This seminar is an introduction to some dimension of the history of a nation, region, people, culture, institution, or historical phenomenon selected by the respective instructor. Students will come to understand, and develop an appreciation for: the origins and evolution of the people, cultures, and/or political, economic, and/or social institutions of a particular region(s) of the world. They may explore how human encounters shaped individual and collective identities and the political, economic, and social orders of the region/nation/communities under study. Instructors prioritize critical reading, engaged participation, and focused writing assignments.

Twenty-first century Americans are acutely sensitive to the fact that the categories of knowledge that we call news and information are complex and contested. What we think we know about the world we live in is shaped by new technologies, powerful news producers, and distinct media landscapes. This has always been the case throughout the history of the United States. Our reading-heavy seminar explores recent historical scholarship on newspapers, broadcast media, visual media, social media, mass communication, ad the concept of information from the birth of the U.S. nation to the present. Students taking this seminar will be prepared for a thesis seminar the following semester using mass media sources. Please see our faculty bios at https://history.berkeley.edu/people/faculty.

This seminar will open for enrollment on Tuesday, July 19.

Repeat Rules

Requirements class fulfills