A Social History of Robotics

FAIN: FW-50241-10

Lisa Nocks
New Jersey Institute of Technology (Newark, NJ 07102-1824)

This project will enhance my senior capstone, Robots in History and Culture, and share the information with the public. In this course we explore the intellectual and practical transition from mechanization to automation, to robots with artificial intelligence (AI). I aim to expand historical lecture content to both international robotics and to very early history of technology; to improve the existing learning resources; and publish a web page based on this course that is accessible to both the NJIT community and to the public at large. NJIT undergraduate students major in such fields as robotics, biomedical engineering, architecture, civil engineering, information technology, business, pre-med, and pre-law. They are required to complete senior capstone courses in both their major and in the humanities. My course fits in with the history department's commitment to offer courses that place technological advances in historical context and that reflect the interests of their students.