Stop the presses, we're coming over to see them...

It Starts In Mainz

How did the printing press, the clock, and their subsequent effects alter medieval life, impact society and religion, and ultimately lead to modernity? This tour will take us, in Dr. Matt Lundin's memorable phrase, "from Gutenberg to Google" via a 30-day tour of Luther's Germany and Calvin's Switzerland, with several stops along the way from the medieval to the modern (and postmodern) moment.

Especially central to this year's trip will be the legacy of "the machine" and its evolution, and especially as its unintended consequences (or side-effects) march into nation-state and economic growth, political machines of propaganda, and what Charlie Chaplin called the "machine men" of the 20th century.

In other words, how did we go from what Neil Postman calls a "technocracy" to a "technopoly" in just 500 years, from local town to global village, and back again, sort of, to "glocal" mindset, and why do so many of the answers to those questions lie in the heart of Germany and Franco-German Switzerland? Along the way we'll see everything from the medieval village to the modern automobile manufacturing plant, from the interchangeable part to the concentration camp, and from the sites of the dictators to those of the loving resistance fighters.

But today's agenda is very very simple:

Boeing 777, the latest in technological progress

1. Departure at 8pm from Chicago O'Hare on British Airways

2. Transfer in London/Heathrow

3. Arrive Frankfurt, Germany on May 16th, 2011 at 16:35 local time.

4. Get to Mainz by train.

5. Sleep.

Thanks for joining us virtually.

We'll try to post daily.