Making the World: An Introduction to the History of Technology

HISTSCI 101 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

We exist in a world economy increasingly stitched together by complex technical systems. But as we race toward a future defined by automation and algorithmic decision-making, we are faced with questions that technology itself cannot answer: we know technology matters, but how? Is history driven by machines, or by the people who build them? How have societies in the past navigated the seismic social upheavals caused by new inventions? What might the future hold in store for us?

In this course, we will arm you with ways of understanding technology that will help you become a better user, and a more responsible maker, of technical things in our thoroughly technological world. We will do this by immersing you in an arresting survey of the social life of technology across the globe, with special attention to moments--like the one in which we are currently living--of technological revolutions. History is not just about the past: it is a way of understanding how we have come to inherit the present world that we have, and how to ethically navigate that world.