HIST 390: The Digital Past

HIST 390-001: The Digital Past
(Spring 2017)

07:20 PM to 10:00 PM W

Section Information for Spring 2017

This course, which satisfies the university’s IT requirement, is an upper-division history course that utilizes the broad topic of the Cold War in America to explore how digital technologies influence, shape, and assist the practice and study of history (although no background in history is required). Throughout the semester we will examine the different facets of historical inquiry and how digital technology has influenced these practices. These topics are, but are not limited to, finding and analyzing sources, creating and using digital media (maps, graphs, and other visualizations) as evidence, how to write and publish effectively online, and the role of copyright, ethics, and fair use in the digital age. Most of all, this course will emphasize the need to think critically about the content we consume, both digital and analog, modern and historical. Through learning by doing, you will gain both digital skills and the skills of a historian, skills which will be useful to you throughout your university career and in your future work. Over the course of the semester, students will use these skills and technologies to create and publish an individual project (of their choosing) concerning the Cold War (1945-1989) in America.

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Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Teaches the fundamentals of information technology within the context of a history course. Students learn fundamentals and skills as well as how our society became so enamored of and dependent on these knowledge and information tools. Understanding a new technology requires understanding how new technologies transform the societies that embrace them. Emphasizes the use of free and open-source software whenever possible. Limited to three attempts.
Mason Core: Info Tech & Computing
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.

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