STSC 160 The Information Age
Cross-listed as HSOC 011
Offered:Fall 2008
Prof. Ensmenger TR 12-1:30
Certain new technologies are greeted with claims that, for good or ill, they must transform our society. The two most recent: the computer and the Internet. But the series of social, economic, and technological developments that underlie what is often called the “Information Revolution” include much more than just the computer. In this course, we explore the history of information technology and its role in contemporary society. We will explore both the technologies themselves -- from telephones to computers to video games -- as well as their larger social, economic, and political context. To understand the roots of these ideas we look at the pre-history of the computer, at the idea of the "post industrial" or "information' society," at parallels with earlier technologies and at broad currents in the development of American society.
