HPS212H1

Global Digital: Information, Computing, and Communication in the Modern World

From integrated circuits and the internet to social media and machine learning, digital technologies are a crucial part of modern life. How have they been developed in the contexts of the Cold War, neoliberal economic order, mass media, and crowdsourcing? In what ways have they shaped sociability, governance, production, and reasoning? How have they intertwined with the changing scientific understandings of the worlds? In this course, we examine select digital technologies and their co-production with society. We emphasize their global aspects: international tech ecosystems, transnational research and development, and political or cultural transformations facilitated by digital devices or systems.