Characterize the present impact of technology on societies around the world
Explain the diffusion and adoption of technology
Analyze the positive and negative effects of technology
Assess the implications of technological interactions with the values and structures of societies
Develop skills to appraise the impacts of technologies on the future
Cluster Focus
This cluster develops a broader understanding of technology and its impact on individuals, societies, and the environment. It provides the social context and the historical and philosophical backgrounds needed by informed students to evaluate technology and its impacts. The cluster equips students with skills to make better personal decisions about technology and more appropriate choices for their futures.
Courses
CS 300. Computers in Society Covers change in the world's society due to the continuing implementation of computing technologies. Evaluation of technological expansions in areas of governments, business/industry, education, medicine, transportation, communication, and entertainment. Topics include: intellectual property, software privacy, computer crimes and ethics. Students must research a societal topic and present results in written and oral formats.
Prerequisites: ENGL 110C and COMM 101R, and computer skills required in the student's major.
GEOG 305. World Resources A geographical analysis of the distribution and accessibility of the world's resources including population, agricultural land, water, renewable and nonrenewable materials, and energy sources.
Prerequisite: GEOG 100S or 101S, or permission of the instructor
GEOG 306T. Hazards: Natural and Technological An exploration of human perceptions of and responses to extreme geophysical and technological threats, including nuclear bombs and accidents, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and volcanoes.
Prerequisites: Junior standing and 6 credits in the social science or permission of the instructor
HIST 389T. Technology and Civilization This course will examine the role of technology and relevant science. Students will examine the interaction between society and technology and investigate why technology is both a reflection of, and a shaping influence upon, modern culture.
Prerequisite: Three hours of history
OPMT 303T. Operations Management and Technology Examines strategic, tactical and operational issues in the planning and control of manufacturing and service delivery systems. Topics include: process design, capacity and materials planning and control, inventory management, scheduling, quality management, facility layout, and work management. Emphasizes technological advances in operations and their economic and social impact.
Prerequisites: MATH 101M, 102M, 162M, or STAT 130M, Junior standing, or permission of the Chief Departmental Advisor.
OTS 370T. Technology and Society A multidisciplinary course designed to provide insight into the fundamental, historical, and contemporary nature of technology as an area of human knowledge. Attention is given to the positive and negative aspects of technology and how they affect society.
Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of the instructor
OTS 382. Industrial Design Students will analyze and design products representative of today's industrial technological society. Emphasis will be placed upon design methodology, aesthetic value, and design thinking.
Junior standing
PHIL 383T. Technology: Its Nature and Significance A philosophical examination technology with special attention to its relationship with and mutual dependence upon society, culture, and human values. Historical developments and specific technologies will also be covered.
Prerequisites: Junior standing and 3 semester hours in philosophy or permission of the instructor
POLS 350T. Technology and War. Studies the broad interaction of human war-making and technological advancements from earliest times to the present. Examines how technology has affected the outbreak and outcome of wars, and how warfare has influenced technology races and produced countermeasures by the technologically disadvantaged. Focuses on the emergence of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical, biological). Evaluates feasibility and consequences of measures designed to curtail advanced-weapons proliferation. Surveys hightech warfare trends into the 21st century. Considers whether technology will make warfare irreconcilable with human life on earth.
Prerequisite: POLS 100S or permission of the instructor.
Recommended Reading
Cowan, Ruth, A Social History of American Technology (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).
Kuhn, Thomas S., The Structure of Scientific Revolution, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996).
Leakey, Richard E. and Roger Lewin, The Sixth Extinction: Patterns of Life and the Future of Mankind (New York: Doubleday, 1995).
Pursell, Carroll W., Jr. (ed.), Technology in America: A History of Individuals and Ideas (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994).
Rogers, Everett M., Diffusion of Innovations, 4th ed. (New York: Free Press, 1996).
