STSC 061 Text Message: From telegraph to mobile phone
Offered:Fall 2009
Mills W 2-5
Freshman Seminar
Camera, computer, music player, game console, global positioning system: Is a cell phone still a telephone? This course examines the convergence of different
technologies and cultures in telephony since the late nineteenth century. We will survey the technical development of the telephone, from its roots in telegraphy to the first radio and portable phones to the present era of mobile computing. Through these different formats, we will trace the history and persistence of “telephonic principles” such as interaction, immediacy, and universality. We will also examine the telephone’s exchanges with literature, art and film. Along the way, we will consider telephony in a variety of social contexts: national and transnational telephone cultures; genres of text messaging; the relationship of communication technology to public, private, and virtual space.
