Technology consists of knowledge, actions, and things.
Technological artifacts, like other aspects of material culture, reflect the culture in which they are designed, manufactured, and used. This course examines a variety of approaches to understanding American technological material culture, focusing in particular on manufacturing, domestic technologies, and the industrial landscape. It tries to answer some of the big questions in the history of technology using material evidence. We will then look at the ways in which technological things are designed, manufactured, bought and sold, used, and repaired, hoping to gain an improved understanding of the nature of technology. Over the course of the term, each student should write five 5-page papers, on any topic of interest.