From Clay Tablet to the iPad: History of the Book in Intercultural Perspective
HIST 157
Fall 2014 not offered
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| Certificates: Jewish and Israel Studies |
We are living through what some have dubbed "an information revolution"; technological advances have provided new ways in which we can communicate. However, the information revolution through electronic media has been seen as a threat to the book and newspaper/journal industry. As this course will show, the book as we know it is a historical artifact that changed over long centuries in format and content. Technological advancements and local contexts have influenced the way information was preserved and accessed, from stone to clay tablets, to papyrus, to parchment, to paper, to print, and, now, to ebook. This course will look at the historical changes in the way knowledge was transmitted and ask questions about how culture and technology influence each other. We will look at the book as an object and examine the influence of the material aspect of the book for the transmission and access to information. We will look at the historical process of invention of the author and examine the question of audiences and readers in a cross-cultural perspective by focusing on Christian and Jewish books and their readers. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
Major Readings:
William H. Sherman, USED BOOKS ISBN 978-0-8122-2084-1
Guiglielmo Cavallo and Roger Chartier, A HISTORY OF READING IN THE WEST, ISBN 978-1558494114
Roger Chartier, THE ORDER OF BOOKS, ISBN 978-0804722674
Carlo Ginzburg, CHEESE AND WORMS, ISBN 978-0801843877
Anthony Grafton, THE FOOTNOTE; A CURIOUS HISTORY, ISBN 978-0674307605
Robert Darnton, THE CASE FOR BOOKS, ISBN 978-1586489021
Selections from Jewish and Christian primary sources, visual evidence, and online articles.
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Examinations and Assignments:
One paper (approx. 5 pp.) based on a book in the special collections. A research paper based on a primary source (approx 12 pp.); regular responses to readings; class participation. |
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