English 1102, “Science Fact and Fiction”
Writing and Communication Program
School of Literature, Media, and Communication
Georgia Institute of Technology
Fall 2021
| Instructor: | Dr. Joshua L. Cohen |
| Meeting Time and Place: | J4 MW 11:00 Hall 103 M MW 12:30 Hall 103 O1 MW 2:00 Hall 106 |
| Office Hours: | TR 1-4 via BlueJeans |
| Contact: | jcohen91@gatech.edu |
Course Description
Artificial Intelligence, which has long been a source of fascination for sci-fi writers, is growing more advanced every day. In this course, we will read works of science fiction alongside nonfiction accounts of the latest developments in A.I. technology, as we explore how A.I. changes our understanding of what it means to be human.
Our exploration of A.I. will serve as a vehicle for considering the interrelationship among Written, Oral, Visual, Electronic, and Nonverbal (WOVEN) modes in individual and collaborative projects. We will use this WOVEN approach to explore the cultural significance of A.I. through fiction and non-fiction. Students will make timelines to chart the evolution of A.I., pitch ideas for film and television adaptations of sci-fi material, and work in groups to make film trailers.
Learning Outcomes
Required Texts
All other readings will be available through Canvas.
Learning Outcomes
Rhetoric: Create purposeful, audience directed artifacts that present well-organized, well-supported, well-designed arguments using appropriate conventions of written, oral, visual, and/or nonverbal communication.
Process: Use recursive strategies, including planning, drafting, critiquing, revising, publishing/presenting, and reflecting confidently.
Multimodality: Develop competence in major communication modalities (WOVEN) and understand that modalities work synergistically.
Collaboration: Be productive in communities of practice—for example, as readers and critics, as team members and leaders—balancing their individual and collaborative responsibilities.
Critical Thinking: Systematically analyze and question information in a manner that identifies and evaluates problems, processes, values, assumptions, and arguments in order to reach understanding, determine solutions, and initiate actions.
Course Assessment
First Week Video—5%
Deliverables:
- Final video—8/30
- Reflection—9/1
You will create a 60-90 second video to introduce yourself, identify the course you are taking, and articulate a challenge you anticipate facing this semester in ENGL 1102. Begin by introducing yourself (name, major, hometown) and identifying your course (teacher, theme) in 10-15 seconds. Your video should articulate a challenge relating to one of the modes—written, oral, visual, electronic, or nonverbal communication—that you’ll be engaging with in class projects this semester. What challenges do you expect to face in relation to this mode? How might you overcome these challenges? Use specific examples. You might also use this assignment as an opportunity to set goals for yourself in terms of a specific mode of communication or in terms of developing a specific skill. To submit your video in Canvas: first upload it to “My Media,” then embed a link to it in the assignment page. After submitting your video, you will write a one-page reflection considering how and why you made the choices you made in completing the assignment.
Participation—10%
Our class will be oriented around discussion, so your active participation is essential. We will use Perusall to annotate our readings as a class. For each reading, you will use Perusall’s highlighting and commenting tools to identify passages encapsulating the main idea, passages you find confusing or have questions about, and passages you find persuasive, effective, or fascinating. This will help facilitate our in-class discussion. When responding to others, feel free to agree or disagree with their interpretations, but keep your comments grounded in evidence from the text.
A.I. Timeline—15%
Deliverables:
- Proposal—due 9/17
- Draft—due 9/24
- Final—due 10/1
- Reflection—due 10/4
You will create a timeline to visualize key events in the history of A.I. Your timeline can take the form of a poster, infographic, or website. It should include at least seven points showing the development of A.I., the evolution of fictional depictions of A.I., or some combination. You should include at least one example from the library archives, which we will visit as a class. Your timeline should be visually appealing and easy to read. It may be helpful to consult the entry for A.I. in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
A.I. Timeline—15%
Deliverables:
- Proposal—due 9/17
- Draft—due 9/24
- Final—due 10/1
- Reflection—due 10/4
You will create a timeline to visualize key events in the history of A.I. Your timeline can take the form of a poster, infographic, or website. It should include at least seven points showing the development of A.I., the evolution of fictional depictions of A.I., or some combination. You should include at least one example from the library archives, which we will visit as a class. Your timeline should be visually appealing and easy to read. It may be helpful to consult the entry for A.I. in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
Film Pitch—25%
Deliverables:
- Proposal—due 10/15
- Draft—due 10/22
- Final Pitch—due 10/29
- Reflection—due 11/1
You have been given the opportunity to pitch an idea for a new film or television series to investors and studio executives—played by your classmates. You can chose either a “fact” or “fiction” approach: you might pitch a documentary about developments in AI research, an adaptation of one of the short stories we read in class, or an original idea of your own. You will need to persuade your audience that your idea will be worth their investment. To that end, you should articulate who your target demographic is and what makes your idea distinctive. It may be helpful to liken your idea to successful movies or shows in “this meets that” in terms. You will need a working title, an overview of the central characters, events, and themes, and a “logline” or one-sentence summary of your idea. Your slideshow should strive for multimodal synergy. You can see examples of pitch decks here. Your pitch should be six to eight minutes long. You will vote on your five favorite pitches and the winners will get to turn their pitches into trailers for the next artifact.
Film Trailer Group Project—25%
Deliverables:
- Collaboration Plan—due 11/12
- Storyboard—due 11/19
- Final video—due 11/26
- Reflection—due 11/29
Working in groups, you will create a trailer based on the winning pitch ideas. You should incorporate the core elements of a film trailer—voice over, text, visuals, background music. The tone and aesthetic of your trailer should fit the story you are telling. Your trailer should be around 90 seconds long. We will have storyboarding and video editing workshops to help you develop your ideas. You may want to borrow cameras or other gadgets from the library or reserve the green screen rehearsal room.
Final Portfolio—20%
For the culminating assignment, you will submit a multimodal reflective portfolio in lieu of a final exam. For your multimodal reflective portfolio, you will select evidence from your body of work produced in the course, provide a context for this evidence, and describe the ways in which the evidence supports your argument that you have grown as a communicator. You should identify not only what you rhetorical, aesthetic, and technical choices you made, but why you made them in relation to the course outcomes. Your portfolio must include:
1) Reflective Introduction to the Portfolio: A page for a 1,200-1,800 word essay that introduces your portfolio and strategically employs multimodal elements such as images, videos, audio files, and/or links to accompany your text and demonstrate to your audience how your communication habits have evolved.
2) Artifact 0: A page for your multimodal diagnostic video, which you produced during the first week of class, along with a reflection answering the directed reflection questions about the artifact.
3) Artifacts 1-3: A page for each of three additional artifacts that together best reflect your work and development in the course, along with an introductory paragraph and short reflections (150-200 words) answering the directed reflection questions for each artifact. These artifacts should highlight your development in all WOVEN modes. Your portfolio will be due during our final exam period.
Tentative Schedule
| Date | Reading | Writing |
| M 8/23 | Introductions | |
| W 8/25 | WOVENText chs. 1-3 | |
| M 8/30 | WOVENText ch. 4-5 | First Week Video due |
| W 9/1 | James Somers, “The Pastry A.I. That Learned to Fight Cancer” | First Week Video reflection due |
| M 9/6 | Labor Day—no class | |
| W 9/8 | Library visit | |
| M 9/13 | Isaac Asimov, “Evidence” | |
| W 9/15 | Elvia Wilk, “What Computers Can Teach Us About the Myth of Human Genius” | |
| F 9/17 | Timeline Proposal due | |
| M 9/20 | WOVENText ch. 10 | |
| W 9/22 | Peer review workshop | |
| F 9/24 | Timeline Draft due | |
| M 9/27 | GPT-3, “A Robot Wrote this Entire Article” Stephen Marche, “The Computers Are Getting Better at Writing” | |
| W 9/29 | Ted Chiang, “Why Computers Won’t Make Themselves Smarter” | |
| F 10/1 | Timeline Final due | |
| M 10/4 | Cade Metz, “Who Is Making Sure the A.I. Machines Aren’t Racist?” Kate Crawford, “A.I. Is Misreading Human Emotion” | Timeline Reflection due |
| W 10/6 | Vina Jie-Min Prasad, “Fandom for Robots” | |
| M 10/11 | Fall break—no class | |
| W 10/13 | AlphaGo documentary | |
| F 10/15 | Film Pitch Proposal due | |
| M 10/18 | Ken Liu, “50 Things Every A.I. Working with Humans Should Know” | |
| W 10/20 | Peer review workshop | |
| F 10/22 | Film Pitch Draft due | |
| M 10/25 | E.M. Forster, “The Machine Stops” | |
| W 10/27 | Naomi Kritzker, “Cat Pictures Please” | |
| F 10/29 | Film Pitch Final due | |
| M 11/1 | Film pitches | Film Pitch Reflection due |
| W 11/3 | Film pitches | |
| M 11/8 | WOVENText chs. 7-8 | |
| W 11/10 | Video editing workshop | |
| F 11/12 | Film Trailer Collaboration Plan due | |
| M 11/15 | On Point, “Understanding A.I. Warfare” | |
| W 11/17 | Storyboard workshop | |
| F 11/19 | Film Trailer Storyboard due | |
| M 11/22 | Josh Dzieza, “How Hard Will the Robots Make Us Work?” Sam Altman interview | |
| W 11/24 | Thanksgiving break | |
| F 11/26 | Film Trailer due | |
| M 11/29 | Final portfolio workshop | Film Trailer Reflection due |
| W 12/1 | Final portfolio workshop | |
| M 12/6 | Final portfolio workshop |
