Oberlin College

Gary J. Kornblith
History 324
Rice 306; x8526
Fall 2001
Gary.Kornblith@oberlin.edu
Blackboard CourseInfo: Indus Revol/Info Revolution

Industrial Revolution/Information Revolution:
A Comparative Perspective

For a regularly updated version of this syllabus, go online to http://www.oberlin.edu/GJK/IR2/.

This course examines multiple dimensions of two long-term, technologically based social processes that have profoundly transformed how Americans live, work, relate to one another, and think about the world. We will begin with the history of American industrialization in the nineteenth century and then turn our attention to the Information Revolution currently underway. Among the issues we will explore are the relationship between technological progress and the distribution of wealth and opportunity in the United States, the impact of technology on gender roles and the sexual division of labor, the experience of community and alienation in different technological contexts, people's perceived sense of time and space, and utopian and dystopian visions of the future. Throughout the semester, we will endeavor to identify parallels and key differences between the Industrial and Information Revolutions so as to better understand what is and is not unique about the contemporary situation.

Evaluation: Final grades will be based on a ten-page analytical essay (35%), a group project (35%), contributions to the Blackboard CourseInfo discussion group (15%), and in-class participation (15%).

Purchases: The following books are available for purchase at the Oberlin Bookstore.


Class Schedule:

Tues., Sept. 4

Introduction

Thurs., Sept. 6

Discussion: Definition and Overview of the Industrial Revolution

  • David S. Landes, "The Fable of the Dead Horse; or, The Industrial Revolution Revisited," in Joel Mokyr, ed. The British Industrial Revolution, 2d ed., 128-59 (on ERes)
  • Herbert G. Gutman, "Work, Culture and Society in Industrializing America, 1815-1919," American Historical Review, 78 (June 1973): 531-588 (on JSTOR via a College computer)
  • Gary J. Kornblith, "Introduction," in Kornblith, ed., Industrial Revolution in America, xv-xxiii
  • John F. Kasson, "Republican Values as a Dynamic Factor,"in Kornblith, ed., Industrial Revolution in America, 3-12

Tues., Sept. 11

 

Discussion: The Division of Labor and the Transformation of Work

Thurs., Sept. 13

 

Discussion: Mechanization and the Transformation of Work

Tues., Sept. 18

Discussion: The American Experience of Early Industrialization

  • Thomas Dublin, "Factory Employment as Female Empowerment," in Kornblith, ed., Industrial Revolution in America, 53-62
  • Gary J. Kornblith, "The Entrepreneurial Ethic," in Kornblith, ed., Industrial Revolution in America, 71-79
  • Sean Wilentz, "The Bastardization of Craft," in Kornblith, ed., Industrial Revolution in America, 79-87
  • Robert B. Gordon, "Realizing the Ideal of Interchangeability," in Kornblith, ed., Industrial Revolution in America, 88-98

Thurs., Sept. 20

 

Discussion: Railroads, the Telegraph, and the Reorganization of Space and Time

Tues., Sept. 25

Video: The Richest Man in the World: Andrew Carnegie, 1

 
Thurs., Sept. 27 No class: Yom Kippur

Tues., Oct. 2

 

Discussion: The Rise of Big Business and the Struggle for Control of Production

  • Porter, Rise of Big Business, 1-90
  • Alfred D. Chandler, Jr., "The Coming of Mass Production and Modern Management," in Kornblith, ed., Industrial Revolution in America, 141-149
  • Andrew Carnegie, "The Gospel of Wealth" (online at http://xroads.virginia.edu/%7EDRBR/wealth.html)
  • David Montgomery, "The Struggle for Control of Production," in Kornblith, ed., Industrial Revolution in America, 173-179.
Thurs., Oct. 4 Video: The Richest Man in the World: Andrew Carnegie, 2
Tues., Oct. 9

Discussion: The Dynamics of the National Marketplace

  • Cronon, Nature's Metropolis, 94-147, 207-59, 310-369
  • Richard Ohmann, Selling Culture: Magazines, Markets and Class at the Turn of the Century, 48-117 (on ERes)

Thurs., Oct. 11

Video: Mr. Sears' Catalogue
Tues., Oct. 16

Discussion: Visions of the Future, 1
Thurs., Oct. 18

Discussion: Visions of the Future, 2

  • Bellamy, Looking Backward, ch. 11-28 and postscript
Sat., Oct. 20 Analytical essay due
Fall Break

Tues., Oct. 30

 

 Lab: Creating Web Pages
Thurs., Nov. 1

Discussion: Definition and Overview of the Information Revolution

  • Daniel Bell, "The Social Framework of the Information Society" in Michael L. Dertouzos and Joel Moses, eds., The Computer Age, 163-211 (on ERes)
  • Michael L. Dertouzos, "The Five Pillars of the Information Age," appendix of What Will Be: How the New World of Information Will Change Our Lives, 317-28 (on ERes)
  • Manuel Castells, The Rise of the Network Society, vol 1 of The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, 2d ed., 1-76 (on ERes)

Tues., Nov. 6

Discussion: The Emergence of Computers

Thurs., Nov. 8 Library Resources (presentation by Haipeng Li in Mudd 443)
Mon., Nov. 12

Video: Triumph of the Nerds, episodes 1 and 2 (special meeting at 271 West College St., beginning at 7:30 p.m.)
Tues., Nov. 13

Video: Triumph of the Nerds, episode 3

Recommended:
Thurs., Nov. 15

Discussion: Computerization and the Transformation of Work

  • Zuboff, In the Age of the Smart Machine, xi-xv, 3-123, 224-84, 311-61, 387-414

Tues., Nov. 20

 

Discussion: Computer Networks, the Internet, and the Reorganization of Space and Time
Thurs., Nov. 22 No class
Tues., Nov. 27

Lab and discussion: The IR2 Website
Thurs., Nov. 29

Discussion: The Rise of New Media, the Struggle for Control of Information, and the Dynamics of the Global Marketplace

Tues., Dec. 4

 

Lab and discussion: The IR2 Website

Thurs., Dec. 6

Discussion: Visions of the Future, 1
Tues., Dec.11

Lab and discussion: The IR2 Website
Thurs., Dec. 13

Discussion: Visions of the Future 2

  • Stephenson, Diamond Age, entire
Wed., Dec. 19 Group projects due