Overview

For this project, you will work in groups of 2 to 3 to create a presentation about an engineering narrative of your choosing. You will present your work to the class in a 10 minute presentation on September 21st, 2023.

Questions to answer in your presentation

1. What is the engineering narrative you chose? (10%)
2. Who does this narrative serve? Who is harmed? (25%)
3. What evidence supports this narrative? What opposes it?* (40%)
4. What are some counter or alternative narratives to this one? How do these narratives shift who the narrative serves or harms? (25%)

• Given the short amount of time for this assignment, I do not expect this research to be extensive. Ideally you would review about 3-5 thorough primary sources (news articles, research articles, youtube videos, podcasts, etc.). This can include readings we are using for class. Include a list at the end as references. Feel free to ask me for suggestions.

Example narratives

• Only white men who drop out of college and start companies in their garage can be successful in tech
• Engineering/STEM is apolitical
• Technology is neutral
• Technological progress is inevitable
• You have to “move fast” and “break things” to be successful
• Certain groups are naturally better at engineering than others

We’ll go over more as a group in class…

Presentation Format

Your presentation should use slides that can be uploaded as a single PDF to Moodle for my reference for grading. Otherwise, your presentation can be in an any format so long as it answers the questions listed above in some way and is 10 minutes or less.