Schedule of Class Meetings

Week 1 (April 2).  Technology, Culture, and the Idea of Progress. 

Readings:   No assigned readings; supplementary material will be distributed in class. 
Discussion:  Is worldwide economic and social progress a myth, a temporary trend, or an inevitable historical process? 

Week 2 (April 9).  America: “Stupendous Scene” or “Wild and Savage Place”?: Romanticism and the Discovery of Scenic Beauty. 

Readings:   Whitman, “Starting from Paumanok”; Bryant, “Sonnet: To an American Painter,” “Monument Mountain,” “The Prairies.” 
Discussion:  Has technology made America ugly? 

Week 3 (April 16).  Machines as Symbols, Cultural Icons, and Objects of Art. 

Readings:   Thoreau, “Sounds” (Walden, Chapter 4). Whitman, “To a Locomotive in Winter.” 
Discussion:  Can trains, tractors, and bombs be beautiful? That is, can industrial designs be considered fine art? 

 Readings:  Thoreau, "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For" (Walden, Chapter 2). Whitman, "Song of the Exposition." 
 Discussion:  Has today’s hi-tech society become too complicated and fast-paced? Has it made less advanced societies seem more attractive than they actually are? 

Week 5 (April 30).  Prometheus, Daedalus, Faust, et.al.: Images of the Scientist/Inventor inMyth, Literature, and Popular Culture.

 Assignments:   AL-3/ A-1-C exam distributed. (Due 5/21.) 
 Readings:   Whitman, "Song of Occupations." Twain, A Connecticut Yankee. Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle. 
 Discussion:  Are mad scientists, crazy inventors, and nerdy engineers still the dominant images of technical professionals in American popular culture? If so, why? and to what effect? 

Week 6 (May 7).  Modern Machines--Tools for Human Liberation or Weapons of Doom?

  Readings:   Whitman, "Song of the Broad-Axe." Twain, A Connecticut Yankee. Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle. 
 Discussion:  Swords vs. Plowshares: Does technology lead to peace and prosperity or to oppression and war? 
 Recommended videos: 1984; Until the End of the World; 2001: A Space Odyssey; Forbidden Planet.

Week 7 (May 14). Technology and Democracy. 

  Readings:   Twain, A Connecticut Yankee. Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle. 
 Discussion: Is the U.S. now (or will it soon be) ruled by scientific experts and technocrats? Is advanced technology inherently democratic--placing power in the hands of more and more people? Or is it essentially totalitarian--concentrating power in the hands of scientific-corporate elites? 

Week 8 (May 21).  Columbus, Western Technology, and Manifest Destiny.

 Assignments:   AL-H/A-1-E essays and AL-3/A-1-C exams due. 
 Readings:   Whitman, "Prayer of Columbus"; "Passage to India." Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle. 
 Discussion:  What have been the consequences--both positive and negative--of the European conquest and settlement of  the Americas? What should be the role of technically advanced societies vis-a-vis less advanced or primitive cultures? 
 Recommended videos: The Emerald Forest;  The Mission;  1492: The Conquest of Paradise. 

Week 9 (May 28).  Beyond the Millennium: The Role of Science-Fiction in a Technological Society. 

 Assignments:  Assignments due for A-5, AL-F, AL-4, A-3-D, PW-B, and S-3-A. 
 Readings:  Twain, A Connecticut Yankee. Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle. 
 Discussion:  Progress or Apocalypse?--On the evidence of recent sci-fi films, novels, and TV shows, is the future going to be better or worse? 

Week 10 (June 4). Summary and Review. 

  Last class meeting. 
 Readings:   Whitman, "So Long." 
 Discussion:  What are some of the important technical and evironmental issues that Americans must face in coming years? Can art, poetry, and imaginative fiction help us meet the challenge?