Ten Technologies That Shook the World?

Catalog description

In 1919, journalist John Reed published Ten Days That Shook the World about the 1917 Russian Revolution. Some events are so transformative, Reed argued, they change the course of history. This class examines then technologies that ?shook? the world over the past half millennium. Or did they? Can technology drive history? How should we think about the relationship between technology and culture, society, politics and the environment? This course challenges many popular understandings of technology and technological change, introducing students to major concepts in the history and social studies of technology, including technological determinism, systems, infrastructure, skill, technopolitics, envirotechs, users, and maintenance repair. Technologies addressed will vary, but may include the slave ship, factory, climate control, atmoic bomb, and plastic. (HIST-HTR)