Technology & Society

Technology & Society

Online
Course Number
STSC 0600 900
Course Code
STSC0600900
Course Key
76567
Day(s)
Monday
Wednesday
Time
5:15pm-7:15pm
5:15pm-7:15pm
Instructor
SCHIRVAR, SAMUEL W
Primary Program
Fulfills
Society Sector (All Classes)
Course Description
Technology plays an increasing role in our understandings of ourselves, our communities, and our societies, in how we think about politics and war, science and religion, work and play. Humans have made and used technologies, though, for thousands if not millions of years. In this course, we will use this history as a resource to understand how technolgoeis affect social relations, and coversely how the culture of a society shapes the technologies it produces. Do different technolgoeis produce or result from different economic systems like feudalism, capitalism and communism? Can specific technologies promote democratic or authoritarian politics? Do they suggest or enforce different patterns of race, class or gender relations? Among the technologies we'll consider will be large objects like cathedrals, bridges, and airplanes; small ones like guns, clocks and birth control pills; and networks like the electrical grid, the highway system and the internet.