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74576-01 - Seminar: Information in the Early Modern World (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2025 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Philippe Bernhard Schmid (philippebernhard.schmid@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Information played a central role in the early modern world. From the ‘print revolution’ of the fifteenth century to the colonial empires of the late eighteenth century, the creation, processing and circulation of information underwent gradual changes. Humanists developed new practices of recording information on paper, while collectors and archivists employed innovative schemes to classify objects and manuscripts. From the rule of Philipp II of Spain to Louis XIV, information began to hold an important place in European governance and diplomacy, based on an international postal system and a resulting expansion of global networks of correspondence by letter. Following the early modern ‘proto-globalisation’ from 1600 to 1800, the collection of information became crucial to overseas empires and their colonial administrations. The British East India Company, for instance, operated as a vast paper-based information network of local agents and colonial officials. In this seminar, we will first engage with the historiography of information history, using examples from Europe, China and the British and Dutch colonial empires. In the second part of the course we will visit the Bibliothèque publique et universitaire in Neuchâtel for a tour of their archives. We will work with a selection of letters from the papers of the Swiss-French polymath Louis Bourguet (1678–1742), who gathered information on Christian missionaries around the globe. Finally, we will look at some current issues of research in information history. |
| Bibliography | Recommended Reading: Ann Blair, Paul Duguid, Anja-Silvia Goeing and Anthony Grafton (eds.), Information: A Short History (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2024). |
| Admission requirements | The seminar will be conducted in English. Basic knowledge of French is helpful in order to read French correspondence. Für Masterstudierende sowie fortgeschrittene Bachelorstudierende der Geschichte mit abgeschlossener Grundstufe (Nachweis: drei Proseminare, drei Proseminararbeiten). Die Teilnehmer:innenzahl ist auf 25 beschränkt. Bei Überbelegung werden Studierende der Geschichte bevorzugt zugelassen. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Tuesday | 16.15-18.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
Dates
| Modules |
Modul: Advanced Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Modul: Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Master's degree subject: English) Modul: Aufbau Frühe Neuzeit (Bachelor's degree subject: History) Modul: Epochen der europäischen Geschichte: Frühe Neuzeit (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Mittelalter / Frühe Neuzeit (Master's degree subject: History) Modul: Spezialisierung «Geschichte und Polititsche Bildung» (Master's Studies: Subject-Specific Teaching and Learning) Module: Europeanization and Globalization (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Departement Geschichte |