HST 286 - Technology & Empire

Course Units: 1.0

We know today that the term “Big Tech” alludes to large multinational corporations that create, deploy, and use massive technologies, produce and manage data, and influence economies and societies. What were the significant big technologies under colonialism, and what do they tell us about our relationship with technologies today? Through modules that cover the design of statistical tables, urban designs, engineering education, and quantification of energy through case studies of Colonial India (what is today India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and parts of Myanmar and Afghanistan), we will learn the colonial history of our technological pasts. This course is open to all. CQ: LCC, SOCS, JCHF, JETS, WAC-R ISP: STS