Science, Technology, and Society in China II: History of S&T in Chinese Society

Having mastered in general terms some of the key concepts used in understanding the relationship between science/technology and society, this course begins to apply those concepts to China, historically and chronologically. Concepts such as path dependency/lock-in effect, technological determinism and others will be used to frame a narrative describing the emergence of science and technology in Chinese society. This narrative will be heavily informed by developments in the West during the Industrial Revolution so that we can understand how that series of events affected the development of science and technology in China. This part of the course will also lay the foundation for Part III.