COURSE NARRATIVE
Today, technologies mediate who we know, what we know, how we know, and how we respond to and interact with our social and physical environment. The large-scale technological architectures that structure our societies, and the systems maintaining them, demand a deeper awareness and a broader set of skills and competencies to lead ourselves and others.
Technologies evolve faster than the institutions they are embedded in, causing unprecedented risks and unrealized opportunities; far from just being a tool, technology is transforming power, creating ethical challenges, impacting nature, transforming economies, altering identities, and influencing our behaviors – all of which sometimes in unwanted or unforeseen ways.
This course is focused on you - the human at the center of technological change. It will equip you with mental frameworks and practical tools to take ownership and exercise leadership in a world where technology becomes ever more pervasive and essential for leading ourselves and others in business, civil society, politics or academia.
COURSE OVERVIEW
This course will place the human in the middle of the complex dynamics between technology and society, and the challenges technologies present to the variety of stakeholders that make up our world. It will consist of focused lectures, case-study based dialogues and workshops, as well as “fireside chats” with esteemed guest speakers.
Each lesson is framed in a “Technology and X” format, offering every time a new entry point to a complex and multifaceted set of issues. All lessons will add up to a well-rounded consciousness of technology’s multidimensional impacts, leaving participants with a robust foundation for navigating our 21st century technological world.
Day 1 will present students with a practical framing of the systemic nature of technology, and it will challenge the common instrumental perspective of “technology as a tool”.
Day 2 will zoom in on how technology challenges the foundations of power and ethics: how are some technologies impacting our social fabric, and how can we shape those influences? The tools taught in this segment will be used in the following deep-dive sessions.
Days 3, 4 and 5 will tackle specific cases that highlight critical tensions between technologies and key “operating systems” of society, from nature to economic institutions.
Each session will offer unique insights into the basic functioning and disruptive capacity of frontier technologies from artificial intelligence to cryptocurrencies and the internet of things. Each lecture will be accompanied by select materials and offer ample opportunities for students to interact with one another and select guest speakers, putting themselves at the center of a global transformation.
COURSE OUTCOMES
Participants will:
- Explore how individuals and societies mediate the world through technology
- Make sense of leadership dilemmas behind large-scale technological change
- Understand individual responsibilities in relation to emerging technologies
- Strengthen personal agency in a fast-changing technological world
- Interact with leading technology experts and professionals
Tuition fees
Professionals : CHF 1,000
External students : CHF 800
UNIGE students : CHF 200
Application requirements:
Step 1) Prepare a valid web link* to your supporting documents**
CV : academic and/or professional resume
Motivation letter (maximum of 500 words): explain briefly your motivations to take part in the course of your choice
Reference letter (professor, employer...etc): the reference comes from a professional or academic acquaintance.
University certificate of registration (external students only): only students providing such a certificate are eligible for the external students fee
*Be careful not to provide a protected url (intranet weblink) but a public url. Examples of free accounts you can get a web link from: Dropbox, Google Drive or other
**Please uppload all documents in one (1) single PDF document.
2) Fill in the application form (link below)
Complete all required fields (*) of the application form.
3) Language requirement
Applicants must possess a sufficient command of the language of instruction of the course, demonstrated in their motivation letter, studies and work experience.
For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.