Innovation and social change: The history of technology

In this unit, you will be introduced to humanistic and social scientific concepts that can help you evaluate the role that technological objects, systems, and processes play in social change as well as in shaping politics and the experience of everyday life. You will begin by investigating the relationship between technology and history, exploring notions of progress and technological determinism. You will then evaluate the connections between technology, politics, and society through case studies of different technological objects and systems in a variety of locations and time periods. Through readings, in-class discussions, and an independent research project that you design, you will apply appropriate theories and methods from the field of history of technology, science and technology studies, and material culture studies to the analysis of a specific technological artefact, system, process, or practice.