Aiming to destabilize some of the routine assumptions about the neutral or autonomous role of technologies, this course will explore how they are embedded in social and cultural life. Of special importance is how conceptions of time and space are shaped through the interaction of culture and technology. The course will start with some specific examples of the 'old' technologies (eg. telephones or radios) to understand their social uses when they were new. It will proceed to examine comparable processes in relation to 'new' technologies (eg. cell phones or home computers). Throughout, theoretical readings on the link between old/new technologies and the organization of time and space as critical dimensions of modernity and postmodernity will be discussed.
