About:

Technology, Politics, and Culture

This class will explore the intersection between technology, politics, and culture. The first half of the course will focus on the history of modern communication technologies and media (e.g., the newspaper, telegraph, radio, film, etc.) and how they emerged from and affected politics and culture. The second half will focus on more recent and emerging communication technologies (e.g., the internet, social media, internet of things, etc.) and how they emerged from and are affecting present day politics and culture. The content of this course will resonate with three recommended books, but those books will be optional for those who cannot afford them (as they will enhance the lectures but are not required). These books are:  The Creation of the Media: Political Origins of Modern Communications (by Paul Starr) Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other (by Sherry Turkle), and Left to Our Own Devices: Outsmarting Smart Technology to Reclaim Our Relationships, Health, and Focus (by Margaret E. Morris). From this class participants will come away with a rich understanding of the history of modern communication technologies and their impact on U.S. politics and culture.

This workshop will meet Tuesdays 7:00-9 pm CST for 8 consecutive weeks, ending April 20.

Class size is limited to 20 students.

If you are a Humanities ND member this event is free. You can find the promo code in the Vault at humanitiesnd.org.

This class is taught by Robert Mejia. Robert is an Associate Professor of Communication at North Dakota State University. His scholarship explores how communication infrastructure and technologies affect society. In 2018, he was awarded the National Communication Association's Critical and Cultural Studies Division's emerging scholar award.

HND Value Statement

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this {article, book, exhibition, film, program, database, report, Web resource}, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or Humanities North Dakota.

However, in an increasingly polarized world, we at Humanities North Dakota believe that being open-minded is necessary to thinking critically and rationally.

Therefore, our programs and classes reflect our own open-mindedness in the inquiry, seeking, and acquiring of scholars to speak at our events and teach classes for our Public University.

To that end, we encourage our participants to join us in stepping outside our comfort zones and considering other perspectives and ideas by being open-minded while attending HND events featuring scholars who hold a variety of opinions, some being opposite of our own held beliefs.