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Communication Technology and Society (214-0-70)

Instructors

Harsha Man Maharjan

Meeting Info

Northwestern Qatar Room 3-216: Mon, Wed 10:00AM - 11:15AM (AST)

Overview of class

The first half of the course will address the smartphone and other more recent digital hardware and software technologies (e.g., the Internet, the World Wide Web, computer games, the physical information infrastructure, Google, WhatsApp, YouTube), along with policy controversies surrounding them, such as commercial and political surveillance, intellectual property and file-downloads, drone applications, "net neutrality", and Internet governance. The second half will explore how human society developed and used communication technologies from the earliest cave paintings and alphabets, through stone carving, clay tablets, papyrus, paper and the printing press; and then the telegraph, cables, telephone, recorded sound, radio, cinema and television. Students will acquire an introductory overview of how society has shaped communication technologies over the course of human history, and how in turn society has been shaped by their uses. They will develop understanding of major policy and analytical controversies surrounding their applications, including issues of access to media technologies and more general arguments concerning the interrelation of economic and political power with technology.

Registration Requirements


  • Prerequisites: None

  • Sophomores and above

  • Open for cross-registration

Class Attributes

Reserved for NU Qatar Students

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Registration is reserved for sophomore, juniors, and seniors only.