MAT 3540
Purchase College
Fall 2023
Natural Sciences 1030
Instructor: Lee Tusman
Date: Wednesdays 3pm - 6:40pm
Office Hours: Tuesdays 11 - 1
Lee Tusman
lee.tusman@purchase.edu
Social software is explored both from technical and critical perspectives. Hands-on work in conceptualizing, designing, and developing social software projects is informed by examining the evolution of social software and its impact on society. Includes modules on version control, collaborative open source software projects and application programming interfaces. Projects may range in complexity from simple websites to data-driven web applications to real-time applications.
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The Purchase College academic integrity policy explicitly forbids cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty. Plagiarism is the appropriation or imitation of the language, ideas, and/or thoughts of another person and the representation of them as one’s own original work. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the definition of plagiarism and the acceptable methods of attribution. Violation of any of the above may lead to formal disciplinary action and the following sanctions:
Students who have any questions or doubts about whether any activity is academically permissible should check with the instructor.
The Office of Disability Resources collaborates directly with students who identify documented disabilities to create accommodation plans, including testing accommodations, in order for students to access course content and validly demonstrate learning. For those students who may require accommodations, please contact the Office of Disability Resources as soon as possible, 914-251-6035, ODR@purchase.edu (Student Services Building, #316A), https://www.purchase.edu/odr.
University faculty and staff recognize that mental health and stress can impact college performance and interfere with daily life activities. At Purchase, Counseling & Behavioral Health Services can provide support if you’re struggling with feeling overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, lost, stuck or in a crisis. Please call (914)251-6390 or visit the Counseling Center website for more information. CBHS services are free and confidential.
We support all students experiencing emergencies. Services include therapy, support groups, stress reduction at the Harbor Center, and other activities. The Counseling Center in Humanities Lower Level is open M-F, from 9:00a.m.– 5:00p.m. for appointments and walk-up scheduling, or call (914) 251-6390. The Harbor Center Sanctuary in Fort Awesome is available for stress reduction, mindfulness and meditation training, free drop-in classes and support groups, and relaxation.
All students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with Purchase College’s Student Code of Conduct. Any repetitive or disruptive behavior, including but not limited to outbursts, intoxication/drug use, personal or physical threats, damage to property, etc., may result in the professor requesting the student to leave class, contacting University Police, and/or notifying the Office of Community Standards.
All students at Purchase College can take advantage of our tutoring services in the Learning Center and the Einstein Corner. These are free, 45-minute, peer-to-peer tutoring sessions in a variety of subjects and in writing across the disciplines. Sessions can happen in person or through the Online Writing Lab up to 3x/week. The OWL allows students to submit a paper draft and get written feedback by email within 48 business hours. We strongly recommend face-to-face meetings for first-year students and multilingual writers. I encourage you to take advantage of this service to help you excel in this class, as well as your other courses. Please visit the Learning Center and Einstein Corner websites for more information.
Learning programming is a cumulative effort. Each class builds on what you have learned in previous classes. Missing class can substantially set you back in this process. Therefore, it is important that you attend every class.
This is an upper level course and students are expected to be extremely self-directed. This is a 4 credit class with 12 hours of outside class work per week.
This class REQUIRES collaboration!
Coding can be difficult, and struggling with the material is part of the learning process. Students are allowed to collaborate to learn from each other. Do not collaborate in order to simply find out a solution to a project. Each participant should contribute approximately equally, and what you turn in should be your own. Copying a solution from another student, even if you change a few minor things such as variable names, is not a collaboration. You may help someone learn something, but you can not tell them what to code. If you have questions about collaboration or academic integrity, get in touch with me via email, talk with me before or after class, or come to office hours.
The Purchase College academic integrity policy, purchase.edu/live/blurbs/840-academic-and-professional-integrity, explicitly forbids cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty. Plagiarism is the appropriation or imitation of the language, ideas, and/or thoughts of another person and the representation of them as one’s own original work. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the definition of plagiarism and the acceptable methods of attribution.
Violation of any of the above may lead to formal disciplinary action and the following sanctions:
- Minimum Sanction: Failing grade on the assignment or examination. Maximum Sanction: Expulsion
- Recommended Sanction (First Offense): Failing grade for the course
- Recommended Sanction (Second Offense): Expulsion
Students who have any questions or doubts about whether any activity is academically permissible should check with the instructor.
Plagiarism and cheating are taken seriously. You will be held accountable for Purchase’s Student Code of Conduct for Academic Integrity.
If needed, this syllabus and the course outline may be revised to better suit the class. Students are responbile for keeping up with any changes distributed via email or in class. The most up to date syllabus will always be up to date on the class site.
We are all learners and educators. I’m looking forward to learning from you as much as I hope to share my own knowledge. Your experience and participation is valid and necessary. I am not the sole source of information. You are responsible for and encouraged to be in charge of your own education. Leap forth into areas of interest. Teach with and learn from others.
Please hold me accountable and point out areas that need to be improved.
I will be accessible to you in class, office hours, and online. I will respond promptly within 24 hours during the schoolweek to any questions and can clarify anything from our class.
I will use your preferred name and pronouns and treat you with respect.
If you come to me with a request or feedback I will listen and give my full consideration.
If you have a concern or an emergency I will help you to services and support.
I will give prompt and clear feedback to you on your progress in class at set points in the semester and any time you make a request via email.
A large part of this course will use and build upon free, libre and open source software (sometimes abbreviated as FLOSS). We will talk about FLOSS software, why one may want to use and contribute to it, and its impact on technology and society today.
We will be using Discord for a class server. It is the fastest way to get answers to questions. If you already use Discord you may already have a nickname. You can right click your name in chat and select an alternate name different from your other servers.
Please note: Since this is a course dedicated to Social Software, all code questions should be asked publicly. Please use the #questions channel rather than message the instructor directly. Please place all code in code tags.
When asking questions it is helpful for you to post a minimal version along with what you expected and what you are getting. For non-code questions you can email me directly or speak to me in class or at office hours. It can take me up to 24 hours to respond to emails, and longer on weekends or at the end of semesters.
Last day to withdraw from full-term courses: Friday October 30.
Thanksgiving break: Wednesday November 22 - Sunday November 26.
Final exam week: December 11 - Friday December 15. We will do final presentations.
Week 1 - Hello World
Week 2 - Social Systems
Week 3 - Webrings
Week 4 - Computer systems as (social) networks
Week 5 - Collaborative Software Systems
Week 6 - Consentful Technology - Guest: Xin Xin
Week 7 - Creative Commons, Open Source and Public Domain
Week 8 - Building a Better Browser
Week 9 - Decentralization
Week 10 - Creative Communities
Week 11 - Contributing to Open Source
Week 12 - In-class mid-project check-in report
Week 13 - Break
Week 14 - Studio / team work
Week 15 - Presentations
Finals Week - Presentations