Welcome to HIST 100, Themes in World History: Engineering the Past.

In this class, we will explore what it means for an object, place, or system to be engineered, and we will consider the different ways people have expressed their habits, beliefs, and values through their engineering. Along the way, we will interpret relevant texts from the past, learn how to “read” engineered objects, and consider the ways people have designed, adapted to, or resisted engineered environments and systems.

Photo: Charles M. Hiller, Golden Gate Bridge under construction, San Francisco, 1934.
Source: Library of Congress, 90713569. Click to enlarge.

So, for example, if we were to consider the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge (pictured above), we might ask, and attempt to find compelling answers to, these kinds of questions:

• Why do people build bridges?
• Are they only meant for convenient transportation?
• Why do bridges look different from one another?
• What most influences the style and design of a bridge?
• What can we learn about people from the kinds of bridges they build?
• What is the experience of being on a particular bridge, and why does it matter?

In fact, you’ll be considering two bridges in one of your first short assignments in this course. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. . . Please use the menu at upper right to click over to the syllabus and the course schedule. Still feeling a bit lost? Here’s some technical information about the course.