HST 304 - From Hamilton to Mickey Mouse: IP and Politics of Innovation in American History

This seminar course examines the dynamic between artistic and scientific innovation and democratic government in America from the eighteenth century to the present day. Exploring copyright and its intersection with patents, trade secrets, and trademarks, we will investigate and assess the development of political authority in tandem with that of changing ideas about the role of creative expression in American society. From books, visual art, music and their technologies in Early America through kindles, Instagram, and Spotify today, we will study the relationship between making art and making money. To do so, we will focus on how the expansion of the federal government was influenced by and in turn supported transformations in intellectual property, via both law and practice. Framed by the wider context of political, legal, and economic history as well as the history of capitalism, technology, race, and gender, we will study innovation as a central idea and institution in complex and often contradictory understandings of national democracy through the lens of intellectual property.
Lecture
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or Honors Status.
Integrated Core Theme Centerpiece: Innovation. Offered in Fall & Spring