Class meets in person in HH 306 on Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30 pm - 4:45 pm and live on Google Meet on Wednesday from 4:00 - 4:50 pm unless otherwise indicated. Assigned readings should be completed before class the day they are listed (since we'll discuss in class).

Note that UMD defines 1 credit hour as being equal to 3 hours of work. This is a 4 credit hour class, so in total you should expect to spend about 12 hours a week on this class. 4 hours are devoted to attending class, leaving 8 hours per week for reading, writing, etc. Please let me know if you find that you are spending significantly more time on this class than that. 

Week 1

• Tue Aug 27 :  [HH 306] First Day of Class. Introductions. What's In A Name? 

• Wed Aug 28 : [Google Meet] Read the Introduction of So You Want To Talk About Race (aka Talk About Race). Discuss. What is a Personal Essay? 

• Thur Aug 29 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 1 and 2 of Talk About Race. Discuss. 

  • Note that the Introduction and Chapters 1 and 2 are approximately 30 pages.

• Fri Aug 30 : Orientation to Course Participation Exercise due today 11:59 pm. Counts as attendance for today. This is how I give credit for participation exercises done outside of class (marked for attendance on a day we don't have class).

Week 2

• Tue Sept 3 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 3 of Talk About Race. Discuss. Orientation Questions.

• Wed Sept 4 : [Google Meet] Read Chapter 4 of Talk about Race. Discuss. Orientation Questions.

• Thu Sept 5 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 5 and 6 of Talk About Race. Discuss. Orientation Questions (if needed).

  • Note that Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6 are approximately 60 pages.

• Sun Sept 8 : Personal Essay #1 due by 11:59 pm. 

  • Here is your prompt : Discuss experiences you have had with race and racism during your life. These should be things that have happened to you personally or to close friends or family members. Describe the situation or event, and then discuss how that impacted you or those around you. Please be as specific as possible. You do not need to describe anything that you feel is too personal. If you aren't sure how to start, what follows are some questions that are meant to help you brainstorm. However, you do not need to answer any of these questions if you already have some ideas about what you'd like to share. When did you become aware of your own race or other races? Have you been treated differently (better or worse) because of your race, or observed others being treated differently? Have you had friends or relatives with strong beliefs about race and racism? Have you been in situations  where you are in the minority (based on race)? Have you had teachers, coaches, or other adult leaders that were of a different race? Are there members of your family that are of a different race? Have you had a close friend who is of a different race? Have you been in a situation in a class, group, team, or with your family where there is some tension relating to race? Have you been in a situation where you were conscious of your own race? 

Week 3 

• Tue Sept 10 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 7 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

• Wed Sept 11 : [Google Meet] Read Chapter 8 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

• Thur Sept 12 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 9, 10, and 11 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

  • Note that Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 are approximately 65 pages.

Week 4

• Tue Sept 17 : [HH306] Read Chapter 12 and 13 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

• Wed Sept 18 : [Google Meet] Read Chapter 14 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

• Wed Sept 18 : Personal Essay #2 due by 11:59 pm.  

  • Here is your prompt : Which chapter/s in So You Want To Talk About Race have made the biggest impressions on you? These can be positive or negative impressions. A positive impression could be based on it having some connection with your life (past, present, or future) and/or being helpful in giving you ways to handle or understand a situation you may have faced. A negative impression could be based on a chapter (or ideas in a chapter) contradicting your experiences or causing confusion or even disagreement with what you believe. What were these chapter/s about and why did they make the impression they did? Please support your observations with examples from your life as much as you can. You should discuss at least two chapters in your essay. Make sure to identify the chapters by number and/or the question it asks.

• Thur Sept 19 : [Google Meet] Read Chapter 15 of Talk About Race. Discuss. 

  • Note that Chapters 12, 13, 14, and 15 are approximately 50 pages.

Week 5

• Tue Sept 24 : [Google Meet] Read Chapter 16 and 17 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

  • Note that Chapters 16 and 17 are approximately 25 pages.

• Wed Sept 25 : [Google Meet] Midterm 1 (take home exam) questions introduced. 

• Thur Sept 26 : [no class] Work on Midterm 1.

Week 6

• Tue Oct 1 : [no class] Midterm 1 due by 11:59 pm.

• Wed Oct 2 : [Google Meet] Introducing The 1619 Podcast and our Podcast assignment. Please read the Podcast Guidelines before class today. 

  • We will be listening to The 1619 Podcast over the next week. This is available via the given link and I've also put copies of the mp3 files in our Canvas Files. You can also find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. Please make sure you listen to the episodes before the class period for which they are assigned.

• Thur Oct 3 : [no class]  Listen to Ep 1 and 2 of The 1619 Podcast. Total running time approx 75 minutes. 

Week 7

• Tue Oct 8 : [HH 306] Discuss Ep 1 and 2 of The 1619 Podcast. 

• Wed Oct 9 : [Google Meet] Listen to Ep 3 of The 1619 Podcast. Total running time approx 34 minutes. Discuss.

• Thur Oct 10 : [HH 306] Listen to Ep 4 of the 1619 Podcast. Total running time approx 41 minutes. Discuss.

Week 8

• Tue Oct 15 : [HH 306] Listen to Ep 5 Part 1 and Ep 5 Part 2 of The 1619 Podcast. Total running time approx 65 minutes. Discuss.

• Wed Oct 16 : [Google Meet] What are algorithms?

• Wed Oct 16 : Personal Essay #3 due by 11:59 pm. 

  • Here is your prompt : You should listen to all the episodes of The 1619 Podcast before working on this personal essay. After you have done that, think back on all the episodes and what you heard. I'm curious as to what you learned, and what your impressions were. In particular, I'd like you to discuss the five most interesting or surprising facts or stories from this podcast, and why they caused that reaction. Please be specific in describing the facts or stories and also mention the episode each comes from. They should come from at least three different episodes. What made them interesting or surprising to you? How do they connect to things you observe in the world around you or in your own life? Are there any unifying themes that tie these facts and stories together? Have you encountered any of these before, or were they completely new to you? Did any of these facts or stories change your perspective or understanding of the past or present? Please write this as a single, unified personal essay and not as a list or a series of bullet points (e.g, the first thing was, the second thing was, etc.) 

• Thur Oct 17 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 1 (10 pages, Introduction) of More Than a Glitch (MTAG). Discuss. 

Week 9

• Tue Oct 22 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 2 (18 pages, Machine Bias) of MTAG. Discuss. 

• Wed Oct 23 : [no class] Fall Break Eve

• Thur Oct 24 : [no class] Fall Break

Week 10 

• Tue Oct 29 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 3 (15 pages, Facial Recognition) of MTAG. Discuss.

• Wed Oct 30 : [Google Meet] Review Chapters 1 - 3 of MTAG

• Thur Oct 31 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 4 (20 pages, Justice System) of MTAG. Discuss.

• Sun Nov 3 : Personal Essay #4 due by 11:59 pm. 

  • Here is your prompt : You should have read Chapters 1 - 4 of More Than a Glitch before working on this personal essay. After you have done that, think back on all the chapters and what you read. I'm curious as to what you learned, and what your impressions were. In particular, I'd like you to discuss the three most interesting or surprising facts or stories from these chapters, and why they caused that reaction. Please be specific in describing the facts or stories and also mention the chapter each comes from. Each fact or story should come from a different chapter. What made them interesting or surprising to you? How do they connect to events you observe in the world around you or in your own life? Are there any unifying themes that tie these facts and stories together? Have you encountered any of these before, or were they completely new to you? Did any of these facts or stories change your perspective or understanding of the past, present, or future? Please write this as a single, unified personal essay and not as a list or a series of bullet points (e.g, the first thing was, the second thing was, etc.) 

Week 11

• Tue Nov 5 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 5 (13 pages, Education) of MTAG. Discuss.

• Wed Nov 6 : [Google Meet] Midterm 2 questions introduced. 

• Thur Nov 7 : [no class] Work on Midterm 2

Week 12

• Tue Nov 12 : [no class] Midterm 2 due by 11:59 pm. 

• Wed Nov 13 : [no class, Reading Day] Use this time to read Chapter 6 of MTAG.

• Thur Nov 14 : [HH 306] Discuss Chapter 6 (22 pages, Ability and Technology) of MTAG.

Week 13

• Tue Nov 19 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 7 (14 pages, Gender Rights and Databases) of MTAG. Discuss.

• Wed Nov 20 : [no class] Personal Essay #5 due by 11:59 pm. 

  • Here is your prompt : First read Chapter 6 (Ability and Technology) of More Than A Glitch. Then, do your own accessibility audit of UMD. Focus on the academic buildings, residence halls, and outdoor areas within the boundaries of the campus. I'd like you to identify features of UMD that pose potential barriers to 1) a person in a wheelchair, 2) a person who is blind, 3) a person who is deaf, 4) a person who is very sensitive to noise and 5) a person who suffers from a learning disability that affects their memory. You should identify one example of a barrier that exists at UMD for each kind of person. Be specific about the location and the nature of each barrier and how it would affect someone with that disability. Then describe how this barrier could be reduced or eliminated. Note that a barrier might be physical or it might be a practice or way of doing things that affects a person's ability to effectively perform at UMD.

• Thur Nov 21 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 8 (16 pages, Diagnosing Racism) of MTAG. Discuss.

• Sun Nov 24 : Podcast is due by 11:59 pm.

Week 14

• Tue Nov 26 : [no class, participation exercise]  Read Chapter 9 (22 pages, An AI Told Me I Had Cancer) of MTAG. Then, create a Machine Learning model with Teachable Machine. 

  • First, watch the following videos that explain how to use it  : 

    • Introduction (2 minutes)

    • Tutorial 1 : Gather (2 minutes)

    • Tutorial 2 : Train (1 minute)

    • Tutorial 3 : Export (1 minute)

  • Second, create a 2 class model with Teachable Machine using images, audio, or poses. Make sure to give your classes descriptive names so I can try out your algorithm. Upload your model and get a shareable link. Submit that shareable link to the participation exercise I have created in Canvas by 11:59 pm tonight. This will count as your attendance for class today. 

• Wed Nov 27 : [no class] Thanksgiving Eve

• Thu Nov 28 : [no class] Thanksgiving Holiday

Week 15

• Tue Dec 3 : [HH 306] Discuss Chapter 9 (An AI Told me I Had Cancer) of MTAG and your Teachable Machine experiment.

• Wed Dec 4 : [Google Meet] Read Chapter 10 (16 pages, Creating Public Interest Technology) of MTAG. Discuss.

• Thur Dec 5 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 11 (16 pages, Potential Reboot) of MTAG. Discuss.

• Fri Dec 6 : Personal Essay #6 due by 11:59 pm. 

  • Here is your prompt : Please make sure you have read Chapters 1 - 11 of More Than a Glitch before writing this essay. I would like your essay to be a letter to the author of More Than a Glitch (Meredith Broussard) where you share your own personal opinions regarding her book. In your essay, tell her what you liked, what you didn't like, what you found useful, what you found confusing, what you would have liked to see included, and/or what could have possibly been left out. As a part of your essay, tell her a little bit about yourself, your background, and your future ambitions, and how that might impact your view of the book. If there are particular chapters or stories within a chapter that were especially meaningful to you, tell her about those - which ones were they and what about them made them meaningful to you. If there were particular chapters or sections with which you disagreed or truly didn't understand, please share that too. Make sure to be clear about which chapters or sections you are discussing. Please be specific in your comments, very general or bland reactions will not be too useful to our author. She is a professional and understands readers may not agree with or understand everything, so feel free to be critical if needed.

Please make sure that the Google Doc with your essay is shared so that anyone with the link is an editor. If you aren't sure how to do that, please watch the following very worthwhile 2 minute video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q6h1fYuYM4

Final Exam : Take home exam, due Thur Dec 12 by 11:59 pm. This is the deadline because this is the day that our Final Exam is scheduled by the university. Questions will be posted sometime during Week 15.