Course Description

Modern technology is clearly something for which we should be profoundly grateful. We are the beneficiaries of a series of technological revolutions that began in the 18th century and have continued with increasing frequency into the present, e.g., revolutions in production, in transportation, in communications, in the organization of firms and governments, and in medicine.

Yet modern technology also appears to be changing, and indeed has already substantially altered the quality of our culture.  Late educator and social critic Neil Postman went so far as to contend that technology has actually displaced the heart of modern Western culture.  Our fascination with modern technology, Postman argued, has invited us to substitute quantitative calculation for qualitative judgment, to replace genuinely human ends with technical means and, ultimately, to evacuate our world of all but technical meanings.

Modern technology, in short, is a social fact to be reckoned with, particularly if we would understand the shape, the values, and the direction of contemporary society and culture. This course is intended to provide students with the opportunity to begin to reflect Christianly on modern technology.

Fall 2025
This course is onsite only.