• ENV-280
• Syllabus
• Tools of Toil: History of Technology
• Siry

This 4 credit hour course is an intensive reading class, where note taking, homework and redrafting the essays several times are expected of you so that you practice to improve existing research skills.

Assignments
I am here to assist you in creating excellent, intelligent and meaningful work based on critical thinking and practicing your expressive and reflective abilities. To do this I ask you to meet with me individually, at least twice in the term, to discuss your project’s progress (two class days off for meeting with me). Projects rely on use of the Olin library, or College Archives & Government Documents where we visit to augment themes derived from the readings.

You are expected to do your own work and to give proper credit to others for using their ideas. Your failure to responsibly attribute ideas, phrases and sentences of others by a note in the text --called plagiarism-- is grounds for losing your education at Rollins College, because you have committed fraud. Trust is the basis of academic life. All of your work must be referenced.

For every hour in class, I expect you to study for four hours because I reward your hard work and revising your assignments for clearer descriptions and logical arguments.

Item                             due                              description

Late work is unacceptable & will be penalized –7%.  Missing assignments count as a zero.

Homework       What is Technology: just what evidence is there that people understand it?
                        1st problem: Technologies play what role in sustaining our contentment?
                        2d problem:  What makes any technological change an important problem?
                        3d problem:  Do the four facets of tools actively promote humane purposes?

Interviews:

Individual meetings to review your notes from the texts --that form the evidence for answering these questions above-- are to be scheduled and assessed on a pass/fail basis. In September & November these are done to approve your project and assay your progress (On or before November 1).

Term-long Project

Final Exam     

Late work is unacceptable & will be penalized.  Missing assignments count as a zero. Be prepared!

Readings by short titles of chapters & selections from Authors

The focus of this class is how technology, particularly the tools we use, help to identify who we are, what we believe, how well we live and to what degree the entire world is created, maintained by and infused by mechanical, technical, automated and manual systems of tools.

 Edward Hopper, “Manhattan Junction (railway station)”

writers | grading criteria | excelling in class | Homework | due dates | Course Overview

Each writer that we read has a very different perspective on what a technological society demands of us and how we arrived at this fork in the historical road.

By using their voices to enhance your contributions to the discussion of how well we listen to the sounds of new technology you must interpret how and to what extent technology is transforming the planet, its ecological life support system, & its biological diversity from which ultimately our economic livelihoods are derived. You will be asked to interpret and evaluate the arguments of each author so that together you may use their voices to enlarge the range of your own intellectual curiosity, expressive talents, and commercial skills.

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Texts to read and interpret:

Technology related pages.

<Under Construction>                         

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All assignments are graded with careful attention to each of these criteria: {CLIFS}

1. clarity, coherence, spelling, grammar, rationality & logical consistency.

2. length & development of your concepts, arguments, thematic ideas, or presentations.

3. informative value of evidence from the class texts, library research, or interviews.

4. frequency of examples from the lectures, journal, notes & readings.

5. substantial discussion of the subject & introductions, summaries, conclusions.

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Speaking Etiquette:

Speak so that everyone understands and address your written and spoken work to the class as your audience. In order to sharpen your analysis, I  require clear  communication r in this course that also sustains 4 goals of citizenship in relation to your improving your speaking ability:

one:                                      

to put you more at ease to ask appropriate questions in job interviews.

two:                                      

to practice your analytical ability as the member of a project team or jury.

three:                                  

to feel more confident in giving formal  and logical testimony or presentations.

four:                                      

to create an opportunity to see and practice qualities of good speaking.

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Class time is spent on comparing oral & written interpretations of assigned readings.

Everyone over the course of the term will be asked to orally interpret the readings and express their writings for the rest of the class in a variety of informal and more structured formats.

I truly value your paying attention to others and not interrupting them.

These activities -- including free writing, group exercises, and problem solving, answering questions or leading discussions --are done to increase the classes’ comprehension.

The terms of this syllabus are subject to reasonable changes stated in class.

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This 4 credit hour course is an intensive reading class, where note taking, homework and redrafting the essays several times are likely so that you practice to improve existing skills.

Home page for history of technology

writers | grading criteria | excelling in class | Homework | due dates | Course Overview