[SIGCIS-Members] Query re. readings on global history of computing

[Paul N. Edwards]

All, the replies to my query have been super-useful. There’s too much good stuff!

I went through the entire SIGCIS syllabus repository Andrew mentions, and discovered that most of the syllabi are at least 5 years old, and many are 7-10 years old or more. If you have updated a course, or taught a new one, now would be a great time to update or add. 

I’ll post my own once I’ve finished it, probably in mid-January.

One important new thing in the last 5 years or so is that a large number of useful videos are readily available on Youtube and elsewhere, including what are effectively primary source materials such as this fabulous 6-part US Navy series on mechanical analog fire control computers from 1953. Only a few of the syllabi I looked at seem to incorporate video sources, but for today’s generation of undergrads I think they’re very valuable. 

The Computer History Museum has built some impressive online exhibits, too, and Wikipedia’s depth and quality have improved quite a bit.

Best,

Paul


On Dec 12, 2014, at 8:47 , Andrew Russell <arussell at stevens.edu> wrote:

> On Dec 10, 2014, at 12:31 PM, Lilly Nguyen <lillynguyen at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Dear Paul,
>> 
>> What a great idea! I would love to see the final syllabus you put together. 
> 
> Folks - 
> 
> I’ll add my thanks to Paul for kicking off a great discussion, and to everyone else for all these suggestions.  
> 
> As a reminder, we have a very impressive list of syllabi in the SIGCIS Syllabus Repository, available from http://sigcis.org/syllabi.  Many are for History or STS courses, but some stretch into related fields that fall under the broad SIGCIS rubric of “computers, information, and society.”  
> 
> The Syllabus Repository is only as strong and up-to-date as our members make it, so please consider sending recent syllabi to Jason Gallo, the SIGCIS Vice Chair for Operations (jgallo at ida.org), who will update the Repository.  
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> Andy Russell
> SIGCIS Chair

___________________________

Paul N. Edwards
Professor of Information and History, University of Michigan 
A Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming (MIT Press, 2010)

Terse replies are deliberate (and better than nothing)

University of Michigan School of Information
4437 North Quad
105 S. State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285
(734) 764-2617 (office)                  
(206) 337-1523  (fax) 
pne.people.si.umich.edu








































-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/attachments/20141212/fc7e7d46/attachment-0001.htm>