Fall 2005

HIS 397L • Books, Libraries, Civ to 1500

Course Description

The course reviews and explores the role and significance of collections of recorded knowledge--their creation, organization, preservation, and use--in the context of cultural and social history, including the spread of libraries world wide and the development of various forms of manuscript and print communication, as well as efforts to mediate them to various publics. This Fall the course will concentrate in the modern period--1500 to the present. Next Fall the course will focus on antiquity to 1500.

Grading Policy

Course consists of wide reading, instructor led class discussions, some student presentations, two short papers, one longer paper, and a final oral examination.

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