HSTAA 317 - HISTORY OF THE DIGITAL AGE | Winter 2026
TTH 3:30-5:20 ECE 105
Sections:
AB: F 9:30-10:20 SAV 166
AD F 10:30-11:20 THO 325
AE F 12:30-1:20 SAV 157
Professor Margaret O’Mara (momara@uw.edu)
Office location: Smith Hall 312A
Office hours: W 1:30-3:30
TA: Caylee Song (cayl@uw.edu)
Welcome! This is an upper-level undergraduate lecture course on the history of America’s digital age, tracing the evolution of the computer hardware and software industries from the Manhattan Project and mainframes of the 1940s to the social media and software giants of today. We’ll explore the historical origins of American technology companies and regions, trace the impact of digital technologies on global business and society, unearth the human stories and political histories behind digital tech, and historicize and contextualize today’s debates about digital technologies and platforms.
Learning goals:
- Understand the key public- and private-sector catalysts of industrial development in the technology sector;
- Situate technology’s history within broader developments in modern American history;
- Critically assess, and contest, common narratives about the technology industry, digital technology, and the people who lead and work in that industry; and
- Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the historical context of data and digital data production, and understand data as a product of that social context.
Readings:
All required course texts are electronic and available via Canvas. You will be asked to rent two streaming films, which you are welcome to watch together with class colleagues and share the expense, or the popcorn. Expect to read 75-100 pages per week (or multimedia sources that take approximately the same amount of time to consume). To read, make sure you are signed into your computer with your UWNet ID.
A resource that may be useful for general reference and chronology over the course of the quarter is the Computer History Museum’s online exhibition featuring various timelines of computer historyLinks to an external site..
Assignments:
- Class engagement and reading response – 40 points
- Quiz section: consistent and active Friday quiz section participation and associated assignments, attention in lectures and participation in post-lecture Q&A, timely and consistent submission of ungraded homework assignments. (20 points)
- Discussion posts: weekly 200-250-word posts on the reading, due on Canvas on Thursdays by 11:59PM. There are eight in total; we do not have posts on the week of the final, and you can skip one additional week. (2.5 points per post, for 20 points total)
- Exams – 40 points. Note that exams are in-person. If you have another scheduling commitment that will prevent you from taking either of these exams, please do not register for this class.
- Midterm: 75-minute, closed-book written exam of original essays on lecture/reading content from the first six weeks of the quarter, taken in person during class time Thursday, February 19. (25 points)
- Final: 40-minute, closed-book written exam of original essays on lecture/reading content from the second four weeks of the quarter, taken in person during quiz section Friday, March 13. (15 points)
- Final research project – 20 points, on a topic of your choosing that relates to the history and evolution of the digital age, and/or historicizes a current digital phenomenon. Due Thursday, March 19. You choose the format:
- a paper of 8-10 double-spaced pages in length, using Chicago-style footnotes;
- a scripted, edited podcast of 9-12 minutes in length, accompanied by a written script and bibliography; or
- a scripted, edited video of 9-12 minutes in length, accompanied by a written script and bibliography.
The class syllabus is available as a Google Doc here.
Book list for further (optional) reading is here..
The class technology and AI policy is here.. Other course policies and the grade scale can be found here. The History Department syllabus attachment, with all policies regarding religious and other accommodations as well as Covid-19 and related health precautions, is found here.. Please read all completely and carefully.
Click on the links below to go to the modules and assigned readings for each week.
| Week | Topic |
|---|---|
| Week One | Introduction; before the digital age |
| Week Two | World War II, the Bomb, and American science |
| Week Three | Loving and fearing “the electronic brain” |
| Week Four | White spaces, tech places |
| Week Five | From moonshots to hippies |
| Week Six | The computer becomes personal |
| Week Seven | Wargames |
| Week Eight | The dot-com boom |
| Week Nine | The Internet is You |
| Week Ten | Supersized Silicon Valley |