HISTORY AND FUTURE OF BOOKS

3 credits.

Framed by a question about what books are, what books have been, and what books might be: past, present, and future. It assumes that "book" is a placeholder term for an object that becomes the site of questions and debates about a variety of media, expressions, and recording practices. A goal of the class is to understand the book as an active technology that shapes peoples, perceptions, and cultures rather than serving as a passive receptacle of them. This course will approach the book from a number of perspectives including book history, digital humanities, media studies, and human computer interaction, as well as examining industry-oriented interests such as e-reader manufacturing, book retail, and publishing.