HIST480 - Special Topic: History

Course Code: HIST480 Course ID: 3072 Credit Hours: 3 Level: Undergraduate

This is a special topics course that is designed to afford students the opportunity to examine topics not covered by the existing curriculum. Students are permitted to substitute up to two special topics classes for other courses required in their concentration. Special topic courses are offered quarterly, and the topics for these will vary. July 2026: The History of AI As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in daily life, understanding its long and complex history is essential for interpreting the present—and anticipating a potential “posthuman” future. This course traces AI from early dreams of artificial minds in classical antiquity to the latest advances in generative AI. Students examine foundational figures and early post-WWII pioneers (Turing, Newell, Simon, Minsky, Shannon, McCarthy, and others), as well as the skepticism and backlash of subsequent “AI winters.” The course explores the significance of gaming as both a laboratory and a public proving ground for AI (from chess to today’s AI-driven worlds, where agents learn, adapt, and generate dialogue and quests in real time). Students examine how popular culture (from Frankenstein and Metropolis to 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek, The Matrix, Her, and Black Mirror) has shaped public expectations and, at times, influenced technological agendas. Finally, students assess why historical perspective is indispensable for contemporary debates over AI creativity, labor, bias, surveillance, regulation and companionship. The course concludes by confronting emerging “posthuman” questions about what AI is becoming, what society should demand of it, and how it may reshape human life and work.