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Course Syllabus

2023/2024

The History of Technological Development in Society

Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'
Type: Mago-Lego
Delivered by: Department of Educational Programmes
When: 3 module
Open to: students of all HSE University campuses
Instructors: Thomas Thurner
Language: English
ECTS credits: 3
Contact hours: 32

Course Syllabus

Full Syllabus

Abstract

The course consists of one module and is designed for master students of the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE). The course length is 150 academic hours in total of which 40 hours are class room hours for lectures and 110 hours are devoted to self study. a. Pre-requisites - Interest in technological development and innovation processes - Creative thinking b. Abstract: Humans interact with each other and their environment through technology - that is the use of materials, energy, tools, and complex machines. Technology has been designed and created to serve human needs and desires. On the other hand, technology has itself shaped human co-existence and societies and became a defining feature of human existence. This course studies the bidirectional nature of this relationship through discussing technology as the outcome of particular technical, historical, cultural, and political efforts and the societal consequences triggered through technological change. Also, the analysis will include how political, military, economic, social, and religious objectives have guided the design and use of technology.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • To study how technological and societal development have influenced and nourished each other.
  • To cover episodes of mechanization, communications, electronics, computers, power & energy, or military technology.
  • To build on historical examples of technological development and societal change and comments and reflects on the two latest major publications on the subject.
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • Naming some of the key innovations and understanding the far-reaching social changes introduced by the industrial revolution
  • Understanding how the emerging technologies changed the view of the human and the natural, naming and dating some of the most important technological developments
  • Understanding the importance of the space race and the associated technological breakthroughs
  • Understanding the role of design and technology in consumer culture
  • Understanding the role of niche markets in driving technological development
  • Understand the interplay of civil and military technologies
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • Topic 1. From the emergence of Homo Sapiens to the Middle ages
  • Topic 2. Technology and war: from ancient warfare to the Renaissance engineers
  • Topic 3. The telescope, the heliocentric worldview, the printing press and the measurement of time
  • Topic 4. The laws of motion, universal gravitation, and electricity.
  • Topic 5. The industrial revolution: The mechanization of the production process and the rise of the factory.
  • Topic 6. The history of space exploration: Sputnik, the Apollo missions, the space race and new horizons.
  • Topic 7. The history of car design: The Benz Motorcar, muscle and silhouette cars, and the most successful series of mass-produced cars.
  • Topic 8. The history of electronic games: From arcade games to youth culture, Massive Online Games and Virtual Reality.
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking Written exam
    Written Examination in a form of an Essay
  • non-blocking Оnline assessment (multiple choice) after each block
    The cumulative grade is formed as a sum of 20 quizzes. Each in-class quiz has 5 questions and gives up to 5 points (based on the number of questions answered). The resulting total is 0-100. It is mathematically rounded to produce the 0-10 grade.
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • 2023/2024 3rd module
    0.5 * Written exam + 0.5 * Оnline assessment (multiple choice) after each block
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • Bodanis, D. (2005). Electric Universe : How Electricity Switched on the Modern World (Vol. 1st ed). New York: Broadway Books. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=737339
  • Erickson, L. K. (2010). Space Flight : History, Technology, and Operations. Lanham, Md: Government Institutes. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=499663
  • Kelly, K. (2011). What Technology Wants. New York, New York: Penguin Books. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1121170
  • Rhodes, N., & Sawday, J. (2000). The Renaissance Computer : Knowledge Technology in the First Age of Print. London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=77255

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Divine, R. A. (1993). The Sputnik Challenge. New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=672470