Introduction to Graduate Research (Fall 2021)

Introduction to Graduate Research (in TSB and MTS)

Media, Technology & Society (MTS) 501

Wednesdays 9am-11:50am CT

Frances Searle Building, Room 2-378

Fall 2021

Northwestern University

Course websites

Canvas for announcements, submitting assignments, and some files.

Zoom for any remote, synchronous course meetings and guest speaker visits.

wiki page for nearly everything else.

Instructor: Aaron Shaw (aaronshaw@northwestern.edu)

Office Hours: Wednesday afternoons (details TBA) and by appointment

Please use office hours signups (with remote and f2f location information)

Image from Matejka and Fitzmaurice, CHI, 2017

Course information

Policies

General course policies

General policies on a wide variety of topics including classroom equity, attendance, academic integrity, accommodations, late assignments, and more are provided on Aaron's class policies page. Below are some policy statements specific to this course and quarter.

Teaching and learning in a pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic will impact this course in various ways, some of them obvious and tangible and others harder to pin down. On the obvious and tangible front, we have things like the fact that we'll be wearing masks when we meet on campus (assuming we're even able to meet on campus all quarter!) and that our guest speakers will all participate remotely. These will reshape our collective experience in major ways.

On the "harder to pin down" side, even though (or maybe especially because) we've been doing this pandemic thing for a while now, many of us may experience elevated levels of exhaustion, stress, uncertainty and/or distraction. We may need to provide unexpected support to family, friends, or others in our communities. I have some personal experiences with this and I expect that many (all?) of you do too. It is a difficult time.

I believe it is important to acknowledge these realities of the situation and create the space to discuss and process them in the context of our class throughout the quarter. As your instructor and colleague, I commit to do my best to approach the course in an adaptive, generous, and empathetic way. I will try to be transparent and direct with you throughout—both with respect to the course material as well as the pandemic and the university's ongoing response to it. I ask that you try to extend a similar attitude towards everyone in the course. When you have questions, feedback, or concerns, please try to share them in an appropriate, empathetic way. If you require accommodations of any kind at any time (directly related to the pandemic or not), please contact me.

Expectations for synchronous remote sessions (if needed)

At the time I'm creating this syllabus, Northwestern expects that we will be able to hold all synchronous course sessions in-person on campus. In the event that we are unable to maintain this arrangement throughout the entire quarter and need to fall back on remote course meetings, the following are some baseline expectations for synchronous remote class sessions. I expect that these can and will evolve. Please feel free to ask questions, suggest changes, or raise concerns during the quarter. I welcome all input.

• All members of the class are expected to create a supportive and welcoming environment that is respectful of the conditions under which we are participating in this class.
• All members of the class are expected to take reasonable steps to create an effective teaching/learning environment for themselves and others.

And here are suggested protocols for any video/audio portions of our class:

• Please mute your microphone whenever you're not speaking and learn to use "push-to-talk" if/when possible.
• Video is optional for all students at all times, although if you're willing/able to keep the instructor company in the video channel that would be nice.
• If you need to excuse yourself at any time and for any reason you may do so.
• Children, family, pets, roommates, and others with whom you may share your workspace are welcome to join our class as needed, but please do your best to minimize distractions and disruptions to the course.

Syllabus revisions

This syllabus will be a dynamic document that will evolve throughout the quarter. Although the core expectations are fixed, the details will shift. As a result, please keep in mind the following:

1. Assignments and readings are frozen 1 week before they are due. I will not add readings or assignments less than one week before they are due. If I forget to add something or fill in a "To Be Determined" less than one week before it's due, it is dropped. If you plan to read or work more than one week ahead, contact me first.
2. Substantial changes to the syllabus or course materials will be announced. Please closely monitor your email and/or the announcements section on the course website on Canvas. When I make changes, these changes will be recorded in the edit history of this page so that you can track what has changed. I will also do my best to summarize these changes in announcements on Canvas that will be emailed to everybody in the class.
3. The course design may adapt throughout the quarter. As usual (for me at least), I may iterate and prototype course design elements rapidly along the way. To this end, I will ask you for voluntary feedback — especially toward the beginning of the quarter. Please let me know what is working and what can be improved. In the past, I have made many adjustments based on this feedback and I expect to do so again.

Credit and notes

This course design and syllabus builds from prior iterations offered by Pablo Boczkowski, Darren Gergle, Eszter Hargittai, and me. It has also been shaped by input from the current faculty affiliated with the MTS and TSB Ph.D. programs.