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Further Required Readings:
- De Gheyn, The Renaissance Drill Book.
- MacGregor Knox and Williamson Murray,
The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300-2050 (Cambridge
Univ. Press, 2001) -- selections
- Department of Defense, Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA), "Bridging
the Gap" (March 2004).
- Elizabeth Eisenstein, The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1983).
- Required chapter: "Defining the Initial
Shift."
- Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin, Remediation:
Understanding New Media (The MIT Press 2000).
- Douglas S. Robertson, Phase Change: The Computer Revolution in
Science and Mathematics (Oxford Univ. Press, 2003):
selections
- Norman J. W. Thrower, Maps and Civilization: Cartography in Culture
and Society (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1999) -- selections.
- Steven Vertovec
& Robin Cohen, eds., Conceiving
Cosmopolitanism (Oxford Univ. Press, 2002) -- selections.
Course Description:
In reviewing the radical technological and
scientific advances of the early modern period and the revolutionary cultural
and political changes that followed, we may more clearly evaluate the
intersection of science, technology, and society. Seminar participants will
read in cultural context a variety of primary and secondary sources from the
early modern era. Eventually they will examine how late modern culture
impinges on and is effected by the production of scientific and technological
research; how the way we produce knowledge affects the content of that
knowledge; the long-term effects of reorganizing written material; the
possibility or desirability of “digital fixity”; how the rapid
dissemination of knowledge affects (or helps manipulate) political consciousness;
the forces at play in decisions about scientific and medical research; how
the rapid adaptation of advanced military strategies may affect both our view
of our position in the world and the global balance of power. In reading
texts from the early modern period and thinking about twenty-first-century
technologies, students will ponder whether it possible to restrict science
and technology for the service of humanity.
Objectives:
Students in this course will gain an
awareness that
- Since science and technology are not ahistorical, immaculate conceptions, sprung ex nihilo
- Instead, they are inevitably enmeshed in the
age and society that produce the
- The cultural values of a society will define
the nature and process of scientific inquiry and technological research
- The driving forces of the modern western world
began in the Renaissance, and are still much in evidence today:
- an expanding, global, market economy
- the beginnings of the nation-state
- the rise of individualism
- the beginnings of scientific materialism
- the beginnings of instrumental reason
- Through a study of history and culture can we
understand the relationship between those forces and the development of
science and technology
To that end, students will read texts that
help them:
- Analyze the relationships among science,
technology, and society
- the economic, political, religious, military
context of early modern science and technology
- the economic, political, religious, military
context of late modern science and technology
- Trace the impact of scientific and
technological developments on society, in the early modern and late
modern worlds
- Analyze conflicting cultural values in
scientific and technological research of the early modern and late
modern worlds
- Analyze critically the sources of information
about science and technology
Assignments and Grading:
To achieve these objectives, you will
carefully analyze texts and their historical context, prepare each text
carefully for class discussion, use selected websites for class preparation,
and participate fully and enthusiastically in class.
The seminar:
Readings:
- The heaviest readings will be assigned in the
first half of the course.
- On Tuesdays, we shall read the cultural and
economic context provided in Worldly
Goods. I shall provide an interactive overview in which you
may raise any questions or comments or discuss any aspect of the text. Ocassionally I'll give you questions to think about
beforehand, or websites to visit for visual resources. This will set the
topic for the week.
- On Thursdays, we shall often read primary
texts that further explain the background of Early Modern science and
technology. Students will lead the discussion on these texts and on the
topic for the week, often comparing early and late modern contexts. I
expect to have seriously lively discussions.
Projects:
- Each student will engage in a semester-long
project that has several steps and pieces due at regular intervals.
- The topics will be determined by the student's
area of interest or competence
- The aim is to determine how cultural forces
affect scientific or technological research and how that research in
turn changes society in different, sometimes unpredictable ways.
- Procedure:
- choose a topic, i.e., research in military technology of a specific
type, medical research of a specific type, research in mathematics or
computing technology of a specific type -- you will decide how specific
this will be. Since you are now involved in a thesis, you may use this
project to provide deep and sincere reflection on the type of research
in which you are engaged or hope/expect to be engaged in the future.
- follow its coverage in scientific or other
journals and newspapers to determine what forces impinge on the
production of or investment in the research: economic/industrial/financial,
political, cultural values that are peculiar to modern western or US society
- follow its coverage in scientific or other
journals and newspapers to determine the effects, desired or undesired,
of the scientific or technological research and development on the full
aspects of the society (and beyond) that produced it -- i.e., on the
economic/industrial/financial system, on the political realm, in the
cultural realm -- as well as to respond to the problems, needs, and
welfare of humanity.
- Deadlines:
- Early in the semester you will choose your
topic.
- Each week you will list the articles you have
chosen and give me a short annotation of them
- Deadlines will soon be set for the completion
of various sections and drafts of the project
Grading:
- Because this is a seminar, your participation
is crucial to its success. I appreciate a cheerful attitude and
thoughtful discussion of various ideas. Your preparation and response
will be a part of this grade.
- Your project will be graded on its several
parts: annotated bibliography of the research; various drafts; your full
reflection on the context and implications of the research; and
presentation to the class.
Grade Summary:
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Class Participation and
leadership:
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50%
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Final Project:
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50%
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Total:
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100%
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Attendance Policy:
More than 3 absences will seriously
affect your final grade. The
Dean's office does not grant excused absences. If you have trouble making a
class or an assignment, see me. You are responsible for all makeup work. Failure
to produce any of the assigned requirements will result in a zero for the
course.
Class web site and assignments:
All assignments will be posted on the web
and on Blackboard. I will not pass out assignments in class. You
are expected to refer to our web page daily, as I shall be updating it
constantly. The assignment is due on
the date it is posted.
Plagiarism Policy:
Any act of plagiarism will result in a
zero for the assignment, a zero for the semester class participation grade,
and notification to your advisor and to the academic integrity board for
recommended action.
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