Syllabus

Essential Information

Course Policies and Expectations (For You and For Me)

Grading:

  • 20% in-class participation
  • 30% homework assignments
  • 10% leading discussion about assigned readings
  • 10% brief presentation on a scholarly article (not from the assigned reading list)
  • 30% final project

Attendance: We’re a small group, and everyone’s attendance is crucial to making the course engaging and rewarding. However, I understand that we all have full and complicated lives, especially during the summer. If you can’t attend a class for any reason, please let me know ahead of time (unless, of course, it’s an emergency). If you need to miss more than two classes, contact me so we can discuss how to keep you up to date and on track.

Extensions: Many assignments will involve posting to the group forum and interacting there with me and other students. Thus, it’s best if you do those assignments in the recommended time frame. But again, I understand that we all have full and complicated lives. If you need an extension, let me know. We’ll figure something out.

Accessibility and Accommodations: I am committed to making this course fully inclusive and accessible to all students.

  • Informal accommodations: If you have a disability (apparent or non-apparent), illness, injury, impairment, or other condition that may negatively affect your equal access to the course, you are welcome (but not required) to contact me to discuss your needs. I will be happy to make accommodations or adjustments to facilitate your learning and participation. You will not be required to disclose the details of your disability or condition, and I will keep confidential anything you do share.
  • Formal accommodations: It is the policy of CUNY and the Graduate Center to grant reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. Students who wish to seek formal accommodations are encouraged to contact Student Disability Services at disabilityservices@gc.cuny.edu or (212) 817-7400. All discussions will remain confidential. For more information, visit the Student Disabilities Services website.

Fostering an Inclusive and Supportive Class Community: I am committed to supporting your learning, listening to your perspective, learning from your experiences, being mindful of my own biases and assumptions, and practicing patience and flexibility. In turn, I ask you to treat your classmates, and me, with respect and compassion. Together, we can keep racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of marginalization and harm out of this course.

These few guidelines can go a long way:

  • Treat others with respect and patience.
  • Use everyone’s preferred pronouns and names.
  • Know that your input is welcome, and also make space for input from others.
  • Engage with others’ thoughts and ideas in considerate and generous ways.
  • Seek understanding and dialogue even when you disagree.

Academic Honesty: You have likely been warned against academic dishonesty—plagiarism, cheating, buying/selling assignments, etc.—many times over the years. Nevertheless, please review the Academic Honesty section of the Graduate Center’s Student Handbook (pp. 64–68).

In this course, we will discuss the promise and perils of generative artificial intelligence tools (e.g., ChatGPT) for scholarly communication. For the most part, I expect you not to use these AI tools in your coursework—I want you to engage directly with the readings and other assignments, and I want to know what you think, in your words. However, given the nature of the course, we will experiment with some scholarly AI tools and analyze their output. Throughout the course, transparency about any use of AI tools is required—e.g., if you use an AI tool to generate text for an assignment, you must disclose it. This transparency is essential to academic honesty. (As we’ll discuss, many scholarly publishers have similar policies for authors.)