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How can an inanimate object be biased? How is it possible for a machine or software to discriminate on the basis of race, gender, or economic status? After all, machines are supposed be free from the lapses of judgement that can cloud human minds. And yet, the more we rely on digital technologies, the more we realize that algorithms are not as neutral and objective as we hoped they would be. This course traces the origins of computer bias to the aspirations, ideals, metaphors, hopes, fears, and, of course, biases of the people who developed computer technologies. During the semester, we will learn about the humble origins of computing technologies, the original, human “computers” in astronomical labs, Alan Turing’s invention of a “digital” mechanical computer to decipher Nazi codes, the Cybernetics movement, the models of rationality and intelligence that guided the development of AI, the gendering of the computing profession, the advent of personal computers, and more. While exploring these episodes in the history of computing we will discuss and analyze the social and structural origins of computer and algorithm bias.