International communication class:Outline of chapter one

Outline of chapter one: Following the Historical Paths of Global Communication

1. Geographical space: a barrier to communication
1. Geography of space
2. Geography of experience
2. Geography and the mythical world
1. In ancient world the other represent the unknown
2. Fear of the unknown
3. Myths surfaced in many places in the middle ages
3. Ancient encounters of societies and cultures
1. Constructing rational models of knowledge thanks to Greeks and Arabs
4. Global explorers: migrants, holy people, merchants
1. Pre-agrarian societies in Europe migration was a way of life
2. Arab ship travelling in the 9^th century
3. The gap between east and west
4. The rise of geography as a science
5. Records of Jewish travellers: trade paths
6. Trade in Europe in 13^th century and Marco Polo
5. Mapmaker in the medieval world
1. Map making was an integral part of communication history.
2. Map served many purposes:

i. Maritime navigation.

ii. Religious pilgrimages.

iii. Military and administrative uses.

6. Inventors: signals and semaphores
1. Information technologies were solutions to tangible and immediate problems.
2. Developments of inventions from torch signal systems based on alphabets to optical signals experimented by the 18^th century
7. The printing press, literacy and the knowledge explosion
1. High rate of illiteracy in the early middle ages
2. The circulation of religious and diplomatic correspondence
3. Printing press in Asia 8^th
4. Industrial revolution: printing technology: new literacy was introduced.
5. The postal service invention.
8. Scientist and international networks
1. Two-way information exchange ( telegraph 1844)
2. Communication between nations: military diplomatic purposes
3. Globalization: 1884 Conference on international standards of time reckoning was held in Washington DC
9. The international electric evolution
1. Electrification of industry and commerce
2. Telegraphy
3. Radio
10. Summary: Global immediacy and transparency
1. The emergence of global communication imposes new frames of meaning about winding path of historical change.