Editing Organizing and Governance in Online Communities (UW COM597 Winter 2025) (section)

== Note About This Syllabus ==
=== Changes to the Syllabus ===
You should expect this syllabus to be a dynamic document, not a contract. Although the core expectations for this class are fixed, the details of readings and assignments ''will'' shift based on how the class goes, any guest speakers I arrange, my readings in this area, etc. As a result, there are three important things to keep in mind:

* Although details on this syllabus will change, I will try to ensure that I never change readings more than six days before they are due. This means that if I don't fill in a reading marked "{{tbd}}" six days before it's due, it is dropped. If I don't change something marked "{{tentative}}" before the deadline, then it is assigned. This also means that if you plan to read more than six days ahead, contact me first.
* Because this syllabus is a wiki, you can track every change by clicking the history button on this page when I make changes. I will summarize these changes in the weekly [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/announcements announcement on Canvas] that will be emailed to everybody in the class. Closely monitor your email or the announcements section on the [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1808091/announcements course website on Canvas] to ensure you don't miss these announcements. <!-- * I will frequently ask the class for voluntary, anonymous 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 to the courses that I teach while the quarter progressed based on this feedback. -->

=== Access to the Readings ===

Because I understand and remember the financial challenges of being a student, I've structured this course so there is no textbook for this class. There is nothing you will need to purchase. Everything we'll read in this class will either be freely available online, through UW libraries, or via Canvas.

Many readings are marked as "''[Available through UW libraries]''". Most of these will be accessible to anybody who connects from the UW network. This means that if you're on campus, it will likely work. Although you can go through the UW libraries website to get most of these, the easiest way is using the [https://www.lib.washington.edu/help/connect/tools UW library proxy bookmarklet]. This is a little button you can drag and drop onto the bookmarks toolbar on your browser. When you press the button, it will ask you to log in using your UW NetID and then will automatically send your traffic through UW libraries. You can also use the other tools on [https://www.lib.washington.edu/help/connect this UW libraries webpage].

=== Workload ===

This class is a 5 credit class. According to the UW policy, students should expect to devote about 3 hours per week per credit—on average across weeks and students. With this in mind, I plan to assign about a book worth of reading each week. Because we will spend 3-4 hours in class and an hour or two on assignments, on average, I expect everybody to read for about 8-10 hours each week (i.e., about one book's worth of reading time). For some people, reading a book's worth of articles will take longer. For some, it will take less.

I understand this class involves a lot of reading compared to some other courses, especially outside of the social sciences. Historically, students suggest my courses take more time than most classes at UW but less time per week (on average) than 3 hours per credit. Please let me know if you are spending more than 15 hours a week on the class.