About the course
History of the Book:
Literacy, Technology, Culture
English 5080: (CD) Topics in Cross-Disciplinary and Cultural Studies
“It’s easy to let oneself be dazzled by false analogies. The past never threatens anything as simple, or as avoidable, as repetition.”
–Pat Barker, Another World
Course Description:
This course will explore significant moments in the history of reading and writing technologies, from papyrus scrolls to Web 2.0. In a series of interdisciplinary case studies we will examine the interaction of these technologies with the various cultures from which they emerge, analyzing the role of gender, race, economics and other ideologies of power in creating the material forms and tools that allow us to communicate.
Contact Information:
Lisa.Maruca AT wayne.edu
Required Texts:
- Book: Howsam, Leslie, Old Books and New Histories, U of Toronto P, 2006. (This needs to be READ by September 10!)
- Readings on Blackboard Course Documents page (Bb) or are linked form the syllabus to the Web.
- Other requirements: Google Account (free) to access Google Documents
See Blackboard syllabus for more on course policies and fuller contact information.
[...] especially impatient because I tried to use an e-book for the first time last semester, in this class–and it was an unalloyed disaster. I had assigned a couple chapters from Ronald [...]