WRTG 3020

A.I. and SciFi



Fall 2003
Bruce Leland



The purpose of Writing 3020 is to help you further develop your critical thinking skills by writing clear, persuasive, and interesting essays for an academic audience. You will write three major papers in three three different genres, as well as carry on a semester-long on-line dialog in WebCT.

The topic for our semester's study is A.I and SciFi:

Computer technology has significantly impacted American society, and will continue to do so. In this course we will examine one area of computer technology which is of significant interest to technicians, theorists, and authors of fiction: Artificial Intelligence. The center of the course is Marge Piercy's science fiction novel He, She, and It. The novel will be supplemented by a series of theoretical articles about A.I. and by your individual research. We'll consider what A.I. is, what it might become in the near and distant future and what impact it will have on human beings and on human culture. In fact, since A.I.s are, by definition, non-human, studying them will also let us examine what it means to be human.

Course Requirements:

Since this course is offered completely on-line, with no face to face meetings, you will need to make a commitment to yourself (and to me) to about completing all daily assignments on time, without the pressures of regular meat meetings. During the next semester you will

  1. Write three major papers
    1. An Evaluative Summary
    2. An Analysis
    3. An Argument
    Each paper will be written on a specific schedule, with exercises, drafts, peer evaluations, and revisions.
  2. Make twice a week contributions to the class forums, in response to a specific question I will ask. You also need to read your classmates' responses and, when appropriate, respond to them. All posts should observe standard netiquette conventions.
  3. Offer thoughtful peer responses. Each of the three papers will be submitted to classmates for peer response. You will expect your classmates to be helpful to you; you must make a careful and thoughtful evaluation of the papers of others.
  4. Complete all reading assignments on time.
  5. Post to the general discussion forum. The discussion forum is the place to break out of the formality of the daily question forums and talk to one another about a range of topics. This is the equivalent of conversations we might have before and after a face-to-face class meeting.
  6. Complete other occasional exercises and assignments.
  7. Participate in "live" conferences. Three times during the semester I will arrange opportunities for groups to conduct real-time discussions in a WebCT chatroom. Details later.

Texts (required)

  • Marge Piercy, He, She and It
  • Lunsford, Andrea, Easy Writer
  • On-Line Articles
  • Other materials:
    • Access to a Computer with internet connection
    • CU WebCT account
    • MS Word (Since we'll be reading one another's papers, we need to use the same software. If you don't have Word on your commputer, arrange touse a computer that has the program installed.

Schedule of Assignments: Posted on the WebCT Calendar

Grading:

  • Paper One (evaluative summary): 15%
  • Paper Two (Analysis): 20%
  • Paper Three (argument): 25%
  • Daily Bulletin Board assignments: 25%
  • Other: peer responses, occasional exercises, synchronous meetings, timeliness: 15%

    Grading Scale for Papers:

    A: Exceptional in content, form and style: no mechanical errors.

    B: A good, interesting paper with no major flaws.

    C: Adequate, reasonably competent; a mixture of strengths and weaknesses.

    D: Deficient in content, form, or mechanics.

    F: Incoherent, disastrously flawed, or not turned in when due.

    As in a regular classroom, you will be expected to participate fully in all discussion and critique sessions, which means that you will need to read assigned materials on time and write assigned responses to the WebCT Forums by 8:00 PM on the date due. When we do peer critiques, you will be expected to post your own written drafts by the due date and time listed on the calendar, and then post your comments on the drafts of classmates.

    Attendance at asynchronous online discussions within the assigned time frame is obligatory. If you are late for these virtual class sessions, please contribute your response as early as possible. Tardiness and absences from the virtual class discussions will lower your term grade; more than six absences from the discussions will result in an "F" for the course. If your 6+ absences are excused on grounds of illness and if you so request, you may receive an "IW" for the course.

    On-line Office Hours

    You can contact me by email at any time. I will plan to be logged on to the WebCT chat room on Mdndays and Thursdays from 8-9. If I won't be on-line on a particular evening, I'll post an announcement to the WebCT page. For more about me, visit my web site.