Information Age

Computing technology and its corollaries, as we know, have changed the way that we work and think in countless ways. From the first computers to AI writing tools and social media, we are often painfully aware of the way that information technology determines our daily lives. In this course, we will explore the history of information technology, beginning with early computing systems and ending with personal computing, the internet, and social media. However, in the course of surveying the history of these topics, we will stay focused on questions of society and politics: what are the social effects of information technologies? How have military or corporate incentives influenced their development? What can we learn about US economic and social life by focusing on information technology in history? Is another word desirable, or possible? In order to answer these questions, we will think especially about the development of computing in the context of histories of capitalism and work, and the social roles that are central to its reproduction (gender, race, class, and so on). Readings include primary sources in the history of computing and information technology, historical work on these topics, and contemporary essays that criticize the way that information technology has reconfigured our lives