HISTORY 161 - History of Economics and Technology

Institution:

Bard College

Subject:

Description:

GIS, STS A survey of the history and historiography of technology in the late modern period. The course begins by considering how a separate domain of technology first came to be defined, in theory and practice, during the 18th century and goes on to address how institutional forces such as law, academia, business, and government came to define and influence technological change and scientific research during the industrial revolution. Studies focus on technology as a process embedded within research agendas, institutions, social expectations, economics, and specific use, and thus as part of a broader "sociotechnical system."Case studies ranging from the bicycle to the birth control pill help students generate "internal"accounts of the development of technology and science in conjunction with "external"accounts of the historical context of technologies. The course concludes with an assessment of recent approaches to the history of technology. Authors read include Hacking, Heidegger, Hughes, Landes, Latour, Lenoir, Luhmann,Mokyr, Spengler, andWise.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.bard.edu

Phone Number:

(845) 758-6822

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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