Draft Syllabus: Computers, Information, and Twentieth Century Society

As part of my special field examinations here at Northwestern, I was asked to prepare a syllabus for an upper division undergraduate course in my area of expertise: the history of computers in the twentieth century. The resulting course aims to acquaint undergraduates with (what I think are) some of the most important and interesting issues in history of computing, while simultaneously introducing them to the interdisciplinary field of science studies. The course bears some of the marks of the conditions of its production; it is directed as much to my examination committee as it is to its (hypothetical) audience of undergraduates. Consequently, some of the readings might be (slightly) more difficult than what I would assign for Northwestern undergraduates.  I’m posting it here with the hope that someone will find it useful.

To download the document as a PDF, click here.

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