History and Theory of Information (Winter 2020)

History and Theory of Information

Communication Studies 395-0-20

History 300-0-33

M/W 2-3:30pm; Discussion sections TBA

Locy Hall, Rm 110

Winter, 2020

Northwestern University

Course overview

We live in an information age, with computers of unprecedented power in our pockets. This course seeks to understand how information shapes our lives today, and how it has in the past. It does so via an interdisciplinary inquiry into four technological infrastructures of information and communication—print, wires, airwaves, and bits.

The course, jointly taught by faculty in Communication Studies and History, will incorporate two weekly lectures and weekly discussion sections. The lectures will synthesize a range of historical and theoretical perspectives, the discussion sections will focus on a single reading or pair of readings.

The syllabus provides details about course content, instructors, assignments, policies, and schedule.