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

• Wed Jan 15:  [Google Meet] First Day of Class. Getting started.

• Thur Jan 16 : [HH 306] Read the Preface and Introduction of So You Want To Talk About Race (aka Talk About Race). Discuss. What is a Personal Essay? 

Week 2.

• Tue Jan 21 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 1 and 2 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

• Wed Jan 22 : [Google Meet] Read Chapter 3 of Talk about Race. Discuss.

• Thu Jan 23 : [HH 306] Read Chapter 4 and 5 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

• Sun Jan 26 : Personal Essay #1 due by 11:59 pm. Prompt is here : 

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. Please be specific in your descriptions and include dates, place names, etc. Describe these experience/s and then discuss how they impacted you or those around you. 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? Please note that experiences of race do not have to be negative, although experiences with racism certainly are. It is fine to discuss positive experiences of being the race you are, for example any advantages or experiences you may have had as a result. 

Week 3

• Tue Jan 28 : Read Chapter 6 and 7 of Talk About Race. Discuss. 

• Wed Jan 29 : [Google Meet] Read Chapter 8 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

• Thur Jan 30 : Read Chapter 9, 10, and 11 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

Week 4

• Tue Feb 4 : Read Chapter 12 and 13 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

• Wed Feb 5 : [Google Meet] Read Chapter 14 of Talk About Race. Discuss

• Thur Feb 6 : Read Chapter 15 of Talk About Race. Discuss.

• Sun Feb 9 : Personal Essay #2 due by 11:59 pm. Prompt is here : 

Which two chapters 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 chapters about and why did they make the impression they did? Please support your observations with specific examples from your own experiences. Make sure to identify the chapters by number and/or the question it asks.

Week 5

• Tue Feb 11 : [Google Meet] Read Chapter 16 and 17 of Talk About Race. Discuss. 

• Wed Feb 12 : [Google Meet] Midterm 1 take home exam questions introduced.

• Thur Feb 13 : [no class] work on Midterm 1.

Week 6

• Tue Feb 18 : [no class] Midterm 1 due by 11:59 pm.

• Wed Feb 19 : [Google Meet] Introducing our Podcast Assignment and The 1619 Podcast (links to our Canvas Files where you can download the episodes)

  • We will be listening to The 1619 Podcast over the five class periods. Please download and listen to the files I've made available, if you try to get from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. you will typically be asked to subscribe to something (which you should not do). Please make sure you listen to the episodes before the class period for which they are assigned.

• Thur Feb 20 : Discuss Ep 1 of The 1619 Podcast. Listening time 42 minutes.

Week 7

• Tue Feb 25 : Discuss Ep 2 of The 1619 Podcast. Listening time 31 minutes.

• Wed Feb 26 : [Google Meet] Discuss Ep 3 of The 1619 Podcast. Listening time 34 minutes.

• Thur Feb 27 : Discuss Ep 4 of The 1619 Podcast. Listening time 39 minutes.

Week 8

• Tue Mar 4 : [no class] Discuss Ep 5 Part 1 and Ep 5 Part 2 of The 1619 Podcast. Listening time 65 minutes.

  • Instead of class today please do the activity you can find here. This is due by 11:59 pm tonight and will count as your attendance for today. If you don't complete you will be marked absent.

• Wed Mar 5 : [Google Meet] Midterm 2 post mortem

• Thur Mar 6 : [no class] Personal Essay #3 due by 11:59 pm. Prompt is here : 

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? Did any of these facts or stories change your perspective or understanding of the past or present? Did any of them disagree with or contradict things you have previously learned or believe? 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.) Do not include a summarizing introductory or concluding paragraph in your essay since it's already quite short and these aren't necessary.

SPRING BREAK (March 10 - 14)

Week 9

• Tue Mar 18 : Read Chapter 1 (10 pages, Introduction) of More Than a Glitch (MTAG). Discuss. 

• Wed Mar 19 : [Google Meet] What are Algorithms?

• Thur Mar 20 : Read Chapter 2 (18 pages, Machine Bias) of MTAG. Discuss. 

Week 10

• Tue Mar 25 : Read Chapter 3 (15 pages, Facial Recognition) of MTAG. Discuss.

• Wed Mar 26 : [no class, do this activity instead]  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 3 class model with Teachable Machines that distinguishes between a phone, a bottle (water or otherwise), and a pen/pencil. 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 Canvas by 11:59 pm tonight. This will count as your attendance for class today. 

• Thur Mar 27 : Read Chapter 4 (20 pages, Justice System) of MTAG. Discuss.

• Sun Mar 30 : Personal Essay #4 due by 11:59 pm. Prompt is here : 

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. Be specific in describing the facts or stories and also mention the chapter and page numbers each comes from. Each fact or story should come from a different chapter. Please do not discuss the cases of Robert Williams from Chapter 3 or Robert McDaniel from Chapter 4 as those will be covered in class. What made them interesting or surprising to you? How did each connect to ideas from The 1619 Podcast or So You Want To Talk About Race? You should have at least one clearly described connection for each of your three facts or stories. 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.) Do not include a summarizing introductory paragraph or concluding paragraph as these essays are too short for that to be really useful or necessary.

Week 11

• Tue Apr 1 : Read Chapter 5 (13 pages, Education) of MTAG. Discuss.

• Wed Apr 2 : [Google Meet] Midterm 2 questions introduced. Exam will cover The 1619 Podcast and More Than a Glitch Chapters 1 - 5. 

• Thur Apr 3 : [no class] Work on Midterm 2

Week 12

• Tue Apr 8 : [no class] Midterm 2 due by 11:59 pm.

• Wed Apr 9 : [Google Meet] Disability Bias aka Abelism

• Thur Apr 10 : Read Chapter 6 (22 pages, Ability and Technology) of MTAG. discuss.

• Sun Apr 13 : Personal Essay #5 due by 11:59 pm. Prompt is here : 

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 or has limited vision, 3) a person who is deaf or has limited hearing, 4) a person who is very sensitive to sound and 5) a person who suffers from a learning disability that affects their ability to focus. 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 barriers might affect  a person's ability to navigate the campus, access services, participate in activities, or perform well in classes. 

Week 13

• Tue Apr 15 : Read Chapter 7 (14 pages, Gender Rights and Databases) of MTAG. Discuss.

• Wed Apr 16 : [Google Meet] Midterm 2 post mortem

• Thur Apr 17 : [no class] 

• Sun Apr 20 : Podcast due by 11:59 pm.

Week 14

• Tue Apr 22 : Read Chapter 8 (16 pages, Diagnosing Racism) of MTAG. Discuss.

• Wed Apr 23 : [no class] Catch up on reading, make sure you've read Ch 1 - 9 of MTAG.

• Thur Apr 24 : Read Chapter 9 (22 pages, An AI Told Me I Had Cancer) of MTAG. Discuss.

• Sun Apr 27 : Personal Essay #6 due by 11:59 pm. Prompt is here : 

You should have read Chapters 5 - 9 of More Than a Glitch before working on this personal essay. After you have done that, think back on these chapters and what you read. I'd like you to discuss three examples from these chapters where a technical system or algorithm was designed without specifically considering the needs of a group of people that are not in the majority. Describe that system or algorithm, what group/s was not considered, and what was the impact of that decision? In retrospect, how could each of these systems or algorithms have been designed to serve a broader group of people, and what could have been different as a result? Each of your examples should come from a different chapter, and please note both the chapter number and page numbers for each example. Devote approximately the same number of words for each of your systems or algorithms.  Do not include a summarizing introductory paragraph or concluding paragraph as these essays are too short for that to be really useful or necessary.

Just a reminder do not use AI at any stage of writing this essay (for more details see our policy in the Syllabus). Also, 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

Week 15

• Tue Apr 29 : Read Chapter 10 (16 pages, Creating Public Interest Technology) of MTAG. Discuss.

• Wed Apr 30 :  [Google Meet] Introduce Final Exam Questions

• Thur May 1 : Read Chapter 11 (16 pages, Potential Reboot) of MTAG. Discuss.

Final Exam 

• The Final Exam is a take home exam due by 11:59 pm on Thur May 8. This is the date our in-class final exam would take place if we were having one. You can find the exam here.