LARTS 383 — History of Technology and Social Change, 1800 to the Present

3 credits
Fall
Dan Ewert

How do we balance technology’s exciting potential with its unforeseen (and sometimes disastrous) consequences? Today, as we confront the challenges presented by artificial intelligence and big data, it can be tempting to imagine ourselves in an unprecedented time of technological and social change. But for centuries, people have worried that new technologies that promise greater productivity, faster travel and communication, and better social organization might also bring about destructive transformations. This course introduces students to the history of technological changes since 1800 that led to new experiences of time, place, and identity, often unsettling people accustomed to older ways of being. How did the railroad change people’s relationship to food? Why did the rise of consumerism cause a moral panic about gender roles? What impact did computers have on movements for social justice? Through a series of historical case studies drawing on primary sources, popular culture, and perspectives from scholars in a range of academic disciplines, this course helps students interpret the social impact of some of the most important technological changes of the last two hundred years.