Technology theorist, design researcher, writer, teacher
I have been listening to music through Spotify pretty much constantly since the service became available in the US. I love it because of the fact that it provides the music lover’s dream of immediate and free (or cheap) access to a good share of the music that’s out there. With my Spotify account connected … Continue reading Presence and activity in Spotify, and how it just became lonelier
Today is what I have come to think of as ‘teacher Christmas’: it’s the day that my I310 (Media Arts & Technology) students post their final projects! (And here I should also give a shout-out to my awesome AIs—Joe Bartlow, Chris Myles, and Jennifer Terrell—who have supported the students in creating their projects throughout the … Continue reading It’s teacher Christmas!
My dissertation proposal is now officially scheduled for next Monday! Details from the announcement are below. The full proposal is also available here. Title: Digital Materiality in Architectures of Interaction Heather Wiltse Advisor: Professor Erik Stolterman Committee: Professor Erik Stolterman, Professor Mary Gray, Professor Jeff Bardzell, Professor Selma Sabanovic Date: Monday, October 8 Time: 4:15pm Location: … Continue reading Dissertation proposal next week!
This post is also cross posted on the Social Informatics Blog. Interdisciplinarity is a concept that is frequently lauded but notoriously challenging to realize. Practical realities like publication and tenure requirements and conceptions of what counts as valid research in established fields tend to push even the best-intentioned academics toward more well-trodden and recognizable paths, … Continue reading The difficulty of interdisciplinary narratives
This post was also cross posted on the Social Informatics Blog. In the New York Times today there is an article about Google X, the top-secret lab for big ideas at Google. According to the article, the future being imagined here is “a place where your refrigerator could be connected to the Internet, so it could order groceries when … Continue reading Imagining digital futures, or, What is it about refrigerators ordering groceries?
In today’s New York Times there was an article that proclaimed that data “is a vital raw material of the information economy, much as coal and iron ore were in the Industrial Revolution.” At least this is the conclusion reached based on a forthcoming study. The only challenge seems to be figuring out how to … Continue reading Data is never raw
A few days ago I read Pieter Tijmes’ excellent chapter on Albert Borgmann’s philosophy of technology in the book American Philosophy of Technology: The Empirical Turn, before getting sucked into NPR Music’s equally (although differently) excellent live stream of concerts in their showcase at the South By Southwest (SXSW) conference. That juxtoposition got me thinking … Continue reading NPR, SXSW, and the nature of (digital) experience
I just put together a position statement for a particular venue, but realized in the process that I was basically writing the first draft of my dissertation proposal. So I thought I would post that part here. Digital technologies increasingly shape the ways in which we know about and engage with the world. They mediate … Continue reading Dissertation proposal first draft
I ran across this video of Andrew Feenberg giving a book talk for the release of the volume he edited on The Essential Marcuse. He talks about Marcuse’s thought in the context of his life, and he is able to give a personal perspective as well since he was one of his students. It also … Continue reading Feenberg on Marcuse
I’m uploading the course syllabus that I designed as an assignment for the advanced pedagogy course I’m taking this semester. I would really love to teach this class someday. Feedback and suggestions welcome! Design and Society Syllabus v2.0
Heather Wiltse, PhD 