Course module - COMPUTING - HISTORY AND CULTURE
Code : HSTM20282 (HSTM20281) Credit rating: 10 Semester : 2
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Aims |
Objectives |
Assessment |
Information
|
Course Content |
Course Materials |
Tutors |
Timetable |
Teaching Methods |
Keywords
Aims
This course unit aims to provide students with a good working knowledge of major developments in the history of computing and information technology, particularly from the Second World War onwards. Students are also expected to develop their skills in critical reasoning and analysis, understanding the different motivations of historical characters and the different ways in which they interpret and describe events. Students should appreciate, and are assessed on their ability to analyse, the different factors — social, technical, sometimes accidental — which have shaped the history of computing and defined the computer.
Objectives (Learning Outcomes)
By the end of this unit, it is expected that students will
• possess a good working knowledge of major developments in the history of computing and information technology, particularly from the Second World War onwards
• have developed skills in critical reasoning and analysis, understanding the different motivations of historical characters in the history of computing, and the differences in the ways they interpret and describe events
• appreciate, and display the ability to analyse and discuss, the different factors — social, technical, sometimes accidental — which have shaped the history of computing and the definition of the computer itself
Assessment
This unit is assessed by a 1500-word essay (50% of overall mark) and a 2-hour exam (50% of overall mark).
This course is also available as a 20 credit version (HSTM20782)
Information
This is a Level 2/3 course - there are no prerequisites
Course Content
Lectures and seminars form a connected series of case studies of various aspects of technology in society and culture, based on the following themes:
Charles Babbage and the analytical engine
• Five more ‘first computers’: early digital machines and the power of legends
• IBM, industry, mainframes and miniaturisation
• Alan Turing and the Manchester dimension
• Software
• Artificial intelligence?
• The 1980s: computers in the home
• Game-playing, communications and the internet
• Boffins, nerds, wizards and code junkies: images of ‘computer people’
Course Materials
Tutor(s)
Sumner, Dr James
Timetable
Lecture Tuesdays 11-12, Kilburn Bldg, LF15
Seminar Thursdays 4-5, Kilburn Bldg, LF15
www.manchester.ac.uk/chstm
Teaching Methods
Lecture Tuesdays 12-1, Kilburn Bldg, LF15
Seminar Thursdays 4-5, Kilburn Bldg, LF15
www.manchester.ac.uk/chstm
Preliminary reading
Campbell-Kelly, Martin and William Aspray, Computer: a History of the Information Machine, second edition (Oxford: Westview 2004)
Ceruzzi, Paul, A History of Modern Computing, second edition (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press 2003)
Levy, Steven, Hackers: heroes of the computer revolution, new edition (London: Penguin 2001)
Turkle, Sherry, Life on the Screen: identity in the age of the internet (London: Phoenix 1997)
Keywords
computing computer history machnes hackers babbage
turing internet