Please check that your marks for assignments have been recorded properly. Beside each letter grade is the percentage that we converted it into.
There are some missing assignments and final exams, these are indicated by a ? in the grade field. Please contact us if you submitted something and it was not graded or recorded.
Note that since it is a final, you can't get the final essay back. We have to keep it for a year.
| ______________________________________________ Contents |
Sections and Locations:
| Section | Instructor | Time | Location |
| Lec X5 | Higgs/Hoover | W 18:30-21:30 | Bus 3 6 |
Instructors:
| Instructor | Office | Web | |
| Eric Higgs | Tory 14-14 | http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/~willow/eric.html | eric.higgs@ualberta.ca |
| Jim Hoover | Athabasca Hall 308 | http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~hoover | hoover@cs.ualberta.ca |
Important Dates:
| Jan 12 (Wed) | Lectures begin. |
| Jan 26 (Wed) | Assignment of students to discussion groups. |
| Jan 26 (Wed) | First discussion leaders start work. |
| Feb 2 (Wed) | First discussionn background paper due. |
| Feb 9 (Wed) | Library Bootcamp assignment due. |
| Feb 21-25 | Reading week. |
| Mar 22 (Wed) | Final essay topics distributed. |
| April 5 (Wed) | Last chance to hand in draft final essay for feedback. |
| April 12 (Wed) | Final essay due. Last day of classes |
| April 14 (Fri) | Extension to due date date for final essay. Deliver to Higgs or Hoover office. |
Contact:
The best way to contact us outside of the lecture is via email. In general we will not be having regularly scheduled office hours, but can answer questions via email, or arrange appointments as appropriate. The use of email is the most efficient use of your time and ours.
The course home page is http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~hoover/cultinfo.
There is a main text for the course, plus a package of readings. The coursepack of readings will be available in the Bookstore in the first few weeks of class. The first few weeks of readings will be drawn from the text by Ursula Franklin.
The goal of this course is to examine the cultural significance of information technologies from the perspective of those who are creating the technologies, and those who provide cultural analysis and interpretation. It is not a course about technology, rather it is about the relationship between people and information technologies. We believe this fusion will be intellectually very stimulating and enjoyable. Readings and assignments will be structured to appeal to both groups of students (i.e., it won't be necessary to have specialized technical skills or background in cultural theory to thrive in this course). Expect some modest group work: cross-fertilization of ideas is a critical component of our approach.
This is an experimental collaboration between a professor in Computing Science (Hoover) and a professor in Anthropology (Higgs). As much as possible it is intended as a cross-fertilization of these two subjects. We appreciate your comments and suggestions along the way.
Since our course begins a few days after Jan 1, 2000 we expect to have an interesting context. What is the aftermath of the Y2K problem? What have we learned from this cultural epoch?
In the outline below, the readings entries refer to the readings that are necessary for that lecture.
General lecture outline:
The class will be divided, randomly, into discussion groups of 8 students. These groups are intended to foster in-depth discussion about course topics and to develop skills in seminar presentation and participation. Each week, starting Feb 9, the class will break into groups led by student presenters. So that students can see what is expected, Discussion Topic 0 (February 2) will be handled by the instructors. Generally, the first hour of each class will be a lecture by the instructors, followed by a brief break and discussion groups, another brief break, and the remainder of the class for closing comments and debriefing from the discussion groups.
Each member of the group will take a turn at leading the discussion. The topic leader for that week is responsible for preparing a background paper (3-5 pages) for the other members a week before the discussion, and then moderating the actual discussion. The discussion topic should follow closely the overall theme for that week's lecture, including attention to the assigned readings (discussion leaders are also encouraged to make available other relevant readings for members of their discussion group). The background paper sets out the main points of the relevant background material, presents a specific argument, reports on a real world encounter or field experience (see below), and identifies 3 questions to be examined during the discussion. Members of the group will use the background paper to guide their preparation for that week's discussion.
A modest field component is required for each background paper. This may involve an interview with someone, or a group of people, or a set of observations. For example, if the discussion topic is surveillance, then you might choose to observe people's reactions to a particular surveillance technology (e.g., having purchases checked at Costco), or interviewing someone about their experiences with surveillance (e.g., a checkout clerk at a grocery store whose performance is being automatically monitored). Such fieldwork is subject to specific University protocols governing ethical research conduct. A blanket ethics clearance will be obtained for the course, but you must adhere to specific guidelines concerning confidentiality, anonymity, security of data, and the right of the research consultant to withdraw from the research project at any time. Ethics guidelines and appropriate conduct will be covered in one of the lectures. Each member of the group also takes turns as recorder and is responsible for writing up the main points of consensus or controversy of the discussion (3 pages max).
The basic schedule of a discussion looks like this:
Content of background paper:
Content of summary report:
This assignment is about the way technology affects the organization, signifance, value and retrieval of information. The purpose of this assignment is to develop skills with information search and retrieval a diverse array of technologies for obtaining information. The skills you learn and exercise here with be useful for finding material for your discussion background paper and your final essay, and will provide you with advanced research skills. It will be painful, but worth it (no pain, no gain?).
The core of this assignment is a project known as a pathfinder. A pathfinder is a popular resource developed by librarians to help guide people to relevant materials on a specific subject. A good pathfinder lists relevant materials in each major medium of information (e.g., books, journals, CD-ROMs).
You will prepare a pathfinder on a topic of your choice, ideally a topic that isn't either too broad ("information technology") or too narrow ("surveillance technologies in grocery stores"). This will involve considerable concentrated research in the libraries at the University of Alberta and perhaps elsewhere.
Detailed guidelines will be made available on the 19th of January. This assignment will be evaluated on the basis of completeness, accuracy, style, adherence to format, and the quality of examples.
Follow this link for the full description of the Pathfinder Assignment.
Topics: Pick one of the topics below for your paper. The scope of the topics is rather broad. Given the time and space allowed, you will have to focus on a few significant issues.
"My continuing professional work is on improving the reliability of software. Software is a tool, and as a toolbuilder I must struggle with the uses to which the tools I make are put. I have always believed that making software more reliable, given its many uses, will make the world a safer and better place; if I were to come to believe the opposite, then I would be morally obligated to stop this work. I can now imagine such a day may come."
Examine Joy's program for reform, considering the following kinds of issues. Is his plan feasible? Is his view of reform compromised by the view of technology that he advocates? Is there a common thread between all the various technologies that makes them dangerous? What do you think is necessary to confront the dangers posed by new technologies?
Constraints: The paper should be 7-8 pages of content, with an additional cover page that gives your name and student ID. Each page should be 12 pt type, with 1.5 line spacing. Submit one copy of your final on paper in the last class of the course, Wednesday April 12, 2000.
In order to improve the overall quality of the finished product, you have the opportunity to hand in a version and get our feedback. You have the option of handing in a first version of your essay, on or before April 5, for our comments. We will read them, and give you feedback within 3 days. You then have until the due date of April 12 to revise your essay. Submit your draft, on paper, to either of us.
We will not read rough drafts, the essay you hand in must be of reasonable quality. Also, we will be reading for general style and content, as there will not be enough time to delve into details. We urge you to take advantage of this option as our experience has been that it can make a grade point difference in the evaluation of your essay.
Evaluation: Your paper will be evaluated on both content and style. You will have to provide a convincing argument that is substantiated by the material we have covered in the readings and lectures. In particular, we will be looking for some synthesis, where possible, of the many themes of the course. The usual requirements of clear focused writing also apply.
There are no examinations in this course. There is a final essay, and two participatory components in the course.
Your final mark will be based on your term work, weighted as follows:
| Activity | Weight |
| Library Boot Camp | 25% |
| Discussion Group Background Paper | 20% |
| Discussion Group Summary Report | 15% |
| Final Essay | 40% |
Your final grade will be based on our interpretation of the 9 point grading system as defined in Section 23.4 of the Academic Regulations. We do not use a pre-defined function of your final mark to compute your final grade, but instead use our judgement of how your mark reflects mastery of the course material. We believe that this produces a fair evaluation, and our extensive past experience supports this.
All projects will be evaluated jointly by Porfs. Higgs and Hoover.
We assume that students are familiar with the University Regulations and Information for Students, especially with the Code of Student Behavior (Section 26 of the UofA Calendar).
The final essay must be done individually. Collaboration is permitted on the other aspects of the course provided that proper acknowledgments are given. You will probably find collaborating with discussion topic leaders from other groups will help in preparing background papers.
Course Prerequisites: This course is listed as both CMPUT 497 (Topics in Computing Science) and ANTHR 331 (Anthropology of Technology), providing students the option of taking it either as a science or an arts option.
We don't expect students to have a background in both anthropology and computing science. But we would prefer ANTHR 230 or at least one 300-level CMPUT course. If you have these prerequisites, then you can take the course either as ANTHR 331 or as CMPUT 497, but not both of course.
Important Note for Computing Science students: If you take this course as CMPUT 497, for the purposes of credit counting it will be considered to be a science option, or an approved option, but not a Computing Science option. It's an arts option if you take it as ANTHR 331. Please contact Sharon Gannon in the undergraduate office if you intend to take this as CMPUT 497.
Special Services: Students who require accommodations in this course due to a disability affecting mobility, vision, hearing, learning, or mental or physical health are advised to discuss their needs with Specialized Support and Disability Services, 2-800 Students' Union Building, 492-2281 (phone) or 492-7269 (TTY).
Contact Jim Hoover, hoover@cs.ualberta.ca, about problems with or suggestions about this document. }
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