SOCIAL COMPUTING
CS 598 SC | SPRING 2022
Instructor: Eshwar Chandrasekharan
Email: eshwar at illinois dot edu
TA: Tanvi Bajpai
Email: tbajpai2 at illinois dot edu
Office hours by appointment.
Class time: Tues & Thurs, 3:30 - 4:45 PM Central Time
Location: 1109 Siebel Center (in-person, synchronous discussions).
Class schedule: Syllabus
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 in-person discussions 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 will be posted here. We will use Compass (TBD) 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. All related course documents can be found on Google Drive.
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
University wellness center: https://wellness.illinois.edu/
Classroom Policy:
Following University policy, all students are required to engage in appropriate behavior to protect the health and safety of the community. Students are also required to follow the campus COVID-19 protocols. Students who feel ill must not come to class. In addition, students who test positive for COVID-19 or have had an exposure that requires testing and/or quarantine must not attend class. The University will provide information to the instructor, in a manner that complies with privacy laws, about students in these latter categories. These students are judged to have excused absences for the class period and should contact the instructor via email about making up the work.
Students who fail to abide by these rules will first be asked to comply; if they refuse, they will be required to leave the classroom immediately. If a student is asked to leave the classroom, the non-compliant student will be judged to have an unexcused absence and reported to the Office for Student Conflict Resolution for disciplinary action. Accumulation of non-compliance complaints against a student may result in dismissal from the University.
All students, faculty, staff, and visitors are required to wear face coverings in classrooms and university spaces. This is in accordance with CDC guidance and University policy and expected in this class. Please refer to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's COVID-19 website for further information on face coverings. Thank you for respecting all of our well-being so we can learn and interact together productively.
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
TA: Tanvi Bajpai
Email: tbajpai2 at illinois dot edu
Office hours by appointment.
Class time: Tues & Thurs, 3:30 - 4:45 PM Central Time
Location: 1109 Siebel Center (in-person, synchronous discussions).
Class schedule: Syllabus
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 in-person discussions 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 will be posted here. We will use Compass (TBD) 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 (20%),
- Leading a class discussion on assigned readings (15%),
- Class participation and engaging with discussion leads (15%),
- 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. All related course documents can be found on Google Drive.
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
University wellness center: https://wellness.illinois.edu/
Classroom Policy:
Following University policy, all students are required to engage in appropriate behavior to protect the health and safety of the community. Students are also required to follow the campus COVID-19 protocols. Students who feel ill must not come to class. In addition, students who test positive for COVID-19 or have had an exposure that requires testing and/or quarantine must not attend class. The University will provide information to the instructor, in a manner that complies with privacy laws, about students in these latter categories. These students are judged to have excused absences for the class period and should contact the instructor via email about making up the work.
Students who fail to abide by these rules will first be asked to comply; if they refuse, they will be required to leave the classroom immediately. If a student is asked to leave the classroom, the non-compliant student will be judged to have an unexcused absence and reported to the Office for Student Conflict Resolution for disciplinary action. Accumulation of non-compliance complaints against a student may result in dismissal from the University.
All students, faculty, staff, and visitors are required to wear face coverings in classrooms and university spaces. This is in accordance with CDC guidance and University policy and expected in this class. Please refer to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's COVID-19 website for further information on face coverings. Thank you for respecting all of our well-being so we can learn and interact together productively.
Related classes:
Social Computing by Eric Gilbert
Social Computing by Munmun De Choudhury
Computational Social Science by Jacob Eisenstein