ENG 3803 Eckert Fall 2021

From papyrus scrolls and printed books to medieval manuscripts and MacBooks, this course examines different text technologies across history and across the globe. Throughout the course we will return to large "keep you up at night" questions: How does technology influence what types of texts are created and kept? How do social, political, and economic power influence text technologies? How might the meaning of a text change if the medium of its presentation changes? How do we define “book" or "text"? Exploring these questions, we will develop detective skills to see aspects of text technologies that often remain hidden in plain sight, whether they be how new typefaces might alter a text’s meaning or how different techniques for binding a book might change the perception of what’s inside. Practicing this new way of seeing on historical text technologies will help us reflect more critically about the technologies we use today.