DAFF 27A29 - History of Communication

This course approaches communication as a key agent in social and cultural change, and frames discussions about communication technologies within a historical perspective. Departing from the premise that technological shifts do not determine people’s fate but “alter the spectrum of potentialities within which people act” (McClintock and Taipale, 1995), this course invites participants to immerse themselves in different technological eras in order to think through how shifts in modes and technologies of communication impact human experience.

The course proceeds chronologically, with an initial emphasis on classical antiquity, then paying special attention to significant communication milestones such as the development of the printing press, the telegraph, and finally contemporary mass media technologies and forms of digital media.

Through primary source readings such as literary texts from different epochs as well as scholarly literature, we will investigate how shifts in modes of communication at different points in history have influenced how we as human beings collaborate, how we perceive ourselves and each other, how we think about what is right and wrong, how we organize ourselves socially, economically, affectively and politically.

Inspired by the Greek origin of the term history – historia, which means inquiry, participants in this course are encouraged to think of themselves as being part of a community of inquiry. Therefore, close and thoughtful reading of class materials, active participation in live class discussions as well as other forms of interaction are instrumental to the success of this class.

In our time of unprecedented events, taking a historical approach to communication can help us put into perspective contemporary concerns about truth, subjectivity, trust, authority, knowledge, ethics, justice as well as how we think about our common future.

Grades will be determined according to the following guideline: