HIST507

039583

The modern bicycle has been present in human lives for less than a century and a half. Yet in that brief period of time it has spread throughout the world and its popularity is near-universal. In this course we will trace the evolution of bicycle in four distinct ways: as a transportation device, with a gendered component; as a site for the development of human technology; as commodity for economic development; and as a device for human pleasure, leisure time, and exercise. We will explore its invention, growth, and development from the nineteenth through the twenty-first centuries in societies around the world. We will survey important developments in the history of the bicycle from approximately 1850 to the present.

Graduate students will have more extensive readings, in addition to the readings assigned for the undergraduate course. Graduate students are expected to attend the undergraduate lectures regularly and meet with the instructor on a group basis, twice monthly, in order to discuss regular course readings. Graduate students will write response papers (2 page single-spaced maximum) on their class readings, an annotated bibliography or research paper, and a historiography paper or research paper.

GRD - Regular Grades A, B, C, D, E

Graduate

HIST407