INF STD 202History of Books and Literacy Technologies
Information Studies · 4 units · Graduate courses (200-299)
Issues in history of books, writing, and literacy technologies. Investigation of invention of writing, diverse cultural concepts of literacy, earliest use of systematic notation systems in Mesopotamia, and current development of devices and practices that shape contemporary concepts of book of future. Discussion of historical development of technology (tablets, scrolls, codices, illumination and illustration techniques, paper and mass production, photography, digital tools), institutions (libraries, printing and publishing industries), cultural issues and politics (publishing, censorship, colonialism, globalization), formats and styles (type design, graphic design, aesthetics), and some important figures and events in book history. Focused on Western traditions, but not to exclusion of developments in Asia, Near East, Islamic empire, and elsewhere, and questions of cultural diffusion and diversity encouraged.
Letter grading.
When it runs
- Fall 2025
- Winter 2027
Scheduled, not typical — from UCLA’s Schedule of Classes, which publishes Fall 2025 through Spring 2027 and nothing before it.
Requisites
UCLA lists no requisites for this course.
Requires
Everything that has to come before this course, not just the courses named in the requisite above.
Nothing — this is an entry point.
Unlocks
What this course is a requisite for, and what those courses lead to in turn.
No course in the catalog lists this as a requisite.