Popular Culture and the Scientific Revolution

Catalog description

In this history seminar, we will explore some of the quintessential concepts of the scientific revolution, the multivalent ways in which these ideas were disseminated, contemporary reactions, as well as the interrelationship between popular culture and scientific processes. Rather than analyzing scientific happenings as though they occurred in a vacuum, there will be a strong emphasis on situating competing ways of knowing within the contemporary social, political, economic, and cultural contexts. While developing their abilities to analyze primary sources and critically engage with scholarship—both orally and in writing—students will question overly simplified linear narratives of scientific and mathematical change, as well as the notion that scientific “advancements” were inevitable. Prerequisite: GPS or Sophomore standing. Fulfillment: CORE STS; Humanities Advanced Course (18-19: topic).