HUAS90905 - A History of Western Civilization: "Techne" and Sophia III

Course Description

This third course in a three-quarter sequence will examine the development of a “world civilization” through the perspective of the West, focusing on the relation between technology and “wisdom.” How have changes in technology, primarily information technology, impacted the philosophical and spiritual ideas of a particular culture? In many ways, this revisits the struggle between the “Ancients” and the “Moderns,” that is, between the perennial and the progressive. Spring quarter will examine the significance of the new technology in the Information Age, from the telegraph to the Internet, from around 1850 to the present. Part of premise of this course is that we are now living in era of change as fundamental as that from an oral to scribal culture in the Axial Age and as the emergence of print culture. Rather than a survey, this class will discuss selected primary documents, supplemented by the works of modern historians, to illuminate these developments in the history of ideas. Students can take any quarter – there are no prerequisites.

Course Outline

Course Syllabus

Notes

Online registration deadline: March 15, 5 PM CT

Remote courses require you to login to Canvas to access the Zoom Classroom. You will receive an invitation to join Canvas about a week before your course begins. Please visit the Liberal Arts Student Resources page to find step by step instructions for Canvas and Zoom: Online Learning Resources