Course overview
The young people of today will experience more change in their lifetimes than any previous generation of humans. They might even be the last generation of Homo sapiens. To grasp the magnitude of the current technological revolution, it is necessary to step back and place it in the bigger picture. This course explores the long history of the two-way relationship between humans and technology over the last 200,000 years. Humans create new forms of technology, but every significant technological innovation rewires society and changes us both physically and psychologically. During the course we examine in turn the impact on humans and human society of the following: (1) Stone tools, abstract language, and the domestication of fire; (2) The Neolithic agricultural revolution, metallurgy, and writing; (3) Gunpowder and the printing press; (4) The steam engine; (5) Telecommunications, e.g. telegraph, radio, television; (6) Digital technologies, genetic engineering and the hybridisation of humans and machines.
Course learning outcomes
- Demonstrate a broad knowledge of the relationship over time between technology, human society, and human biology and psychology.
- Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the impact of one specific technological innovation.
- Engage with the theoretical literature on humans and technology, identify the strengths and weaknesses of scholars' arguments, and present independent conclusions in a variety of formats.
- Collaborate with other students in research tasks and the presentations of findings.
- Engage with the historical, political, social, biological, and ethical issues that are raised by the technological revolution of the twenty-first century.