Invention and Technology
Anne Pyburn
Anthropology
Science and technology revolutionize our lives, but memory, tradition and myth frame our response. – Arthur Schlesinger
This is an archaeology class, so it is about ancient inventions and technologies. We will talk about the beginnings of tools that we take for granted today, about how and why they got started, and what their impact was on early cultures and societies where they appeared. Not all tools are physical implements so we will include discussions of intellectual tools such as mathematics and processes such as brewing. We will also talk about how we know about these early technologies, since all of them came before writing (and we will also talk about some of the earliest writing). You will learn about how archaeologists analyze ancient tools to try to get a clear picture of past cultures and you will have the opportunity to try a little analysis for yourself. We will also place these ancient tools in the context of their current forms with visits to workshops and displays across campus and in Bloomington. There will be lectures, fieldtrips, discussions, group work, and video presentations.
I aspire to make my classes anti-racist, and I depend on all the members of the class to help me come closer to this goal. Over the course of the semester or focus on technologies may cause us to consider racism and sexism, colonialism and nationalism, looting and the art market, cultural and intellectual property, public engagement and community based research, and issues of group representation in popular media. Students in the class will have an opportunity to shape the discussion and propose alternative topics. I do not believe in “covering the material” – if discussion on an important topic runs over I am happy to continue it into another class, so participants will regularly be asked about their priorities for the syllabus, as in “should we continue this discussion or do you want to move in the next topic,” and “which of the scheduled topics do you want to skip in order to continue this discussion?” The exception to my laissez-faire attitude is that we will be respectful of the schedules of our collaborators and guest speakers, because we will take full advantage of IU resources to visit various technology labs and heritage venues.
Catalog Information: HON-H 240 SCIENCE AND SOCIETY