This page will detail instructions for small assignments as they arise throughout the quarter.
Due: September 28, 8am
To be done individually
Briefly (about one paragraph) describe a recent time when you or someone you know were fooled by a false post or news article. What was the content of the article, the surrounding context of the issue, the platform on which it was shared? Why do you think you or the other person believed it was true? How did you or the other person identify it as false, and how did you or the other person react to learning this?
Please post your response (about one paragraph, including a optional screenshot) on the course discussion board.
You should not spend a large amount of time (say, >30 minutes) on this assignment.
Due: October 3, 8am
To be done individually or in groups of 2
Investigate a case study of a disinformation campaign or a similar event. Possibilities are listed below, but feel free to bring your own as well. Please share on the course discussion board the following information about your case study (bulleted list format is fine):
Possible case studies include: Targeting an individual (e.g., this case), vaccines, flat earth, #syriahoax, #walkaway, #releasethememo, Brexit, French elections, Cambridge Analytica, Black Elevation, misinformation from Macedonia, protests in Germany, PizzaGate, chemical plant explosion, WhatsApp (more here and here), ...
In this last part of the course, we will be working together to produce a document synthesizing what we have learned from and what we would recommend as next steps based on our explorations and discussions this quarter.
Important: I will plan to make the final report publicly available (e.g., on the course website, via arxiv, and/or as a UW tech report). If you are not comfortable contributing to a document that will be posted publicly, that will not affect your course grade – please do let me know asap so I can give you alternate assignments. You may also choose not to have your name on the final document even if you contribute to it, if you want to contribute but prefer not to be named.
In terms of process, we will have a couple of small writing assignments, and then spend class time (on 11/28, 11/30, and 12/5) consolidating, discussing, peer editing, etc. our synthesis and the overall document.
Due 8am Wednesday, 11/28
To be done individually or in pairs
We will distribute our efforts to summarize the areas and existing work that we studied. Via a post on the discussion board, please claim one of the following topics (in the second-level bullets) that has not already been claimed by another person or pair. (If all topics have already been claimed, you may choose one that has already been claimed.) Then, write a short (one page or less) summary of that topic based on the readings and discussions in the course; post it to the discussion board as well.
List of topics:
Due 8am Friday, 11/30
To be done individually
From the above summaries, we will step back to synthesize our lessons and recommendations. Please post to the discussion board a short reflection on the following questions (1-2 paragraphs each):