The Global History and Politics of Information

We understand ourselves to be living in the Age of Information. How do scholars, activists, and artists understand the nature of the “revolution” that brought this Age into being? How has it reconstituted subjectivity, society, economics, and geopolitics? What changes has this brought to the arts, humanities, and culture? This course is an  introduction to the transnational politics of information. We pursue a long historical view, a global political perspective, and a cultural analysis. Texts include Mario Biagoli on early modern authorship; Foucault on the Enlightenment and classical authorship; Rosemary Coombe on the cultural life of intellectual property; Wendy Chun, Gabriella Coleman and Chris Kelty on coding;Brian Larkin on Nigerian media infrastructures; Samuel Delaney’s short novel Babel-17; and selections from two decades of feminism at the intersection of art and technology.

This course is on the drawing board for Term 1, Winter 2021. It is planned as a graduate seminar, of general interest to students across the Arts and Information Science, as well as of specialized interest to STS and Media Studies audiences. I welcome ideas, comments and questions. Now is the time to make requests for readings you’d really like to see included!