Worldmaking: Design and Designing in Social and Political Context - Teaching Assistant
Worldmaking: Design and Designing in Social and Political Context
5430 - ULEC 2220 - A
Professor Shana Agid
TAs: Luis Tsukayama Cisneros, Nora Elmarzouky, Mateusz Halawa, Olimpia Mosteanu
Lecture:
Wednesdays 10-11:15am
66 West 12th Street, Room 404
Discussion sections:
Section A: Wednesdays 12-1:15pm - Mateusz
Section B: Thursdays 10-11:15am - Olimpia
Section C: Thursdays 2-3:15pm - Luis
Section D: Fridays 10-11:15am - Nora
Course Description
In this course, we’ll delve into a range of approaches to fundamental questions raised by the theory that in the work of making, designers draw on “tacit knowledge” – things known, but not articulated, by the knower. What are the implications of tacit knowledge, and tacit beliefs, for design that seeks to make and change the world(s) in which we live? And what are the impacts on design when these tacit ideas are about structures of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability and nation, or what Ruth Wilson Gilmore, a professor of geography, calls “the fatal coupling of power and difference”? Working through perspectives of both designers and “non-designers,” this course will examine the social and political locations – and the tacit and explicit ideas that shape them – of designed objects and systems, as well as collaborative and participatory design processes and ways of working. We will use the emerging context of “social design,” “social innovation,” and “design for change,” in which designers from a range of fields are working locally and internationally to utilize design processes and create artifacts and systems intended to address serious social, ecological, and economic matters, as a framework, asking how differences in stakeholders’ ideas about what constitutes design “problems” and “solutions” in these projects might both limit and expand capacities for design. The course, appropriate for anyone who makes or uses designed things and systems, will draw on key analyses of contemporary and historical relationships of power and cultural meanings, including Cultural Studies, Queer and Feminist Theory, Critical Prison Studies, and Visual Cultural and Design Studies, to help interpret and think through these questions.
Attendance / Course Requirements
Attendance is mandatory in both lecture and discussion sections in order to help create a classroom and a course in which all students are encouraged, and have the opportunity, to participate fully. Students are required to attend the full length of all classes, turn in all assignments, and participate in class, both lecture and discussion sections. Students are responsible for obtaining all hand-outs, information, and notes provided in class. Students who must miss a class session should notify the appropriate Teaching Assistant and arrange to make up any missed work as soon as possible.
The only legitimate excuses for absence are: illness that makes it unsafe for you or others were you to attend class; a family emergency, e.g. serious illness (while the circumstances must be serious to allow for absence, my definition of family is broad, and absence for emergencies will be allowed for significant relationships outside what might be traditionally considered family); or, observance of a religious holiday. Unexcused absences in either lecture or discussion will justify a grade reduction, and three absences will result in a reduction of one full letter grade for the course. More than four unexcused absences in either lecture or discussion will result in a failing grade for the course, unless there are extenuating circumstances. Habitual lateness or leaving early will be treated with the same weight as carrying multiple absences. Sleeping or being on your phone or other electronic devices in class will also be marked as an absence. During class, please turn off all cell phones and other noisy, vibrating, whirring devices.
Students failing a course due to attendance should consult with an academic advisor to discuss options.
Use of Electronic Devices
Use of electronic devices (phones, tablets, laptops) is ONLY permitted when the device is being used in relation to the course’s work and is either requested by the professor / TA or arranged ahead of time with the professor / TA by the student (in the case of tools needed to facilitate listening, note-taking, etc.). All other uses are not allowed in the classroom and devices should otherwise be turned off before class starts. Faculty may choose to disallow any use of technology in the classroom and if any student consistently misuses technology in class, you may be asked not to bring it or take it out.
Index Cards
You will fill out an index card at the end of each class with your name and the date at the top and a short written response, question, or comment regarding that day’s class activity and discussion. File cards alphabetically according to your last names in a box provided by the professor. These cards will serve as a record of both mental and physical participation in class.
Learning Outcomes for this course
• Begin to engage and develop an analysis of the social, cultural, and political aspects of design fields and the role(s) of designers
• Develop or hone capacity to shape a meaningful dialog with peers and faculty through the discussion of texts and other resources, including developing a capacity to name questions and ideas in formation
• Develop or hone capacity to shape a meaningful dialog with peers and faculty through research, investigation, making, and writing on topics central to the course using tools both familiar and unfamiliar (e.g., visual thinking, writing, presentation)
• Critically engage ones own thinking, making / writing, reading / listening practices in relationship to the key themes of the course
Course Content and Focus
Some of the ideas central to this course may be new and challenging to some students in the class (and may be familiar and challenging to others). We will be learning about and discussing social, cultural, and political issues that include stratifications of race, class, gender, immigration or migration status, sexuality, and ability. A focus of the course will be asking how these issues, and the ways they manifest in everyday life impact ideas and practices of design. Students will not be asked to subscribe to any form of politics or political views, nor will they be required to agree with readings. This course will encourage debate and discussion as we work. However, if you choose to take this course, you will be expected to engage meaningfully and fully with the issues and discussion of their role in designing. If you have any special concerns, please discuss them with the professor and / or your discussion section leader.
Course Assignments and Canvas Discussions
Canvas Discussion (weekly assignment)
LEADING STUDENTS’ FRAMING QUESTIONS DUE Tuesdays at 10am
RESPONSES / CONTRIBUTIONS TO DISCUSSION THREADS DUE Wednesdays at 8am
Each week, one or two students in each section will be Canvas discussion leaders, posting one question of their own based on the reading / viewing / listening for that week’s class. All the other students in each section are responsible for posting one well-considered response or discussion point, building from the leading students’ questions and any subsequent peer discussion, referring to your own understandings and questions about the materials for the week. All students are responsible for reading through all questions and responses before your discussion section.
NOTE: You do not need to summarize the reading / viewing / listening (unless it helps to frame your question, response, or comment). These should be cogent and thoughtful, but do not need to be long!
Canvas discussions will all be used to shape in-class discussions and inform the lecture, and, as such, are one key element of your overall course grade. This is one of many opportunities we’ll be working together to create for discussion, dialog, and interaction in this large lecture course.
Assignments
All assignments are due in lecture in hard copy / original / on a USB drive (for video)
You may also be asked to upload digital versions or images of visual work to Canvas
Assignment 1 (DUE 02/25): DESIGNS’ DISCOURSES
SEE THE FULL ASSIGNMENT SHEET, HANDED OUT IN CLASS AND AVAILABLE ON CANVAS
Overview:
Look at the Design + Violence on-line exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art (http://designandviolence.moma.org/) and the Working with People website (www.working-with-people.org).
Choose an idea – either a post from the Design + Violence exhibit or a keyword from the Working with People site – that compels you in some way (intrigues, angers, fascinates, motivates, etc.) and write / record a piece for the site. PLEASE NOTE: You may post your comment to the Design + Violence blog, or submit your video to Working with People for the website, but THAT IS NOT THE ASSIGNMENT, and you do not need to do that to complete it. Rather, the assignment for this class is only to write a post or record a video as if you were going to contribute to them. This is part one of this assignment. In addition to your comment or video, write a 500-1000 word discussion of the topic / keyword you chose and why. Use at least one of the readings we’ve done thus far in the class to contextualize your thinking.
Assignment 2 (DUE 04/01): PICTURE STORY
SEE THE FULL ASSIGNMENT SHEET, HANDED OUT IN CLASS AND AVAILABLE ON CANVAS
Building on Assignment 1, choose a clear theme that resonates with you in your written discussion from Assignment 1 of the idea or topic you chose and why. Looking in visual culture – which could include art, design, advertising, television, movies, games, built environment, etc. – find one legible image (that you take or that someone else has made) that you think embodies, explores, demonstrates, or perpetuates that theme. Print, copy, or make that image at least 8” x 10” and, using any materials you choose, annotate the image to show your (critical) thinking about how it tells, or contributes to, the story of the theme you chose from your written discussion. You must have at least 10 annotations, building on the image / object / space and an analysis of it. These annotations can be observations, questions, or references to other sources, but they must be critically engaged. Feel free to introduce ideas from the readings in class so far, or other thinkers from other sources, academic or from popular culture. The final piece must be legible, clean, and portable.
For example, if you chose to write a comment about the post on Design + Violence that focuses on Sissel Tolaas and Nick Knights’ vial of Violence (http://designandviolence.moma.org/violence-by-sissel-tolaas-and-nick-knight/), you might identify constructions of masculinity as a theme. You might then look for images that explore or determine “masculinity,” and you might choose, say, an advertisement for Justin Bieber’s “Girlfriend” perfume, or a still from the movie This is Spinal Tap (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/), or a still from the Marlon Riggs film Tongues Untied (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2T0UdNaWlo), or, even, an ad for Kleenex for Men (http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=255292838). Once you settled on an image, you would print it out at least 8” x 10” and add your annotations.
Assignment 3 (initial proposal DUE 04/15; final, DUE 05/13): WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
SEE THE FULL ASSIGNMENT SHEET, HANDED OUT IN CLASS AND AVAILABLE ON CANVAS
In the final reading we’ll do for this class, geographer Ruth Wilson Gilmore asks, “What is to be done?” Your final assignment will engage with this question. You will take the readings and themes of this course and work to apply them in thinking about design or making in relationship to an issue, idea, or “problem” you know well. In this assignment, you will research the “users,” “community,” and context of your topic in order to propose or prototype (in some form) a response, intervention, piece of art or music, project, system, a made thing in relationship to it, along with a brief contextual discussion of outstanding questions.
Please keep in mind that the aim of this assignment is to practice engaging – in low-stakes ways – with the ideas at the core of the class: How do we understand something as an “issue” or “problem”?; Who gets to designate that and how does that happen?; Who defines “user” needs or perspectives?; What “communities” are impacted by an issue, policy, or design?; How do we know what to make or do?; Who decides what will work, or what to value?
Your work in this assignment is to choose something that is both manageable in the time you have to tackle it, and compelling enough to keep your interest and sustain good critical inquiry. It is also to engage the difficult questions, make note of them, and include them in your final paper and proposal or made thing. You are not setting out to make the perfect thing – that is well beyond the scope of this assignment – but you are setting out to ask good questions and take risks in your proposal. Finally, play to your interests and strengths – this assignment can result in almost anything, so have fun with it.
The final project to be handed in will incorporate:
1. A 750-1000 word discussion of the topic and your research, seeking to describe the issue, the “users” or “participants,” and the “community”(there may be a great deal of overlap between the presumed user and the community/ communities impacted by the issue – this is fine, and you can talk about how the are, or are not, related to one another).
2. A drawn / imaged, recorded, written, or otherwise hashed-out proposal or prototype / mock-up of an idea for response, intervention, action, etc.
3. A 250-500 word discussion in your own words of the questions raised for you by your proposal or prototype or the process of research and making / writing. Reflecting back on your process of finding a topic, researching it, and attempting to design a response to it, what questions do you have? What did you notice? What was difficult or complex and why? Write about this for this final component of the assignment.
In total, this should be equivalent, roughly, to 4-6 pages of writing, plus a proposal in the form of your choice (choose a form that BEST renders your idea). You must reference at least two of the readings from class.
Evaluation and grading
Your grade for this class will be determined by your participation; your work independently, demonstrated through discussion questions and the major assignments, and your work in discussion groups. The general Parsons and New School policies regarding evaluation and grading for all courses are at the end of this syllabus.
Attendance: Unexcused absences in either lecture or discussion will justify a grade reduction, and three absences will result in a reduction of one full letter grade for the course. More than four unexcused absences in either lecture or discussion will result in a failing grade for the course, unless there are extenuating circumstances. Habitual lateness or leaving early will be treated with the same weight as carrying multiple absences. Sleeping or being on your phone or other electronic devices in class will also be marked as an absence. If you are facing serious medical or personal concerns that are keeping you from class, tell the professor and your advisor so we can work out a plan.
• Participation: (20%) (this includes being properly prepared and present – in mind and body, not just body – for class each week, speaking in class and index cards, your participation in lecture and your discussion section)
• Discussion questions: (15%)
• Assignment 1: (20%)
• Assignment 2: (20%)
• Final Assignment: (25%)
Extra credit: There may also be opportunities for extra credit in this class. This will be announced and discussed in class.
Worldmaking: Design and Designing in Social and Political Context
Course schedule and assignments, Spring 2015
(subject to shifts and changes)
INTRODUCTION - January 28th
Introductions and course themes
According to whom?
In-class mapping exercise
Listen in class: On The Media, “Making Maps, the Google Way”
(http://www.onthemedia.org/2011/aug/12/making-maps-google-way/)
Discussion sections:
Read selection in class:
• Fisher, Adam, Selection from “Google’s Roadmap to Total Domination,” New York Times Magazine. (11 December 2013). http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/magazine/googles-plan-for-global-domination-dont-ask-why-ask-where.html
Introductions, requirements and expectations, discussion groups
PART 1 - FRAMING KEY QUESTIONS (mapping, knowing, locating)
February 4th
“Problem-setting” and world-making: conditions for design and designing
Reading:
• Adam Fisher, “Google’s Roadmap to Total Domination,” New York Times Magazine, 11 December 2013. READ THE FULL ARTICLE
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/magazine/googles-plan-for-global-domination-dont-ask-why-ask-where.html
• Donald Schön, Selection from The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action, 1983. pp. 37 (middle) – 42 (top)
• Donald Schön, Selection from “Rules, Types, and Worlds,” 1988, in The Design Studies Reader, Hazel Clark and David Brody, eds., 2009. pp. 110-114
Discussion sections:
Readings + discussion groups
February 11th
Designing exclusions: Racialized spaces, spatial policing
GUEST LECTURE: Mabel O. Wilson
Readings:
• Matsipa, Mpho, “Urban Mythologies,” in Kentridge, William. Fire Walker: William Kentridge, Gerhard Marx. Johannesburg: Fourthwall Books, 2011. pp. 61-9.
• da Silva, Denise Ferreira. Selection from the Introduction to Toward a Global Idea of Race. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2007. pp. xvii – xix.
o (NOTE: The full introduction will be available on e-reserve, but you are being asked just to read the beginning few pages – if you’re intrigued, please feel free to read on! This text is quite dense and theoretical, and Dr. Wilson will be taking us through it and unpacking da Silva’s arguments in her lecture, so read for the general idea and do not be concerned if it seems like a lot.)
Discussion sections:
Readings + discussion groups
February 18th
Situated Knowledge: Reflection through what, from where, represented how?
Reading:
• Lucy Suchman, Selection, ‘Relations of Use’ from “Located Accountabilities in Technology Production.” Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems 14 (2). 2002. pp. 98 (middle column 1) – 99 (middle column 2)
• Stuart Hall, from “The Work of Representation,” in Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, 2009. EITHER all of section 1, pp.16-33 or just the last three parts, pp. 24 (middle) – 33 [also check book for section on representations of race to see if this is a good thing to add here instead]
• Donna Haraway. Selection from “Situated Knowledges: the Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective,” in Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. 1991. pp. 193 (bottom) – 196 (bottom)
Discussion sections:
Readings + discussion groups
Part 2 - THE “USER” / “PARTICIPANT” / “HUMAN” / “NONHUMAN” IN DESIGN
February 25th
Who is the user?: Hotels, Design, and Labor
Reading:
• David Brody, “Go Green: Hotels, Design, and the Sustainability Paradox,” Design Issues 30 (3), Summer 2014. pp. 5-15
• Andy Polaine, Lavrans Løvlie, and Ben Reason, “Chapter 2: The Nature of Service Design,” in Service Design: From Insight to Implementation, 2013. pp. 17-34
TALK ABOUT DESIGN STRUCTURES OF / FOR DESIGNING WITH / FOR PEOPLE
Discussion sections:
Readings + Assignment 1 workshopping
March 4th
Design’s selves and others: Defining “user,” “participant,” “human”
Reading:
• Toni Robinson and Jesper Simonsen, Selection from “Participatory Design: An Introduction,” in Routledge Handbook of Participatory Design, Jesper Simonsen, eds., 2012, pp. 1-10 (top)
• Lucy Suchman, “Located Accountabilities in Technology Production.” Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems 14 (2). 2002. pp. 91-105
TALK ABOUT HOMELESSNESS EXAMPLE AND GENERAL IDEA OF “HUMAN CENTERED” AND PROBLEM SETTING
Discussion sections:
Readings + discussion groups
***ASSIGNMENT 1, DESIGNS’ DISCOURSES, DUE IN LECTURE***
March 11th
Complex Personhood: Contradictions, conflicts, and framing the “problem” in user-centered design
Reading:
Use the intro from Ghostly Matters
• Avery Gordon. Selection from “His shape and her hand,” in Ghostly Matters: Haunting and the Sociological Imagination, 2008 . pp. 3-8 (bottom)
• Gordon Cairns, “Improving the police experience,” theguardian.com, 28 April 2010 http://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/apr/28/1
• Interview with Sarah Drummond of Snook, “Service Design Skills,” Service Design Research Blog, 13 January 2010 S
+ look at the case study page for the project: MyPolice.org: http://wearesnook.com/snook/?case=mypolice
• José Martín, “Policing is a Dirty Job, But Nobody's Gotta Do It: 6 Ideas for a Cop-Free World,” rollingstone.com, 16 December 2014 http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/policing-is-a-dirty-job-but-nobodys-gotta-do-it-6-ideas-for-a-cop-free-world-20141216#ixzz3Pl8sjaPU
Additional reading:
• “Paul Gilroy speaks on the riots, August 2011, Tottenham, North London,” transcript posted on “The Dream of Safety” blog, August 2011. http://dreamofsafety.blogspot.com/2011/08/paul-gilroy-speaks-on-riots-august-2011.html
Discussion sections:
Readings + discussion groups
March 18th
Interlude – Knowledge is power?: Representation and Making Practices
Reading:
• Stuart Hall, from “The Work of Representation,” in Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, 2009 (1997) pp. 36-51.
Discussion sections:
Readings + workshopping Assignment 2
March 25th
NO CLASS - Spring Break
Part 3 - “COMMUNITY”
April 1st
Communities of production and meaning-making: Asian-American Communities and Cultural Economies of Fashion
GUEST LECTURE: Thuy Tu
Reading:
• Tu, Thuy Linh N. Chapter 2, “All in the Family?: Kin, Gifts, and the Networks of Fashion, in Beautiful Generation: Asian Americans and the Cultural Economy of Fashion, 2010. pp. 63-96
Discussion sections:
Readings + discussion groups
*** ASSIGNMENT 2, PICTURE STORY, DUE IN LECTURE***
April 8th
“Community” as: places, people, contact
Reading:
Start with section 2 – page 122 or 3. Go to end of section 4?
• Delaney, Samuel R. Selection from “…Three, Two, One, Contact: Times Square Red,” in Times Square Red, Times Square Blue, 1999. pp. 123 (start with paragraph 2.1) – 129 (bottom) + 169 (start with paragraph 7.43) to 175 (end of the first paragraph)
• Matt Flegenheimer and J. David Goodman, “On Subway, Flying Feet Can Lead to Handcuffs,” The New York Times 28 July 2014 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/29/nyregion/29acrobats.html?_r=0
WWP
Discussion sections:
Readings + draft final assignment proposal paragraphs
April 15th
Constructing “community” in community-based work: crossovers in art and design practices
Reading / Listening:
• Kwon, Miwon. Chapter 4 (see page requirements) "From Site to Community in New Genre Public Art: The Case of Culture in Action," in One Place After Another: Site Specific Art and Locational Identity, 2002.
pp. 117 (bottom) – 137 REQUIRED + 100-117 (top) optional, but recommended
• Listen in class - Selections from “The Ethics of Aid: One Kenyan’s Perspective,” a conversation with Binyavanga Wainaina from the radio program On Being, 27 August 2009. http://www.onbeing.org/program/ethics-aid-one-kenyans-perspective/190
Discussion sections:
Readings + discussion groups
***FINAL ASSIGNMENT PRELUDE: ONE PARAGRAPH PROPOSAL / INVESTIGATION TOPIC DUE IN DISCUSSION SECTIONS***
Part 4 - STATE BUILDING (+ DESIGN) IN TIMES OF CRISIS: CONSTRUCTING RACE, THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, AND CONTESTED FUTURES
April 22nd
Policing and urban space: Mapping, enforcement, and the political design of US cities
GUEST LECTURE: Paula Austin
Readings:
• Khalil Muhammad, “Introduction: The Mismeasure of Crime,” from Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America. 2010. pp. 1-14
• Christina Hanhardt, “Butterflies, Whistles, and Fists: Gay Safe Streets Patrols and the New Gay Ghetto 1976-81,” Radical History Review 100 (Winter 2008). pp. 61-85
Discussion sections:
Readings + final assignment workshopping
April 29th
Building (racial) states: What do prisons do and what do we imagine doing with them?
Reading:
• Davis, Angela Y. “Slavery, Civil Rights, and Abolitionist Perspectives Toward Prison,” and (optional) “Abolitionist Alternatives,” from Are Prisons Obsolete?, 2003. pp. 22-39 + 105-115
• Erin Routson, “Designing a New Justice System,” Policy x Design Blog, Public Policy Lab, http://publicpolicylab.org/2012/04/designing-a-new-justice-system/
• Valley State Prison for Women Redesign, Open Architecture Network Blog, 2012, http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/projects/chowchilla
READ the project page and look through the photographs (click through using the buttons at the bottom of the photo / slide frame).
Discussion sections:
Readings + discussion groups
May 6th
Future-building: Revisiting epistemologies and “making power”
Reading:
• Emily Thuma, “Against the ‘Prison/Psychiatric State’: Anti-violence Feminisms and the Politics of Confinement in the 1970s,” Feminist Formations, Volume 26, Issue 2, Summer 2014, pp. 26-51
• Ruth Wilson Gilmore. “Chapter 6: What Is to Be Done?,” from Golden Gulag : Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California, 2007. pp. 241-248
Discussion sections:
Readings + final assignment workshopping
May 13th
What's at stake? What's next?
Wrap up, review, assess
***FINAL ASSIGNMENT, WHAT IS TO BE DONE?, DUE IN LECTURE***
Divisional, Program and Class Policies
Grading Standards
(This is taken from the Parsons handbook – clear parameters will be articulated for each assignment in the assignment sheet)
A [4.0; 96–100%]
Work of exceptional quality, which often goes beyond the stated goals of the course
A- [3.7; 91 –95%]
Work of very high quality
B+ [3.3; 86–90%]
Work of high quality that indicates substantially higher than average abilities
B [3.0; 81–85%]
Very good work that satisfies the goals of the course
B- [2.7; 76–80%]
Good work
C+ [2.3; 71–75%]
Above-average work
C [2.0; 66–70%]
Average work that indicates an understanding of the course material; passable
Satisfactory completion of a course is considered to be a grade of C or higher.
C- [1.7; 61–65%]
Passing work but below good academic standing
D [1.0; 46–60%]
Below-average work that indicates a student does not fully understand the assignments;
Probation level though passing for credit
F [0.0; 0–45%]
Failure, no credit
Grade of W
The grade of W may be issued by the Office of the Registrar to a student who officially withdraws from a course within the applicable deadline. There is no academic penalty, but the grade will appear on the student transcript. A grade of W may also be issued by an instructor to a graduate student (except at Parsons and Mannes) who has not completed course requirements nor arranged for an Incomplete.
Grade of WF
The grade of WF is issued by an instructor to a student (all undergraduates and all graduate students) who has not attended or not completed all required work in a course but did not officially withdraw before the withdrawal deadline. It differs from an “F,” which would indicate that the student technically completed requirements but that the level of work did not qualify for a passing grade. The WF is equivalent to an F in calculating the grade point average (zero grade points), and no credit is awarded.
Incomplete Grade Policy
The incomplete grade of “I” may be granted under unusual and extenuating circumstances if, for example, a student’s academic life is interrupted by a medical or personal emergency. Incomplete grades are only granted at the instructor’s discretion. This grade provides the student additional time to complete the work for the course, until the end of the seventh week in the following semester, although an earlier date may be determined between the student and faculty member. The student is responsible for making appropriate arrangements with the faculty member to complete the work during this period. Incompletes granted for graduating seniors will likely result in delay in graduation.
Students must request an Incomplete from their ULEC Teaching Assistant who will determine whether to grant the request in consultation with the lead faculty member. If granted, the student and Teaching Assistant/lead faculty should complete the Request for a Grade of Incomplete form on the Registrar’s site where all Grade related policies can be found: http://www.newschool.edu/student-services/academic-policies/grades/ and send the form to the ULEC Program Director.
For undergraduate students, work must be completed no later than the seventh week of the following fall semester for spring or summer term incompletes and no later than the seventh week of the following spring semester for fall term incompletes. Grades of “I” not revised in the prescribed time will be recorded as a final grade of “WF” by the Office of the Registrar.
Responsibility
Students are responsible for all assignments, even if they are absent. Late assignments, failure to complete the assignments for class discussion and/or critique, and lack of preparedness for in-class discussions, presentations and/or critiques will jeopardize your successful completion of this course.
Participation
Class participation is an essential part of class and includes: keeping up with reading, assignments, projects, contributing meaningfully to class discussions, active participation in group work, and coming to class regularly and on time.
Canvas
Use of Canvas may be an important resource for this class. Students should check it for announcements before coming to class each week.
Delays
In rare instances, I may be delayed arriving to class. If I have not arrived by the time class is scheduled to start, you must wait a minimum of thirty minutes for my arrival. In the event that I will miss class entirely, a sign will be posted at the classroom indicating your assignment for the next class meeting.
Academic Integrity
This is the university’s Statement on Academic Integrity: “Plagiarism and cheating of any kind in the course of academic work will not be tolerated. Academic honesty includes accurate use of quotations, as well as appropriate and explicit citation of sources in instances of paraphrasing and describing ideas, or reporting on research findings or any aspect of the work of others (including that of instructors and other students). These standards of academic honesty and citation of sources apply to all forms of academic work (examinations, essays, theses, computer work, art and design work, oral presentations, and other projects).”
It is the responsibility of students to learn the procedures specific to their discipline for correctly and appropriately differentiating their own work from that of others. Compromising your academic integrity may lead to serious consequences, including (but not limited to) one or more of the following: failure of the assignment, failure of the course, academic warning, disciplinary probation, suspension from the university, or dismissal from the university.
Every student at Parsons signs an Academic Integrity Statement as a part of the registration process. Thus, you are held responsible for being familiar with, understanding, adhering to and upholding the spirit and standards of academic integrity as set forth by the Parsons Student Handbook.
Guidelines for Written Assignments
Plagiarism is the use of another person's words or ideas in any academic work using books, journals, internet postings, or other student papers without proper acknowledgment. For further information on proper acknowledgment and plagiarism, including expectations for paraphrasing source material and proper forms of citation in research and writing, students should consult the Chicago Manual of Style (cf. Turabian, 6th edition). The University Writing Center also provides useful on-line resources to help students understand and avoid plagiarism. See http://www.newschool.edu/admin/writingcenter/. Students must receive prior permission from instructors to submit the same or substantially overlapping material for two different assignments. Submission of the same work for two assignments without the prior permission of instructors is plagiarism.
Guidelines for Studio Assignments
Work from other visual sources may be imitated or incorporated into studio work if the fact of imitation or incorporation and the identity of the original source are properly acknowledged. There must be no intent to deceive; the work must make clear that it emulates or comments on the source as a source. Referencing a style or concept in otherwise original work does not constitute plagiarism. The originality of studio work that presents itself as “in the manner of” or as playing with “variations on” a particular source should be evaluated by the individual faculty member in the context of a critique. Incorporating ready-made materials into studio work as in a collage, synthesized photograph or paste-up is not plagiarism in the educational context. In the commercial world, however, such appropriation is prohibited by copyright laws and may result in legal consequences.
Student Disability Services
In keeping with the University’s policy of providing equal access for students with disabilities, any student with a disability who needs academic accommodations is welcome to meet with me privately. All conversations will be kept confidential. Students requesting any accommodations will also need to meet with Jason Luchs in the office of Student Disability Services, who will conduct an intake, and if appropriate, provide an academic accommodation notification letter to you to bring to me. At that point I will review the letter with you and discuss these accommodations in relation to this course. Mr. Luchs’ office is located in 80 Fifth Avenue, Room 323 (3rd floor). His direct line is (212) 229-5626 x3135. You may also access more information through the University’s web site at http://www.newschool.edu/studentservices/disability/.