COMP 111 Syllabus: History of Computing at Loyola University Chicago

The social and organizational history of humanity is intricately entangled with the history of technology in general and the technology of information in particular. Advances in this area have often been closely involved in social and political transformations. While the contemporary period is often referred to by such names as the Computing and Information Age, this is the culmination of a series of historical transformations that have been centuries in the making. This course will provide a venue for students to learn about history through the evolution of number systems and arithmetic, calculating and computing machines, and advanced communication technology via the Internet. Students who take this course will attain a degree of technological literacy while studying core historical concepts. Students who complete this course will learn the key vocabulary of the computing discipline, which is playing a significant role in modern human thought and new media communications. The History of Computing will be organized around the historical perspective. The relationships between social organization, intellectual climate, and technology will be examined and stressed.

人类的社会与组织史，与整体技术史，尤其是信息技术史，有着错综复杂的交织关联。该领域的技术进步，往往与社会及政治变革深度绑定。尽管当代常被冠以“计算与信息时代”之名，但这不过是数百年间一系列历史变革积累的巅峰成果。本课程将为学生提供学习契机，使其通过数制与算术的演进、计算设备的发展历程，以及依托互联网的先进通信技术，来研习历史。修读本课程的学生，在研习核心历史概念的同时，亦可获得一定程度的技术素养。完成本课程的学生，还将掌握计算机学科的核心术语，而这些术语在当代人类思维与新媒体传播中发挥着重要作用。本《计算史》课程将以历史视角为核心教学框架，着重剖析并阐释社会组织、学术思潮与技术发展三者之间的内在关联。