What will I need?

I will provide all of the course’s required readings. I recommend, but will not require, that you purchase Robert Irish’s Writing in Engineering: A Brief Guide.

You will also need access to a computer, and ideally a computer or tablet with you in class.

Where do I find what I need to do?

Your home base will be this course website, and especially the schedule. Links to some of the required readings will be available there, if they are freely available on the web. Otherwise, you will find them uploaded to Blackboard. This is just about the only thing we will use Blackboard for in this course, since it’s a truly, horrifically awful platform.

How do I prepare for class?

You will be expected to come to each class with tools for writing, with any materials that are due, and with any assigned reading completed, prepared to engage in active writing and discussion. Please see the Grading Overview for more detail. We will abide, in this course, by the Writing Program’s attendance policy), so you will fail the course if you have more than two unexcused absences.

How can I seek help outside of class?

Please come to my office hours! Office hours can be a great time to clarify or probe any questions you may have about the course concepts, as well as to hash out and get feedback on your ideas for assignments. You may meet with me at any point in your writing process. I can help with brainstorming, drafting, revising, etc. You need not be struggling to come to office hours, nor is coming to office hours a sign that you are a poor student. If you would like to meet outside my office hours, please email me, and we’ll see if we can arrange for an appointment.

How do I submit my assignments?

Please email any drafts and completed assignments to me as an attachment to an email with the subject line 3302-LastName-Project# (e.g., ‘3302-Palermo-Project1’). Please name your attachments according to the same convention, which will help me to keep track of your assignment. Attachments should be in .docx, .doc, or .pdf format. Please double check with me well in advance of the due date if a project you do requires some other type of file. If a project requires multiple files, please zip them together. If you are unsure how to do this, I am happy to show you how (again, well in advance of the due date)!

Will you accept late assignments?

Work should be submitted at the beginning of class on the day that it is due. I will subtract a full letter grade from an assignment for each calendar day, including weekends and holidays, that it is late, and the clock starts ticking when class begins. Late drafts will receive no credit.

I can offer extensions only at least 24 hours in advance, short of extenuating circumstances That said, life happens. If you are having a hard time because of your health, unforseen life obstacles, the significant illness or death of someone close to you, etc., please send me an email or come talk to me, so we can arrange something if it’s appropriate. To be clear: events, vacation, extracurricular commitments (including sports practices/meets/games), other school/professional commitments, and the like are not good reasons for extensions.

What if my computer crashes or my assignment gets corrupted, etc.?

Living in the twenty-first century requires both an awareness of how and where digital materials are stored, as well as work habits that take into account potential technical issues. I will thus not offer extensions because of computer viruses, crashes, printer problems, lost passwords; or lost, corrupted, or incompatible files. Please save early and often. Back up your work in multiple locations, locally (say, on a thumb drive) and off-site (say, on DropBox).

How will we be in touch?

I will sometimes email the class through Blackboard at your Husky email addresses, so please check yours regularly.

I will do my best to answer any emails with questions in a timely manner. Please be advised, however, that my replies will not be instantaneous, and it is rare that I will see and respond to your email outside of normal business hours or on weekends. When you choose to email me, please be appropriate.

What classroom behavior is expected of me?

The code of conduct for this course is taken from Ryan Cordell’s, which was adapted from the Northeastern Feminist Coding Collective’s.

  • It’s okay not to know: Assume that no one inherently knows what we’re learning. We all come to this class with different backgrounds and abilities; none of us (including the instructor) will know everything and that is okay! Encourage a space where it’s okay to ask questions.
  • Be respectful: Do not use harmful language or stereotypes that target people of all different gender, abilities, races, ages, ethnicities, languages, socioeconomic classes, body types, sexualities, and other aspects of identity.
  • Online spaces: Respect each other in both physical and digital spaces.
  • Collaborative and inclusive interactions: Avoid speaking over each other. Instead, we want to practice listening to each other and speaking with each other, not at each other.
  • Use “I” statements: focusing on your own interpretation of a situation, rather than placing blame or critiquing someone else.
  • Harassment clause: The following behaviors are considered harassment and unacceptable in this community (these are borrowed from the Django Code of Conduct):
    • Violent threats or language directed against another person.
    • Discriminatory jokes and language.
    • Posting sexually explicit or violent material.
    • Posting (or threatening to post) other people’s personally identifying information (“doxing”).
    • Personal insults, especially those using racist or sexist terms.
    • Unwelcome sexual attention.
    • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.
    • Repeated harassment of others. In general, if someone asks you to stop, then stop.

What devices can I use in class?

I permit the use of laptops, tablets, and (silenced) mobile phones in all my classes. I am skeptical of technology bans, and I am happy to share my scholarly perspective on this issue. In sum, you are adults who deserve not to be patronized while learning. Beyond my classroom, you will be continuing to use multiple technologies, digital and otherwise, in most every aspect of your lives — you will be responsible for regulating your own use of those technologies, mindfully and ethically, in different environments. Moreover, policies that allow only certain students to use certain technologies in certain circumstances require those students to code themselves as disabled and draw unnecessary attention to themselves. It is my responsibility to maintain a space in which each student can learn productively.

Having said that, I expect you to be using digital technologies to engage with resources and readings relevant to our time together. Do know that it is overwhelmingly obvious to me when you are using digital devices for other purposes, like texting or scrolling through social media. We are people who inhabit roles beyond teachers and students, and I understand that occasional distracting circumstances arise; that said, pervasive distracted (and distracting!) behavior during class time will negatively affect your participation grade. If you have extenuating circumstances that require you to be consistently reachable (e.g., an ill family member), please let me know.

Can I bring my child or pet to class?

While Northeastern University lacks an official childcare policy, I am committed to supporting all students, including students who are parents. If you have a baby whom you are breastfeeding, please feel welcome to bring them and breastfeed as often as necessary. Because I understand that minor illnesses and unforeseen disruptions in childcare may force parents to choose between attending class or caring personally for their children, it is completely acceptable to occasionally bring an older baby or child to class to cover gaps in care. Please, however, make this a last resort rather than a long-term childcare solution. If you do bring a child to class, I invite you to sit near to the door so as to more easily excuse yourself to tend to the child’s needs.

A note to parents, even if I never see your child: I am not a parent myself, but I recognize that parenting young children can be literally exhausting. If you are struggling to balance student-life and parent-life, I invite you to come talk to me — I will do my best to accommodate any issues you may be having, while maintaining the same high expectations for all students enrolled in the class.

Please refrain from bringing pets to class: they constiute a significant distraction, and your peers may be allergic. Service animals are, of course, welcome. If you are allergic to someone’s service animal, please approach me privately, and we can attempt to work out a solution.

What Academic Integrity standards are expected of me?

Northeastern University is committed to the principles of intellectual honesty and integrity: the NU Academic Honesty and Integrity Policy is found at http://www.northeastern.edu/osccr/academic-integrity-policy/. Broadly, violations of this policy constitute: cheating, fabricating (data or citation), plagiarizing, unauthorized collaborating, misrepresenting individual contribution, or facilitating any of the above.

A note on plagiarism: while we will talk substantially this semester about how all writing is in some respects rewritten from someone else’s ideas, scholars have a responsibility to be transparent about attributing ideas that are particular to others or that they can’t represent as their own. This responsibility means that one is culpable for a violation of academic integrity regardless of whether or not the violation was deliberate. We will discuss strategies for cited attribution, including quoting and paraphrasing, which vary across genre and medium.