Science and Technology

ACADEMIC COURSES - ONLINE

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Artificial Intelligence

with John LaSala, Ph.D. Wednesdays, Feb. 3 – March 3 Five sessions • 1 – 2:30 p.m. $65

In this course, we will investigate multiple aspects of artificial intelligence, a.k.a. “machine intelligence.” Starting with its development after WWII, learn about the many false starts leading to its recent explosion into our lives and about the technologies that enabled it. We will learn the rudiments of deep learning and convolutional neural networks that make technologies like speech and facial recognition possible, as well as their limitations and risks. We will explore the impact AI may have on our lives, including self-driving cars, job-displacement and associated ethical issues. Finally, we look ahead to the possibility of general AI embodying human-level intelligence, and discuss the technological, philosophical, ethical and even existential implications. For a full description, please refer to LaSala’s web page at www.johnlasala.net/spring-2021.html. OLLI member John LaSala earned his Ph.D. in applied physics at Stanford University. He served as active duty U.S. Army officer for 12 years as a physics professor and lab director at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point. He also held the Class of ’67 Endowed Professor of Physics role at West Point, where he developed a course on renewable energy. Upon retirement from the Army, he spent 15 years in private industry, specializing in lasers and optics to develop new products and businesses. He volunteers as a business student mentor in UNCW’s Cameron Executive Network.

Gendering Technology

with Sarah Hallenbeck, Ph.D. Tuesdays, March 23 – April 13 Four sessions • 3 – 4:30 p.m. $60

Would it surprise you to know that the microwave was first sold in the electronics section of department stores, geared toward young bachelors who didn’t know how to cook? Or that electric cars were available during the early 20th century, but (mostly male) drivers preferred the dirtier and noisier experience of the gas-powered car? In this class, explore these unexpected moments in the history of technology, focusing on the ways that technologies—such as the microwave and the automobile— become gendered, affecting who uses them, to what ends they are used, and how we think of what it means to be “masculine” or “feminine.”

Sarah Hallenbeck is an associate professor of English at UNCW, where she teaches courses in professional writing and rhetoric, as well as women’s and gender studies and the Honors College. In addition to her current work on inventors, Hallenbeck has written a book about late 19th century women bicyclists. She examined how these women used persuasive, creative, travel and technical writing to shape their experiences on wheels. Other past projects have involved the rhetoric surrounding contemporary "baby-wearing", nineteenth-century telegraphic work, and early 20th century Girl Scout manuals.

Complex Systems, How They Fail (and Why You Should Care)

with Lee Ward, Ed.D., M.S. Thursdays, April 8 – 29 Four sessions • 10 – 11:30 a.m. $60

We live in a world in which many complex technologies, machines and organizations seem incomprehensible and uncontrollable. Notable catastrophes – Space Shuttle Challenger, B.P. Deepwater Horizon, Three Mile Island, Hurricane Katrina, Yarnell Hill Wildfire, the coronavirus pandemic – were not only technological failures, but human and organizational failures as well. This non-technical, cross-disciplinary course will explore the causes and costs of complex system failure and how rational people become blinded to the presence of danger, the probability of catastrophe and the consequences of their actions.

Lee Ward is director of the James Madison University Career Center. He is also an assistant professor in the College of Integrated Science and Engineering at James Madison University, where he teaches courses on complex systems and how they fail. He has presented at more than 50 national and international conferences and is the author of several books, book chapters and academic articles.