High-Tech Imperialists: Technology and America's Rise to World Power
AMST 226
Fall 2025
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01
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How did Americans use technologies such as the railroad, photography, the machine gun, and electricity to advance their interests abroad? In this course, we will study the interconnected histories of technology and empire from the American Civil War to the First World War, the period encompassing a techno-scientific revolution that transformed human lives and power relations all over the world. This course adopts a broad definition of imperialism, reflecting on formal and informal strategies of expansion. It goes beyond US colonies and territories to inquire into how Americans engaged with other imperial powers and their colonial populations, advancing profitable -- and often destructive -- enterprises. It further asks how processes of internal colonialism influenced US power abroad and vice versa. Attentive to material reality, it examines the environmental impact of new technologies in colonial settings and how environmental changes disrupted local communities. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS AMST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Major readings: Primary sources produced by empire builders, colonized peoples, and outside observers. Articles and book chapters by authors such as Bathsheba Demuth, Julie Greene, Pamela Haag, Daniel R. Headrick, David E. Nye, and William Appleman Williams.
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Examinations and Assignments:
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Short essays based on readings, lectures, and discussions. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
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N/A |
| Instructor(s): Saba,Roberto Times: ..T.R.. 10:20AM-11:40AM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 25 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 21 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 3 | SO: 5 | FR: 4 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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