Check out the course webpage for more details! 

AI, social media, Microsoft Excel . . . Most of us spend much of our lives staring at glowing rectangles. But what if we decided to live our lives differently? How do we find ways to keep the things we care about most – connection, news, entertainment, creativity – but ditch what we dislike – environmental damage, tech oligarchs, labour exploitation, invasions of our privacy, and the destruction of our democracies. What would that world look like and how can we work together to bring it about?

This course will explore new and old ways of moving beyond our screens and our computers, and the 'whys' that animate those decisions. It will culminate in an opportunity to be part of a "digital node" of the international 'Limits 2025: Computing within Limits' online conference. (LIMITS 2025 -- Workshop on Computing within Limits)

Your instructor

Mandy Henk has been concerned about computers since she was a student library assistant tasked with tossing out old bound journals that were newly available on JSTOR. This seemed unwise to her back in 1998 and nothing in the decades since has changed her mind. Her 2014 book, Ecology, Economy, Equity: The Path to a Carbon Neutral Library (ALA) deepened her critical approach to technology and her years as CEO of Tohatoha Aotearoa Commons further cemented her interest in developing community-led alternatives to the current digital world. Mandy was a Luddite way before it was cool and still prefers her Freewrite to her MacBook and her physical copy of 1984 to the digital one that Amazon disappeared from her Kindle. 

Zoom sessions
12 May - 28 June 2025

NZST: Tuesday 12:00 pm

EST: Monday 6:00 pm

PST: Monday 3:00 pm

Week 1: Why Decomputing?
This week we will explore why we might want to engage in decomputing. From environmental damage to political harm to labour exploitation, we will peer into the dark side of computers and the world they have helped to bring about. As part of that we will talk about and read critiques of computing going as far back as the 1960s and all the way up to the present day.

Week 2: Connection and Communication
All of my friends are pocket friends! But how do we reconcile that with a desire to spend less of our wild and precious lives staring at a screen? This week we will explore (but probably not solve!) how to maintain and build connections with our friends outside of the reach of Silicon Valley tech companies.

Week 3: Computing and Environmental Harms
The environmental harms of computing - from mining to energy and water use through to e-waste - are often hidden from view. This week we will peel back the layers and take a look at the environmental costs of our digital world and what people around the world are doing to protect our natural world.

Week 4: What about e-ink alternatives?
Is e-ink part of the answer to our digital dilemma? What can e-ink offer us as readers, writers, and thinkers? We will explore the world of e-readers, e-typewriters, and other e-ink alternatives to see if perhaps these devices offer us a middle ground between our laptops and scribbling with a dip pen.

Week 5: Decomputing: The Antifascist Argument
With Trump and Musk sitting in the White House calling for more AI in government, the question of antifascism and technology is an urgent one. This week we will explore the long relationship between fascism and digital technology. Is AI inherently fascist?  What about computing in general? Are there antiracist alternatives and what might those look like?

Week 6: Moving beyond streaming services
Streaming is killing the music industry and stupefying our television shows. How can we support these creative industries without getting involved in subscription services that harm artists and deny us the next season of our favourite shows? Maybe we will find the answer or maybe we will just sit around and talk about possibilities for Season 3 of Severance. Either way, we will sort out how to keep your record player singing!

Week 7: Reinventing Luddism for the 21st Century
The political economy of technology has long been a contentious and acrimonious topic of debate. This week we will explore the contemporary Luddite movement. From gig economy workers to Amazon warehouse staff, we will look at resistance and revolt within the technology workforce and start thinking about how we can be part of that movement.

Week 8: Limits 2025: Computing within Limits Conference
This week our class will become a "node" of the 2025 international Computing within Limits online conference! Here we will hear a wide range of ideas and perspectives on the concept of computing within limits and learn what the cutting edge of this emerging idea looks like, with fellow decomputing travelers from around the world.