STS.001 Technology in American History, Spring 2003
Name
STS-001Spring-2003/OcwWeb/Science--Technology--and-Society/STS-001Technology-in-American-HistorySpring2003/CourseHome/index.htm
Size
16.69 KB
Format
HTML
Checksum (MD5)
db401c5550d78691d5a6a45dfe3585ad
Author(s)
Smith, Merritt Roe, 1940-
Alternative Title
Technology in American History
Date Issued
June 2003
Abstract
A survey of America's transition from a rural, agrarian, and artisan society to one of the world's leading industrial powers. Treats the emergence of industrial capitalism: the rise of the factory system; new forms of power, transport, and communication; the advent of the large industrial corporation; the social relations of production; and the hallmarks of science-based industry. Views technology as part of the larger culture and reveals innovation as a process consisting of a range of possibilities that are chosen or rejected according to the social criteria of the time. From the course home page: Course Description This course will consider the ways in which technology, broadly defined, has contributed to the building of American society from colonial times to the present. This course has three primary goals: to train students to ask critical questions of both technology and the broader American culture of which it is a part; to provide an historical perspective with which to frame and address such questions; and to encourage students to be neither blind critics of new technologies, nor blind advocates for technologies in general, but thoughtful and educated participants in the democratic process.
Subjects
colonization
Civil War
World War II
Cold War
industrialization
mass production
craftsmanship
transportation
Taylorism
aeronautics
systems approach
computers
control
automation
nature
popular culture
terrorism
rural society
agrarian society
artisan society
industrial society
power
industrial capitalism
factory system
transport
communication
industrial corporation
social relations
production
science-based industry
technology
innovation
process
social criteria
American history
America
technologies
democratic process
political
politics
progress
United States
U.S.
Science -- History -- United States
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Science, Technology and Society
Terms of Use
Persistent DSpace Link
