Instructor: Diana Chen Lin, Ph.D.
Email: dchenlin@iu.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
Prerequisites
None.
Course Description
This eight-week course examines the history of manufacturing from a global perspective. We trace changes in production processes and technologies and consider how they have shaped societies and economies. We also explore manufacturing’s development across regions and cultures and its influence on global trade and international relations. Topics include the industrial revolutions, automation, robotics and AI, globalization, and sustainability. Throughout the course, we analyze the historical, economic, and social forces that have shaped manufacturing and global supply chains, as well as how technology, politics, and culture have changed the ways goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed.
Course Learning Objectives
Required Readings
All required readings are available online from Canvas.
Assignments and Due Dates:
| Assignments | Percent in Grade | Due Date |
| Weekly manufacturing exchange (75-120 words) | 20% | Weeks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 on Wednesdays, one comment due on Thursdays |
| Q&A assignments (300-400 words) | 40% | Weeks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 Sundays |
| Two take-home papers (5-7 pages each) | 40% | Sundays, weeks 4 and 8 |
Course Schedule
Week 1 (Jan. 11-17) Before the factory and the making of global connections
weekly manufacturing exchange, Q&A assignment
Week 2 (Jan. 18-24) Industrialization, labor, and who controls production
weekly manufacturing exchange, Q&A assignment
Week 3 (Jan. 25-31) Mass production, lean production, and late industrialization
weekly manufacturing exchange, Q&A assignment
Week 4 (Feb. 1-7) Historical foundations paper
Take-home paper 1
Week 5 (Feb. 8-14) Robots, automation, and the changing factory floor
weekly manufacturing exchange, Q&A assignment
Week 6 (Feb. 15-21) Global supply chains, gender, and reshoring
weekly manufacturing exchange, Q&A assignment
Week 7 (FEb. 22-28) Steel, pollution, and the meaning of a just transition
weekly manufacturing exchange, Q&A assignment
Week 8 (Mar. 1-7) Future directions paper
Take-home paper 2