New Introductory Courses in History (200-0-30)
Topic
Global Tech
Instructors
Edisson Aguilar
Meeting Info
Annenberg Hall G32: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
Technology is everywhere in the news nowadays. Some describe the changes it will bring with fear, some others with enthusiasm, but rarely with a cool head. Fears about AI destroying humanity or hopes for its future are just two faces of the same problem: we fear or we love technology, but do we understand it? Technology is often presented as a quick fix to solving complex human problems without the need to radically alter our behaviour or economy. Some say that climate change can be addressed with geoengineering or Direct Carbon Capture. And just this year, AirPods began to offer to translate foreign languages in real time, possibly eliminating the nuisance of having to learn other languages. But is technology a neutral tool to be used as we please? Confusion arises from the way we understand technology, as we tend to focus only on high-tech, large-scale systems, ignoring the less visible but more impactful technologies. But are the same technologies significant to different people around the world? What are the social, economic, and political limits of technological solutions?
In this course, we will explore the global history of technology in at least four ways: First, we will study the historical changes in the Western conception of technology in comparison with notions of technology and the material beyond Europe and North America. Second, we will explore how people in the past have also attached meanings, hopes and fears to technology, showing that our ambiguous relationship to technology is not as new or definitive as we might think. Third, we will consider the ways that seemingly "ordinary" technologies have shaped the lives of people in different periods and geographies. And fourth, we will trace the relationship between ‘old' and ‘new' technologies, alongside notions of obsolescence, technical change and the repurposing of existing technology. Our goal will be to understand the global process by which societies in different places have adopted technologies and understood their social role.
Learning Objectives
Critically analyse the historical changes in the concept of technology in Western societies and compare them with ideas about technology and the material world in other places.
Understand the historical meanings, promises, hopes, and fears attached to technology.
Critically assess the relevance/significance of technology and the dynamics of technical change and use.
Engage with the history of technology in a variety of geographies to understand ‘technology' as a global process, not restricted to industrialised countries.
Develop basic skills to analyse diverse primary sources related to technology (technical documents, old academic texts, press reports, policy documents, and artefacts).
Evaluation Method
Videobook review (30%), final essay (40%), participation (30%)
Class Notes
Attendance at first class mandatory.
History Major Concentration(s): Global
History Minor Concentration(s): Science and Technology
Class Attributes
Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area