Robots in Human Ecology: A Hands-on Course for Anthropologists, Engineers, and Policymakers

Are robots as capable, autonomous, or dangerous as often depicted in the public imagination? Can robots save the world? If so, whose vision of the world do they actualize? This course provides opportunities for students from STEM, social sciences, and humanities to collaborate with Boston Dynamics' SPOT. Through in-class discussions about the potential roles, meanings, and ethics of robots in society and accompanying hands-on lab practicums manipulating a robot for generating its ethically-sound and community-engaged applications on campus, students will innovate and propose Princeton models of introducing robots in human ecology.