Media Revolution in Early Modern Europe

• CC330X/HIST492BX
• Fall 2008
• Valparaiso University

When the printing press was invented in the fifteenth century, many contemporary observers saw it simply as a cheap way to reproduce ecclesiastical manuscripts. Yet in less than three hundred years, technologies of print had transformed almost every aspect of European life. Newspapers, encyclopedias, scientific research, paper money, political revolutions, government surveillance, new forms of religious thought and practice—all of these were made possible by print and the proliferation of writing and communication it spawned. Indeed, our identities as modern individuals are supported by a vast infrastructure of written communication. While it remains to be seen how radically digital media will transform the traditional institutions of print culture, our lives remain indelibly shaped by Europe's first great media revolution.

This course will examine the social, cultural, religious, and political effects of the print revolution between 1450 and 1800, with particular emphasis on the tumultuous first century and a half of the new technology. How did Europeans experience the transition from manuscript to print? How did individual authors handle a flood of new and often disorienting information? How did new media transform conceptions of selfhood and individual identity? One goal of asking such questions is to gain greater perspective on the current digital revolution and its effects on our everyday lives.

Please see the course wiki for discussion questions, links, bibliographies, and other resources.

Some highlights on the wiki:

• Discussion Questions
• Paul Otlet: Prophet of the Internet?
• Links to articles on new media
• A list of new content
• Tag Cloud