Technology in American History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours

Catalog description

Prerequisites: ENGL 102 with a grade of C or higher, and a course fulfilling the History and Humanities GER 200 level course with a grade of C or higher. Survey of the history of American technology emphasizing the social and economic environments of technological change. Topics include the transfer of technology in building canals and cities, the rise of the factory system, the emergence of the American system of manufacture, and the development of major technological systems such as the railroad, telegraph, electric light and power, and automobile production and use. Focus on the professionalization of engineering practice, the industrialization of invention, and the growing links between engineers and corporate capitalism in the 20th century. This course may be used to satisfy a three credit 300 level GER in History and Humanities.