they love. What is your opinion in regards to that? Does Singer answer these questions well through his discourse, or do you feel more needs to be said in order to answer these questions?

Topic: Monogamy as a Social Institution

o Go over the assigned online articles The idea of an increased amount of romantic options as a result of

technology

Temptation to cheat, or have multiple partners because of this (AshleyMadison.com)

Discussion Question: With online dating, people have a whole slew of options that they originally didn’t have even 20 years ago. Would you say this desensitizes the meaning of finding romantic love in a relationship?

Discussion Question: The fact that monogamy is really a social institution shows an importance in how love is defined. In contemporary romantic love, there’s the idea of belonging to one another or that two people become one or become whole. Do you believe in this idea, or is the notion that there’s some sort of possession in a relationship a negative connotation that you don’t support?

Week 6: Her (2013)

Topic: Introduce the film, Her (2013) (5 min)o Synopsis of the film: A man who’s struggling with a recent divorce finds love,

affection, and romance with a sentient AI named Samantha.

Massive implications on technology and the modern effects that it has on romantic relationships

Warn students, the film has some short scenes of full-frontal nudity as well as brief sex scenes. May make them uncomfortable (but in a good way!). They’re allowed to leave the room if they need to.

o Video: “Her: Love in the Modern Age” (15 min)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSfUcWw9zto Discuss the topics that come up within the video The discussions, questions, and ideas that come up as a result of this

discussion are what I want the class to think about as we watch the film

o Begin watching Her for the rest of class (1 hour)

Week 7: Her (2013) continued

Reminder: Midterm Papers due at the End of Week 7

Finish watching Her (2013) (1 hour)

Topic: Topic: Recap on what we’ve watched. Discussion of what the class thinks of the film. Anything that they feel applied to what we’ve been discussing in class, etc. Discuss the film in relation to the reading (20 min)

o Discussion Question: Do you think the critiques that the author makes in the articles are a fair assessment of the film? What did you find to be relatable to romantic love and your own personal relationships? What did you find to be not so relatable?

o Discussion Question: Are there any faults that you found in the film personally? We discussed in Week 4 about the idea of monogamy, and a sense of possession or belonging to one another. There’s a particular scene in the film that goes over this topic.

o Discussion Question: It’s revealed that Samantha is incapable (or perhaps understands the capability but has advanced beyond that understanding) to see romantic love the way that the protagonist Theodore sees it. Everybody has different definitions of romantic love, but would you say there’s a general trend of how romance is portrayed or commercialized?

o Discussion Question: There is a scene in which Theodore’s ex-wife accuses him of not being able to handle real emotions. What do you think she means by this? Would you say the feelings that Theodore felt for Samantha were real? Based on the glimpses in which we saw Theodore describe his relationship with his ex-wife Catherine, did he deal with Samantha in the same way with the problems in their relationship?

Week 8: The Accessibility of Love

Topic: Discuss the Final Group Project (10 min)

o The project will occur throughout weeks 9 and 10. In a group of 3-4, you will come up with a story in which technology and love are intertwined. Try to stay upon the themes of romantic love and technology that we’ve covered. Using whatwe’ve discussed in class, answer the question of how the idea of romantic love will continue to transform as advancements in technology are made. Groups will be presenting these stories throughout the last two weeks of class. Your group is free to tell the story in any way that you’d like as long as it is appropriate. Following each story, the class will discuss the story, and whether it was effective in creating new topics of discussion in relation to what we’ve covered in the course.

o Can be a video, oral presentation, acting, dancing, performance art of any kind, etc.

o Presentation should be about 10 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of discussion

o People will get into groups

Learning Activity: “Class, help me stalk my imaginary crush” (20 minutes)

o I’ll have made a fake Facbook and various other social media accounts, including a blog with fake pictures I find online. Essentially make an imaginary person

o Tell students that I’m interested in someone, and I’d like to find out more about them. We have the internet. How do I do that?

o At the end of the learning activity. So why did I make you guys help me with this? Answer: To show how easy it is to find out more about someone. Being attracted to their online persona, and the choice of making an illusion of yourself to appear more attractive to them based off of that

o Segue into the discussion: How this has changed the “playing field” and how romantic relationships begin or evolve. Reference this week’s reading (50 min)

Discussion Question: Would you say it’s easier to find romance thanks to technology? Or is the amount of options that we have actually limiting that goal? (Relate to reading for this week)

Discussion Question: Do you agree with the older people’s responses in Ch. 4 of Modern Romance, saying how they were glad to only have so many options for love? What are the pros and cons for both the current environment and the past in terms of finding a relationship?

Discussion Question: What do you think of the new apps that continue to change how people meet? Apps like Bumble, AshleyMadison.com, and methods of Catfishing and the like. There definitely now more dangers to online dating than before, but can you find parallels to this compared to before dating apps emerged as a trend?

Take Home Assignment for Next Week: Coming Out Simulator 2014 http://ncase.me/cos/

Week 9: LBGTQ and Technology

Learning Activity: Notecards Again (Same as Icebreaker Activity in Week 1) (30 minutes)

o Pass out notecards to everyone

o Write down your answer to the question: How do you think of love and technology, this time within the context of the LBGTQ world?

Must moderate the discussion that follows this activity due to the sensitivity of the topic

Remind everyone to be respectful. If your notecard has an offensive comment, or someone speaks up and makes an offensive comment that causes the discussion to get too heated, stop the conversation and try to get it back on track. Discuss with student who might have been offensive after class.

o Segue the notecards into an overall discussion for the rest of class

Topic: Discussion on Readings

o Recap on Notecard activity/Discussion in previous session (10 minutes or so)

o Use topics of discussion that were notable as a way to begin the conversationo Go back to the readings

o Discussion Question: Now that you’ve done the readings, do you see how technology benefits LBGTQ relationships in the way that the article portrays it?

Do you think the stigma is lessened because of dating sites that cater to a specific community?

o Discussion Question: Can you think of any negatives that technology has on romantic love and relationships among the LBGTQ community? Based on what we discussed with the note card activity, has your opinion changed in any way after reading the articles?

Week 10: Final Group Presentations