From the first forms of writing all the way to the current digital age, communication technologies have helped define what it means to be human. This course focuses the history of innovations in communication technologies and how these have been used to bring humans together; convey the ideas of art, literature, religion, philosophy and politics; spread commerce and increase wealth; persuade and deceive; and generate advances in and help transmit science. The course examines five media revolutions, all of which have had an ecological effect on human society: literary and artistic (writing and the visual arts), mechanical (the printing press), electric (the telegraph, telephone and cinema), electronic (radio and television) and digital (computing, the internet, social media and AI). The course materials include artefacts, images, texts and film.
Crosslisting: HSTC 2401.03
