Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2023 - HIST 485 D100

Studies in History I (4)

Technology, Ideology, and Society

Class Number: 3584

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 6 – Dec 5, 2023: Thu, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units including nine units of lower division history.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Special topics.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course looks at connections between technology and social change.  Short lectures and short readings each week will introduce course participants to themes, problems, and key works in the history of technology.  The scope of course readings is global and comparative.  We will consider especially new technologies of the industrial era (19th and 20th centuries) with an emphasis on ideological dimensions and how technologies were shaped by contests over social and political power.  Assignments are designed to practice history writing: how to evaluate and compare research methodologies, develop a research topic, and work with scholarship and primary sources to construct a historical narrative.  In a short paper students introduce the work and research methodologies of an author (selected from a list of authors included in the syllabus).  Other graded assignments are structured around the research term paper.

Grading

  • “Author Introduction” short paper 15%
  • Topic statement (for the research paper) 10%
  • Annotated bibliography (for the research paper) 15%
  • Research paper 35%
  • Participation 25%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

All required study materials will be available on the Canvas course page.


REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the semester are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.