HSTR 207 - Science & Technology in World History

3 (Hrs. 3 Lec.)

Though primarily based in history, this is as an interdisciplinary course that also incorporates literature, film, philosophy, and sociology in order to evaluate and explain the changing relationship between society, technology, and the environment in world history. Chronologically, the main focus is on the historical period known as “modernism.” Using this focus, the course will explore the relationship between society and technology, and how this relationship bears on the environment, as three major historical developments: Systematization & standardization, technology as solution to social problems, and technology as a social problem. The course concludes with an examination of the postmodern relationship between technology, society, and the environment and what this might portend for the future.