About the Class

Instructors

Daniel Weitzner

Senior Research Scientist, MIT IPRI
djweitzner@csail.mit.edu

Hal Abelson

Prof. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, CSAIL

Communication Instructors

Sarah Bates
Lecturer, Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication

Jessie Stickgold-Sarah
Lecturer, Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication

Teaching Assistants

GTA: Kevin Liao

UTAs: Pratyush Venkatakrishnan, Shirley Xu

Please refer to this site for course information, including pointers to assigned readings and source material, as well as archives of exemplary papers by students in the class. The syllabus and weekly assignments are linked to from the weekly schedule page.

Prerequisites and Enrolling

For 6-3 students, this subject satisfies the II requirement and the Computers & Society track, and for 6-4 students, it satisfies the Human-centric and SERC requirements. Students may use the subject for HASS elective credit. CI-M credit is also available. There are no formal prerequisites for this subject, but students should be prepared to do extensive independent research, involving both technology and policy analysis. In selecting participants for the class, we will be looking for people with appropriate backgrounds, such as knowledge of 6.033. Also, due to the importance of class participation, class attendance is mandatory.

Readings

The class will have many readings. Most of these are on the web and will be posted along with the weekly class assignments. Many of the readings will include judicial opinions. Here are some helpful hints on locating judicial opinions.

Grading and Required Work

6.4590 attendance is mandatory, both for the class lectures (Thursdays 1-4 pm) and for the communication workshops (scheduled with the writing instructors). If you anticipate needing to miss class, please get in touch with S3 as soon as possible, and email us <6.4590-staff@mit.edu> with support from an S3 dean. We will send you a makeup assignment for that week’s class; as long as you complete the makeup assignment by the Sunday (at 23:59) following the class day, S3-supported absences will not count against you.

If you do not have support from an S3 dean, then you are allowed exactly one discretionary absence for the semester that will not count against you, as long as you complete the makeup assignment by Sunday at 23:59 (please get in touch with us to receive the makeup assignment).
  

Any subsequent non-S3-supported absences, or any absences for which the makeup work is not completed on time, are subject to a deduction of half a letter grade per absence off of your final grade.

Classes require active participation where you work in a small group to discuss and comment on the class material.  There are also a few short written assignments during the semester.

 

There is also an end-of-semester presentation that has oral and written components.

If you need to miss class or deadlines because of a medical or personal issue, make sure you’re in contact with Student Support Services as soon as possible.

 

Grades will be based on:

  • Class participation 20%: We expect you to participate actively in class discussions, contributing your own ideas and commenting on the ideas of others. The readings assigned each week should be done before class. In class, we will call on you and ask you to answer questions about the readings and to contribute to the discussion. The quality of class participation will be a factor in grades. Class attendance is mandatory.
  • Short writing assignments 15%:There will be regular short writing assignments. These will be turned in using Canvas.
  • Workshop Attendance and Participation 15%: Writing instructors will run regular workshops, scheduled in advance. You must attend and participate.
  • Term project 50%: You will be required to work on a team project that will last most of the semester. Much of this work will be done in conjunction with a mentor who is active in the area of Internet policy. The term project/paper is the major part of the grade.
  • Final Exam (not): There is no final exam.

Collaboration Policy

We encourage students to discuss the content of assignments in this subject with other students and teaching staff. When you submit an assignment under your name, we assume that you are certifying that the writing and details are entirely your own work and that you played a primary role in the conception stage. For group assignments, each student contributes equally. We would like each group to write individual author contributions at the end of each group assignment. At the end of the final project, students will submit a document to the teaching staff detailing the contributions of each team member.