English 2312: Texts, Discourse and Technologies
Section 001, CRN 51663
Section 002, CRN 51664
Catalog Description: Survey of technologies of text production, publication, and consumption, from manuscript, through the printing press, to the Internet, and across cultures
Course Purpose: Students will learn to analyze and discuss the history and social impact of the technologies involved in text production, including writing systems, manuscript, the printing press, industrialization, and digitization. Because these technologies have developed in (and developed differently in) a variety of cultures, students will learn about dynamics between technology and culture, such as the development of paper and movable type in China, the development of the printing press in Europe, and the intercultural growth of the Internet and social media technologies. Lectures and student projects will examine how particular moments in the history of the book engage with cultural and social change: for example, how the printing press enabled the pamphlet wars leading to the social and political disruption of the French Revolution, and how those debates were communicated through a variety of means (print, visual, oral) throughout Europe and beyond; how literacy efforts such as the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge worked to expand access to education and information to the lower classes; how emerging social media catalyze and enable global activism and democratic movements; etc. Students will learn the best practices of communicating ethically in a digital environment by participating in a service learning project focused on civic engagement
Taught in two sections by Dr. Craig Baehr and Dr. Ann Hawkins
