Learning Outcomes

Questions

Here are some theses.

  • Meaning depends on context. Nothing exists on its own.
  • In the process of becoming, we respond to the materials we work with, and they respond to us.
  • Therefore, networks (of all kinds) are fundamental to how we live in the world.
  • A network is present whenever there is a relationship between two entities along which information flows. Network shapes and flow give rise to emergent structures. Networks also are a mechanism through which computation can happen. Networks are the substrate of social life, and networks exist in the physical world and leave traces.
  • Digital media extend our cognition into and through electrical and magnetic relationships.
  • The components of a networked history are an assemblage (which in this context means ‘a coming together’).
  • The ‘internet’ is just a handy phrase to describe an emergent structure of many networks of many kinds.

What is the history of the internet understood this way? It’s more than a simple sequence of x was invented in 1934; y was invented in 1955, I know that much.

This course is a formalized exploration of these questions and ideas; I do not know the answers! I’m excited to figure these out with you.

Outcomes

By the end of this class, you ought to be able to

  1. Situate the emergence and evolution of the Internet in the historiography of digital technology more generally
  2. Assess relevant scholarly literature for key themes and findings
  3. Organize research and begin to implement personal knowledge management techniques for your scholarly reading and note making

Texts

See the Course Work Overview section. All readings are open access or available through the MacOdrum Library Website (you might have to be logged into Carleton’s systems/website). Do the reading before the class in question.

When Life Intervenes

There’s nothing we can’t roll with, in this class. That said, I can’t help you if I don’t know you need help, a breathing space, some direction. When something comes up, just let me know:

Trust.
You don’t have to share the details with me. It is enough for me to know that something is up. I trust you.

When something comes up and this course has to move to the backburner, contact me and we can figure out something else to do, or something else that will help you be successful here. It’s our course - we can change things up as we need to. Just put “something has come up” in the subject line.

COVID IS STILL A THING

‘Oh it’s just a really bad cold’. No, it’s not. But politically, that’s the story we tell.

I fully expect that at some point during the term, COVID and its complications will happen to some of you. When this happens (whether or not it’s formally diagnosed), just email me and say that “something has come up”. I don’t require a dr’s note, or any of the details. Honestly, I don’t. Again, I trust you, and we’ll figure something else out. (But if you do come to class, do wear a mask. It makes a difference.)

Similarly, I have people in my life who are at risk. When something comes up on my end, I will let you all know and we’ll figure this out together.