U.S. LAW AND TECHNOLOGY: INVENTION AND REGULATION

Credit Hours: 3 · Undergraduate Upper-Level

This course examines how different aspects of law have historically affected the development of technology in the United States. We will cover four broad categories of technology from the founding of the U.S. to today: industrialization, transportation, communication, and information technology. We will analyze the invention of technology within issues of patent and copyright, the funding and regulation of technology through legislation, and challenges to technology fought in the courts. Our goal is to understand changes in both law and technology within their historical and cultural context.