Syllabus

Late Registration

Enrolling in the course after the first week of classes is not recommended, and late enrollments will not be approved beyond the end of the second week of the quarter.

In-Person Learning

Your in-person participation is required for this discussion seminar. Class sessions are not recorded and asynchronous or hybrid participation is not supported.

The health and safety of you and your classmates is paramount, so please stay home if you are sick or not feeling well. You may miss up to four class periods during the quarter and still receive credit for the course. It is strongly recommended to save these absences for unforeseen circumstances. More details can be found in the participation section below.

Format

We will spend the majority of our time in conversation with one another. The format of the discussions will vary from class to class. We will most commonly engage in small-group discussions around questions introduced by the instructor, but there will be plenty of more creative activities and different formats as well.

The quality of the discussions as a whole will depend on individual students’ contributions and decorum. Good discussion includes asking clarifying questions, encouraging each other to speak, delivering summaries, and offering commentaries. Together we will use such strategies to arrive at our desired learning outcomes, while being mindful of the multiple and diverse experiences of all class participants. As a participant in these discussions, your tasks are to engage thoughtfully and consistently, respect each other, contribute to a positive classroom environment. We also expect more vocal students to actively create space for others’ contributions by bringing quieter voices into the discussions.

The general progression of each class will involve:

• doing the assigned reading beforehand and responding thoughtfully to the daily assignment (discussion prompts),
• coming to class prepared to discuss and build on the day’s readings,
• discussing, in small groups and as a class, the readings and assignment responses,
• synthesizing themes emerging from the readings, current events, and personal experiences through group discussion and activities,
• and summarizing those these through reflections (exit tickets).

The course is structured into units that typically span two to five days. Each unit centers on specific topics and themes. Units, daily topics, readings, and daily assignments can be found on the course schedule.

Participation

For this discussion seminar, in-person participation is crucial and is required to receive credit for taking the course.

As such, you can miss a maximum of four class periods during the quarter. However, you may make up one missed class period by attending instructor office hours for at least 30 minutes to discuss (with the instructor and peers) a topic, recent sociotechnical development, or assigned reading related to a recent class. The purpose of this make-up opportunity is to facilitate and deepen out-of-class conversations inspired by the themes of the course.

This quarter, make-up opportunities take place:

• During James’ office hours on Wednesdays 11AM - 12PM and Thursdays 11:30AM - 1:00PM in CSE 456
• During James’ coffee chats on Mondays 1:30 - 3PM in the CSE2 atrium. Coffee chats offer a more informal environment to discuss topics related to CSE 480, computer science, and beyond.

Workload

In order to foster informed discussion and reflection, we need to a good deal of reading. As a rule of thumb, you should expect to allocate up to 6 hours per week for this 2-credit course:

• The first two hours account for attending class
• You should budget for two hours of out-of-class reading per week, although often the reading for each class may take only 45 minutes
• The remaining two hours give you time to complete the daily assignments and work on your project

The challenge of this seminar lies in engaging in both the reading and the discussions. You will be assigned more reading than you are likely used to (or have seen in a few quarters), and some readings can take time to sift through. But the readings are part of this course precisely because they are meant to challenge you and your thinking. You cheat yourself and devalue your own abilities by skimping on the reading.

That said, the goal of this course is to facilitate engagement, critical analysis, and reflection; the point is not to memorize content or achieve ‘correctness’. Remember that the course uses a credit/no credit (CR/NC) grading format, allowing us to prioritize interactivity instead of grades. Likewise, if you find yourself spending more than 6 hours a week on this class, you are encouraged to scale back by selecting fewer readings or limiting yourself to a set amount of time to work on assignments.

Assignments

Each class day has (usually 1 to 2) required readings, additional optional readings, and a daily assignment discussion prompt. Students are expected to complete each day’s readings and the daily assignment before 11:59pm the night before class.

While the readings vary in their difficulty and length, we expect students will spend approximately two hours on each day’s readings, with some variance. You may find that shorter readings are denser and require more time than some of the longer, yet lighter, readings. If you fall behind, begin with the next set of readings which are due so you can participate in the day’s discussion. Our discussions and assignments are closely tied to the readings, so it is incumbent upon you to make your best effort in completing the readings.

If you are stuck on a reading, do not hesitate to reach out to the instructor. You are also welcome and encouraged to discuss the readings with your classmates before class.

Daily Assignments

Students will submit a discussion post on Canvas the day before each class (except for our first meeting). Posts are due by 11:59pm the night before class in order to provide the instructor time to read them in preparation for class.

Daily assignments should, in a few sentences to a couple of paragraphs, demonstrate your attempts to understand and engage with the readings and meet at least one of the following criteria:

• answer the given prompts,
• summarize the works read for the day,
• raise or answer questions (e.g. clarifications of particular portions of the text, relationships between the reading and a current event, or an interrogation into the values and underlying premises on which the reading was based),
• connect the work to previous readings,
• or critique the works.

Please limit your response to at most three paragraphs. To receive credit, responses should be on-time and make a good-faith attempt to understand and respond to the readings.

The assignments are structured as discussion posts so that you can read other students’ posts after and only after you write your own. We encourage you to engage with each other often, but you must to do so at least 3 times during the quarter by replying to someone else’s post. You can choose any 3 times (or more), but choosing days where you found the readings particularly inspiring or challenging makes sense.

Conversely, if you find yourself writing a response during the quarter that for some reason you do not wish to share with your classmates, you are welcome to email it to the instructor rather than posting it in Canvas.

Course Project

Over the course of the quarter, students must also research and evaluate the relationships between a chosen technology and society as part of the course project. The project is split into five parts and students will receive feedback on intermediate submissions.

Grading

This course is graded on a credit/no credit basis. To receive credit, students must:

• complete at least 16 of the daily assignments (you can skip only 2);
• reply to someone else’ posts on at least 3 different days;
• participate in all class sessions with at most 4 absences* (see Participation section);
  • participation requires attendance for the full class period. Students arriving more than 10 minutes late will not receive participation credit for that class day.
  • persistent failure to actually participate during a class period will result in no participation credit for that day, even if an exit ticket is handed in.
  • you must clear any more than two absences with the instructor via email.
• and receive a passing grade on the course project parts.

That said, the point of this course is not a grade. Students should attend because of the readings and discussions—not in spite of them.

You will not receive any credit for work that does not adhere to course policies on academic integrity.

Academic Integrity

We follow the Allen School’s policies on academic integrity and misconduct.

Particular to this course, all writing you submit must be your own. You should not consult writing of other students in this quarter or previous quarters in preparing your submissions.

Do not use generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) at all for the daily assignments—doing so will result in loss of credit and a conduct report.

For the project, do not use generative AI tools to skimp on reading work that you cite (you must read and understand it yourself). Do not use generative AI tools to write drafts of your submissions. This means you must come up with the outline, arguments, and initial text all on your own. You may use generative AI tools for minor editing (finding a different phrase) and for improving grammar.

Materials

There is no textbook for this class. All readings—most include both an online and PDF version—are available on the course website. While the course website may show the readings and assignments for the entire course, they are subject to change until the week they are due.

Inclusion and Disagreement

Students from all backgrounds are welcome in CSE 480 and are entitled to be treated respectfully by classmates and course staff. We strive to create a challenging but inclusive environment that is conducive to thoughtful and robust discussion. If anything related to the course makes you feel unwelcome in any way, let the instructor know. If you prefer not to speak with the instructor, you may consider submitting anonymous feedback via the CSE website or contacting the UW Office of the Ombud.

Many of the topics explored in this class are relevant because of their contentious and often unresolved nature. Students should bring an open mind and a desire to examine perspectives possibly different than their own. It is important that everyone be particularly respectful of each other’s positions and to allow for constructive disagreement. Likewise, we do not want or expect you to agree with everything you are assigned to read — your instructor doesn’t agree with it all.

Accommodations and Resources

Necessary accommodations can be arranged to ensure your ability to access and participate in the course.

Disability Accommodations

Please see the UW resources on disability accommodations. In particular, please reach out to the instructor if you have DRS-established accommodations.

Religious Accommodations

Please see the UW resources on religious accommodations.