DCS 1020: How to Read 1,000,000
Books (FYWS)
Professor Crystal Hall
Meeting time Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:00-3:20pm EST
Indoor Classroom Visual Arts Center 303, also known as VAC South Tented Classroom Tent #4 (see the map for details)
Remote Office Hours
See the Zoom link on Blackboard
See Calendly link on Blackboard
I invite you to reconsider definitions of basic words that you have used throughout your education so far: reading and books. In a world where there is always too much to read (thankfully there’s TLDNR), what we read has so many formats, and it can always be updated or even deleted, this course encourages you to think about processes for taking in information, finding patterns, and expressing your arguments about those findings. My hope is that you develop habits of choosing which way of reading and writing that suits your goals in the moment. Bring your love for your favorite books and I challenge you to see how you might find the same curiosity and enthusiasm for libraries, digital repositories, and other data sets. I am committed to a collaborative, active classroom in which we listen attentively and react respectfully to our peers’ perspectives. You will have the opportunity to synthesize what you have heard, read, and computed through an end-of-semester writing project that answers the big question of the course: how do you read 1,000,000 books?
Required Books
Robin Sloan’s Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
Uncharted by Erez Aiden and Jean-Bapiste Michel.
I am agnostic about edition or format. Scans of the early chapters of Mr. Penumbra will be made available on Blackboard.
Learning Goals
Develop successful college-level writing processes (with ample feedback and opportunities to revise)
Determine appropriate library resources and participate in scholarly conversations with academic integrity
Gain familiarity with customs of a college-level community
Learning Objectives: what we will do to reach those goals
Collaborate on writing and reading, discuss, offer feedback to one another, share common experiences, situate our views within a community of perspectives
Compare choices for identifying and using evidence, craft arguments, revise (but also edit), give and receive feedback, rewrite for different audiences, self-assess writing habits, and reflect on writing as a process
Visit or work with collections at the Bowdoin Library, Museum of Art, and Center for Arctic Studies; compare Google to CBBCat; experiment with citation practices; meet with research librarians
Meet in person to craft an ethic of interaction and sharing knowledge under physical distancing conditions
Explore the digital humanities and text-based disciplines with digital and computational tools in order to ask and then answer a broad question
Learning Outcomes: what you will point to at the end of the semester
A writing process developed from what you have learned from reflection on your experiences and those of others (15%)
A toolkit for successful discussion participation (10%)
4 formal writing assignments that incorporate library resources and demonstrate the best practices of maintaining academic integrity with drafting, revision, peer feedback, and faculty feedback (60%)
A final project (open format, possibly collaborative) that uses course materials and new research to make a claim about the process of responsibly connecting one (story, book, biography, ) to one million (15%)
For this writing-intensive course, you will draft and revise your writing. Bowdoin’s Writing Program offers peer Writing Assistants to help you at any stage of your writing process. Each First-Year Writing Seminar has one Writing Assistant who can help connect you to these
resources. Our liaison is Louise Cummins. You can work with any of the Writing Assistants, by making an appointment at the Baldwin Center for Learning & Teaching. Writing Assistants are available by appointment Sunday-Thursday.
A Note on Course Materials
We will be using Blackboard to organize course work and materials.
All videos, handouts, and assessment materials are the property of the instructor and are distributed for use of individual students only. They are not to be shared outside of class.
All recordings of synchronous sessions are subject to FERPA legislation. For reasons of privacy, clips or screen captures cannot be shared outside of class.
Please see me if you are having trouble accessing any of the course materials or acquiring the required books.
Key Dates (subject to modification)
Short writing assignment (~750 words) due Sept. 11 (revisions due Sept. 18)
Long writing assignment (~1500 words) due Oct. 2 (revisions due Oct. 9)
Project pitch due Oct.15
Short writing assignment (~750 words) due Oct. 30 (revisions due Nov. 6)
Long writing assignment (~1500 words) due Nov. 17 (revisions due Nov. 24)
Final project due Dec. 21 at 5pm (end of finals period)
See the “Assignments” section on Blackboard for more details about these assignments. The 4 modules on Blackboard provide a tentative schedule of readings and activities that is subject to significant change depending on campus conditions.
Shared Expectations
Active Participation
This course depends upon active and engaged discussion. I will offer background and pose questions, but will rarely lecture to you about the texts. Learning and crafting arguments will depend upon your active involvement. This is not a course to take passively, as a recipient of knowledge. We will discuss this as a class in the first days of the semester.
I expect you to be present and on time, in-person or remotely, so that we all may benefit from full participation. This rule is based on the mutual respect we will build as a learning community. I will keep attendance, noting tardiness. That said, come late rather than not at all. Please let me know in advance, if possible, if you need to miss class. There is a lot going on this semester and it is important to be in touch with your communities.
Accessibility and Inclusion
Digital & Computational Studies is committed to creating a welcoming and representative learning environment that recognizes and values the diversity of our students and the voices in the materials we study. Our position is that technology is improved through attention to fairness that respects personal and cultural differences that include, but are not limited to race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, physical- and neuro-diversity, age and birthplace, religious and socioeconomic background. Feedback is invited on ways that we can improve in our mission.
No student is required to take an examination or fulfill other scheduled course requirements on recognized religious holidays. Please be in touch with me as soon as possible to make
arrangements to complete coursework that conflicts with those dates.
All students are encouraged to meet with me to discuss your learning preferences and challenges that you may face this semester. Please see me during the first 2 weeks of class to discuss documented accommodations that will support your learning in this course. If you are
interested in learning more about accommodations, please see Lesley Levy in the Office of Student Accessibility, https://www.bowdoin.edu/accessibility/.
As a student, you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may
lead to diminished academic performance or reduced ability to participate in daily activities. Bowdoin College is committed to advancing the mental health and well-being of its students. If you or someone you know is feeling overwhelmed, depressed, and/or in need of support,
services are available. You can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on campus at: https://www.bowdoin.edu/counseling/.
Availability
I typically do not respond to email after 8pm (at home we start the day at 4:30am). I use Calendly to post my availability for meetings. When you select a time, Calendly automatically creates a Zoom meeting. Keep an eye on your spam or junk folder for the details. Please let me know if you would like to meet outside the times listed in my scheduling app:
One of the opportunities of FYWS is to practice faculty-student networking. This often helps with letters of recommendation prior to declaring a major. One way to achieve this is to schedule an office hour appointment or a virtual coffee or lunch. Office hours are also a great way to get
early feedback on your writing and to ask questions about the College more generally.
What are office hours? Here is some advice from a Bowdoin student:
“Office hours are a time that the professors designate for students to drop by their office and TALK! What kinds of conversation can occur during office hours? That is completely up to students. You can simply drop by and introduce yourself, tell your professor about how much you liked that week’s reading, ASK FOR HELP when you are confused, draft/develop a thesis for your upcoming paper, tell them about a new article that you read that reminded you of their class, tell them about how much you miss your family and friends or how happy or stressed you are that day. Just about anything! Bowdoin professors are always happy to talk to students about anything.”
through discussion and written work, I want to be make sure you understand that as a Responsible Employee I am required to report disclosures of sexual misconduct, dating violence, stalking, and/or sexual and gender-based harassment to the College’s Title IX Coordinator, Benje Douglas. My reporting to Benje does NOT mean that any actions will be taken beyond him reaching out to you and trying to schedule a time to talk to see what assistance you might need to be successful as a student here at Bowdoin. For more information: www.bowdoin.edu/title-ix
Safety
In accordance with Bowdoin’s policy on face coverings and social distancing, we will keep follow these rules:
Face masks will be worn at all times. We may remove masks if we are outside with at least 6-foot distancing in place, but the faculty member will signal approval to remove masks.
Our classrooms have been set up to maintain 6-foot distancing. This means that we cannot move desks. If you find that a particular area in the classroom works best for you (in terms of comfort, hearing, seeing the board, etc) please let me know and we can work to reserve seats in the class.
Bowdoin will update the campus status daily, and I will communicate how and where we will meet in accordance with the campus status and our class needs. Even with a yellow status, we may meet via Zoom.
Yellow | Instruction is either outside in tents, remote, or in designated classrooms |
Orange | Instruction is either outside in tents or remote |
Red | Instruction is fully remote |
Grading Policies & Academic Integrity
As a FYWS, DCS 1020 is not eligible for the Credit/D/F grading option.
It is important to note here that time management is the most significant contributor to lapses in academic integrity. We are going to talk about this more during the semester, but I want to say at the outset that you are invited to talk to me about deadlines, consider your shifting workload, and reflect on your work habits as this uncertain semester progresses. In short, don't jeopardize your academic career over an assignment in this course. Come talk to me first.
This semester might go smoothly for us all or it might be full of surprises for everyone. Clear communication can help us to lower the stress associated with deadlines. If things feel out of control, be in touch to discuss late submission. I can work with you on timing of the individual responsibilities. Importantly: I can’t help if I don’t know what is going on.