SOCIAL COMPUTING
CS 598 EWS | SPRING 2021
Instructor: Eshwar Chandrasekharan
Email: eshwar at illinois dot edu
Time: Tues & Thurs, 3:30 - 4:45 PM Central Time
Location: Zoom (use Illinois account to access this information)
Class schedule: Syllabus
Office hours by appointment.
Syllabus:
In this course, we will explore how social behaviors are mediated by computational systems. Focusing on a combination of sociological foundations and recent advances in HCI, NLP, and human-centered AI, we will learn to understand, build, and evaluate social computing systems. Through this course, students will read and critique high-impact research papers, lead and engage in class discussions, provide and receive constructive peer-feedback, and execute a new research project for their final paper.
Classes will involve synchronous discussions on Zoom about research papers and ideas, and will not be recorded. We will use Slack for asynchronous Q&A, post reading reflections, share and comment on papers and ideas, etc. The link to join Slack is here. We will use Compass for submitting materials used for all project presentations and the final paper.
Course Overview:
Through this course, students will read and critique high-impact research papers, lead class discussions, engage with peers, brainstorm research ideas, learn to provide and receive constructive peer-feedback, and execute a new research idea for their final paper.
Learning Objectives:
At the completion of this course, students will be able to:
Assignments and Grading:
Your grade is based on:
Detailed information about the course components can be found here.
Texts:
There are no required texts in this course. The readings assigned for each class will be linked in the class schedule.
Note:
Diminished mental health, including significant stress, mood changes, excessive worry, substance/alcohol abuse, or problems with eating and/or sleeping can interfere with optimal academic performance, social development, and emotional wellbeing. The University of Illinois offers a variety of confidential services including individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, psychiatric services, and specialized screenings at no additional cost. If you or someone you know experiences any of the above mental health concerns, it is strongly encouraged to contact or visit any of the University’s resources provided below. Getting help is a smart and courageous thing to do--for yourself and for those who care about you.
Counseling Center: 217-333-3704, 610 East John Street Champaign, IL 61820
McKinley Health Center:217-333-2700, 1109 South Lincoln Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801
Related classes:
Social Computing by Eric Gilbert
Social Computing by Munmun De Choudhury
Computational Social Science by Jacob Eisenstein
Email: eshwar at illinois dot edu
Time: Tues & Thurs, 3:30 - 4:45 PM Central Time
Location: Zoom (use Illinois account to access this information)
Class schedule: Syllabus
Office hours by appointment.
Syllabus:
In this course, we will explore how social behaviors are mediated by computational systems. Focusing on a combination of sociological foundations and recent advances in HCI, NLP, and human-centered AI, we will learn to understand, build, and evaluate social computing systems. Through this course, students will read and critique high-impact research papers, lead and engage in class discussions, provide and receive constructive peer-feedback, and execute a new research project for their final paper.
Classes will involve synchronous discussions on Zoom about research papers and ideas, and will not be recorded. We will use Slack for asynchronous Q&A, post reading reflections, share and comment on papers and ideas, etc. The link to join Slack is here. We will use Compass for submitting materials used for all project presentations and the final paper.
Course Overview:
Through this course, students will read and critique high-impact research papers, lead class discussions, engage with peers, brainstorm research ideas, learn to provide and receive constructive peer-feedback, and execute a new research idea for their final paper.
Learning Objectives:
At the completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Understand research issues in this field,
- Engage with scholars and scholarly work critically, and
- Design new research projects to address existing gaps.
Assignments and Grading:
Your grade is based on:
- Reading reflections (25%),
- Leading a class discussion on assigned readings (15%),
- Class participation and engaging with discussion leads (10%),
- Research pitches on two new ideas: data or design (5 + 5%)
- Project proposal and talk on the design of a project building on your pitch (7.5 + 7.5%),
- Final paper and talk to summarize the project and present findings/demo (15 + 10%).
Detailed information about the course components can be found here.
Texts:
There are no required texts in this course. The readings assigned for each class will be linked in the class schedule.
Note:
Diminished mental health, including significant stress, mood changes, excessive worry, substance/alcohol abuse, or problems with eating and/or sleeping can interfere with optimal academic performance, social development, and emotional wellbeing. The University of Illinois offers a variety of confidential services including individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, psychiatric services, and specialized screenings at no additional cost. If you or someone you know experiences any of the above mental health concerns, it is strongly encouraged to contact or visit any of the University’s resources provided below. Getting help is a smart and courageous thing to do--for yourself and for those who care about you.
Counseling Center: 217-333-3704, 610 East John Street Champaign, IL 61820
McKinley Health Center:217-333-2700, 1109 South Lincoln Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801
Related classes:
Social Computing by Eric Gilbert
Social Computing by Munmun De Choudhury
Computational Social Science by Jacob Eisenstein