Coures Details
MWF 2:30-3:20
Professor Ronald Kline
1120 Snee Hall
94 Rhodes Hall
rk1@cornell.edu
Office Hours: Wed., 1:15-2:15, or by appointment.
Required Texts
- Thomas J. Misa, Leonardo to the Internet: Technology and Culture from the Renaissance to the Present (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004).
- Frederick Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 (1835).
- Willa Cather, Alexander’s Bridge (1912).
- Harold Loeb, Life in a Technocracy: What It Might Be Like (1933).
- Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968).
Course Work
Percentage of Grade
- Four essays (20% each)
- Weekly reading responses and participation in discussion section (20%)
Course Schedule
We will hold a class discussion in 1120 Snee Hall every Friday, unless otherwise noted.
- Friday Aug. 29
Introduction - Week 1: Sept. 1-5
Movement of Technology from China to Europe; Engineering in the Renaissance
Reading: Misa, chaps. 1-2 - Week 2: Sept. 8-12
What Was the “Industrial Revolution”?
Reading: Misa, chap. 2; Engels, “Introduction,” chaps. 1-4 - Week 3: Sept. 15-19
Textile Industry; Coal, Iron, and Steam
Reading: Misa, chap. 3; Engels, chaps. 6, 9. - Week 4: Sept. 22-26
Counter Narratives: Criticizing the Industrial Revolution
Reading: Engels, chaps. 5, 8, 11
Essay 1 Handout 9/19, due 9/29 - Week 5: Sept. 29-Oct. 3
Geographical Expansion of Industrialization
Reading: Handout. - Week 6: Oct. 6-10
Technology, Colonialism, and Imperialism
Reading: Misa, chap. 4. - Oct. 11-14: Fall Break
- Week 7: Oct. 15-17
American Engineering in the 19th Century
Reading: Cather, all.
Essay 2 Handout 10/17, due 10/27 - Week 8: Oct. 20-24
Urbanization; Machine Age Inventors
Reading: Misa, chaps. 5-6 - Week 9: Oct. 27-31
The Rise of Mass Consumption
Reading: Loeb, chaps. 1-2. - Week 10: Nov. 3-7
Government and Technology in the Great Depression
Reading: Loeb, rest of book.
Essay 3 Handout 11/7, due, 11/17. - Week 11: Nov. 10-14
Technology in World War II and the Cold War
Reading: Misa, chap. 7; Dick, chaps. 1-6. - Week 12: Nov. 17-21
Postwar Consumerism
Reading: Dick, chaps. 7-13. - Monday: Nov. 24
Counter Narratives: Dehumanization and Environmentalism
Reading: Dick, chaps. 14-16. - Nov. 26-30 Thanksgiving Recess
- Week 13: Dec. 1-5
Information Technology and Globalization
Reading: Misa, chaps. 8-9; Dick, chaps. 17-22.
Essay 4 Handout 12/35, due on the date of the final exam.