Course Information

Instructors: Owen Astrachan
Location: Monday French 2231, Wednesday Griffith Theatre
Time: Mon/Wed 3:05pm - 4:20pm
Graduate TAs: Mystery Person
Undergraduate TAs: Mystery Person

UTA info see uta page for photos/contact information

Office Hours:
Owen Astrachan - Monday 1:00-2:00 D241 LSRC, Tuesday 2:30-3:30 D241 LSRC
(See Ed for other office hours)
Links: Regrade Requests, Syllabus, Canvas, Ed, Panopto

Course Overview

This is a course designed to foster the ability to write and reason about technical and social foundations of the Internet. We look at current and recent events through the technical and policy lenses of a computer scientist: how does the dark web work, what are the differences between bitcoin and ethereum from an ethical and energy perspective, what is happening with generative AI and copyright, how does software licensing and the law work together and in opposition. Who creates policies that govern privacy, the Internet, social media, and more.

There are required papers, required presentations, required projects -- each of which require writing, feedback, and rewriting. Some projects are done in groups. There will be a take-home midterm exam. This course includes extensive peer evaluation which plays a strong role in feedback and grading.

There is a project/paper that is roughly 10 pages/person. This also requires preparing a research poster and presenting that on the last day of class by creating a video, uploading to YouTube, and evaluating/viewing student presentations.

Consider in-person attendance mandatory to get an A.

See the course syllabus for more details.

Grading

15% Engagement/WOTO/Class
in-class, group activities and other ways to engage with course material.
34% Writing/Communication
Assignments that use different forms of writing/communication -- all with write, review, rewrite.
10% Peer Review
Review and evaluate other student written/communication work
5% Reading Quizzes
Quizzes about each week's readings, generally to be completed before Monday class
6% Midterm
take home midterm questions/analysis
10% Research the Research
Analyze/Research research papers using a standard process
20% Research Paper
Group Research Paper, poster, presentation