Cultural Norms

For the final exam, you will combine what you’ve learned from our lecture videos and class readings. You will use information from these sources (and ONLY these sources) to answer ONE of the three questions below. Please indicate which question you’re answering on your exam by placing the question number at the top of your essay (you do not need to repeat the question itself). Exam is due Monday, December 7 at 11:59 EST. NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED UNLESS AN EXTENSION IS PRE-APPROVED BY YOUR GRADING INSTRUCTOR. Anyone granted an extension must submit their essay via email. If you do not receive a confirmation email from your grading instructor within 24 hours, please email again to confirm submission was received. Questions (choose only ONE to answer): In what ways can investigating the history of the environment, health, technology, and science teach us about society as a whole? For example, in what ways do these topics teach us about politics, economics, religious beliefs, social and cultural norms, etc.? In what ways does technology influence broader societal trends and beliefs and in what ways do they influence technology? In what ways can we challenge the idea of history as a linear progression? Do we see examples in the history of technology that defy the idea of constant “progress”? Do we see examples of previous technologies returning and being repurposed? Many say that “necessity is the mother of invention,” while David Nye proposes that often “invention has been the mother of necessity.” Briefly explain his theory and support this idea using evidence from throughout the semester. Specifics: !  Minimum word-count: 1,500 words (maximum 1700) !  You MUST CITE your information (parenthetical citations, footnotes, or endnotes are all acceptable). Citation information for class readings can be found in the syllabus. For lecture videos, you may use short, informal citations (ex. “The Role of War lecture” or “Crash Course: Computing lecture.” !  In order to assess everyone in the same way, you CANNOT use sources used for your film essay (unless you used lecture material or class readings for your essay) or any other outside sources. !  You should balance your use of sources so you’re regularly citing information from both the readings and lecture videos !  You should answer the question in a cohesive, well-organized essay. It should not just be a list of facts. However, you should include many detailed examples when answering the question !  Exams should be uploaded as Word documents or PDF files. Please do not upload other files types (ex. Pages, link to a Google Doc, etc.)