"Academic writing has never simply been about producing good papers. It’s about ordering one’s world, taking the confusion that confronts us and turning it into something intelligible, wresting coherence from chaos. And knowing that that doesn’t happen spontaneously or instinctively. That’s not a skill for college only. It’s a lifelong practice. " Corey Robin, "The End of the Take-Home Essay?" The Chronicle of Higher Education, 24 Aug 2023. [link]

Overview of Assignments

I have designed the assignments to encourage you to engage the course materials and to actively make sense of the rapidly changing world of cities and technology. Students will each develop their own work, but collaborate with others (through discussions and feedback from presentations and reading each other's work in small "editing groups.") Also: we now live in a world infused with AI. Our challenge in the course is to both (a) critically understand how AI is transforming society (technologies, information, cities, your college education, your future professional life) and (b) put AI aside when pursuing our central task: developing "HI" (your human intelligence). [I encourage us to openly discuss how and when we should use -- and not use -- AI in this course.]

1: Learning Journal/Notebook(a weekly, ongoing task)
Each student will maintain a hand-written notebook where you will explore ideas, themes, concepts and questions from the course readings and lectures. (Details below).

2: Case Studies (done in stages)
To collectively produce a web-based anthology of case studies. Each student will select a tech cluster (e.g., a neighborhood, city, region, innovation district, etc.); to research and document. You will complete the case study in stages, from selecting your case study, developing an outline, writing a draft, presenting your initial findings, getting feedback from other students, and then adding your final version to a web page anthology. We will develop a standard template for each entry (so that the collection of cases has a consistent format/look). We will publish the final results on the web at the end of the semester.

3. Course Synthesis (due Dec 8)
Each student will create a short presentation (with one or several slides). This session will provide an opportunity to reflect on the course, and develop a set of conclusions and/or principles that you learned and explored in the course this semester.

4. Exam (taken Dec 10, during our final class session)
This exam will encourage you to synthesize the course materials over the semester and identify the key elements, concepts and terminology/tools that we learned. I will aim to write an exam that can be completed in 45 minutes or less (but you will have the full class time if needed). Details below.

In addition to the assignments, students are expected to:

• Attend all course sessions. (As a courtesy, please email me if you will miss class.)
• Complete all the required readings before the start of class and be ready to actively participate in class discussions.
• Carefully read these guidelines about writing, coursework and academic integrity. This is particularly important in this age of AI. [and ask me for any advice or clarification if needed]

Timeline of Assignments

Detailed Assignment Instructions:

1. Learning Journal/Notebook -- a weekly task

Each student will maintain a hand-written notebook where you will explore ideas, themes, concepts and questions from the course readings and lectures. Below are important instructions/guidelines:

• I will provide a general prompt each week, posted on the syllabus home page, (related to the week's readings and lectures) to guide your entries. In your answer, please clearly put the title and date of your entries (to aid my reading). And please write legibly.
• Expected effort: I would recommend spending at least 20-30 minutes each week of substantive engagement/writing. (Depending on how you write and engage the material, I might estimate that would be 2-3 notebook pages per week. There is no upper page limit, but longer isn't necessarily better.)
• Feel free to not only write text, but also -- if useful -- to explore other formats as well, such as drawings/illustrations, maps, conceptual maps, graphics, lists, diagrams, etc.
• This is a task for your own thinking, reading, listening. Please do not use any AI for this writing.
• I will collect several times over the semester (Sep 24, Oct 22, Nov 24) and provide some brief comments and return your notebooks to you (ideally by the next class session). These notebooks are for you to keep after I return them after the Thanksgiving break at the end of November.
• Important: this should be a regular, low-stakes weekly practice for you. Yes, this assignment is part of your semester's grade, but my emphasis is on your regular effort and thoughtfulness -- not on length or correctness of your writings. I will be happy to grant full marks to all notebooks at the end of the semester if you all engage this task with a sense of ongoing conscientiousness. The main goal here is to encourage you to reflect on the course materials and dig deeper into the ideas.
• I will provide free composition notebooks for this task (though you may also use a notebook of your own if you prefer). If you have a compelling reason to maintain a journal/notebook in another format, please speak with me regarding alternatives.
• Some of you may wish to (1) use the same composition notebook to both take notes during class, taking reading notes between classes and to also write your weekly reflection texts. Others might instead opt to (2) keep two separate notebooks: one for reading and class notes, and a second composition notebook for these weekly reflection texts. Either option is fine. If you choose the first option (one combination notebook for all), do clearly indicate what pages contain your reflections for this task -- so I know what pages to read. That is, clearly label and date the entries that fulfill the weekly journal expectation.
• You are welcome to visit my office hours (sign up page) to discuss any ideas in your journal notebook.

2. Web Entry on Case Study of a Place (a Tech Cluster) -- done in stages (first task due Oct 1; final version Dec 5)

[this assignment section still being finalized]

• As with all assignments, please provide sources for all borrowed quotes, data, etc. [Please see this site for guidance]. When in doubt, LIST YOUR SOURCES! Provide links to outside sources.
• If you find more information than you can include, feel free to create an appendix document
• see the timeline of the various steps of this assignment above

2a. Select your case study location (Oct 1)

• Each student will select a tech cluster (e.g., a neighborhood, city, region, innovation district, etc.)
• We will discuss options during class in September
• Avoid selecting any cases we discussed in detail in class (see the syllabus for the list)
• Working in teams of two is an option, and can be a useful learning/research experience (A more extensive case study will be expected.)
• If you have any questions about case selection, don't hesitate to ask.

2b. Submit a concise proposal/outline (due Oct 13)

Your one page proposal/outline should contain the following elements. (Note: feel free to add other information if useful. If you need more than one page, that's fine.)

1. Your name
2. location of the case study (e.g., a neighborhood, city, region, innovation district, etc.)
3. the key economic sector(s) of the cluster (e.g., Software & IT Services, Hardware & Equipment, Telecommunications, Media & Entertainment, pharmaceuticals, energy, food processing, AI, transportation, aerospace, etc. Note; some clusters will be known for one specific sector. Others are known for multiple sectors, perhaps all interrelated, or perhaps rather distinct.)
4. the largest firms in this cluster (Note: in some clusters, there may be one big player; in others several or many.) This will be a short, partial list. You will go into more detail in your final product.
5. One or several central question(s) that guide your project case study (i.e., the reason why you picked this case, why you think it's an important and interesting case for others to know about)
6. an initial short list of sources (e.g., books, articles, reports, web pages) [5-7 will do; one purpose of this initial source search/literature review is to test whether you can find enough reliable information on your case study]

Upload your proposal to TWO LOCATIONS:

• to this shared google folder [link to be added]
• Canvas

--> Editing teams provide written feedback of outlines (Oct 20)

• I will form editing groups of 3 students/teams by early October

2c. Submit a draft of your web entry (Nov 12)

Your draft entry should contain these elements. (Some of these are already identified in the Oct 13 proposal list above.)

1. Your name
2. location of the case study (e.g., a neighborhood, city, region, innovation district, etc.)
3. A brief introduction to set the context (e.g., why it's an important and interesting case for others to know about)
4. the key economic sector(s) of the cluster (e.g., Software & IT Services, Hardware & Equipment, Telecommunications, Media & Entertainment, pharmaceuticals, energy, food processing, AI, transportation, aerospace, etc.) Note: some clusters will be known for one specific sector. Others are known for multiple sectors, perhaps all interrelated, or perhaps rather distinct.)
5. the largest firms in this cluster (Note: in some clusters, there may be one big player; in others several or many.) Where available, recent employment numbers for individual firms and/or the total sector. You could note some of the biggest establishments on your map.
6. The characteristics of the cluster: e.g., new or old, a new sector built on older sectors in the area (e.g., think of Silicon Valley as new tech on top of older sectors in the area: from telegraphs and tubs to transistors to ICs to personal computers to social networks to AI, etc.)
7. The geography of the cluster: concentrated in the central city or a single neighborhood; a single suburban location; spread throughout the suburbs of a larger metro area; small town; concentrated vs. dispersed; monocentric vs. multiple clusters within a region; etc.
8. a simple timeline of the key dates in the cluster's history
9. a map of the cluster
10. one or several photos (be sure to give photo credits)
11. A concise summary/analysis about the cluster, including such elements as:
• when and why it formed
• was it the first location of this sector (e.g., aviation in Dayton, OH) , or did it come later in the history of the sector (e.g., aviation/aerospace in Los Angeles?)
• key institutions/players in the cluster's development (e.g., universities, national labs, military bases, government offices, a mayor or governor, etc.)
• What have been the impacts of the sector on its city or region? (e.g., on the local economy; on the urban development; social and environmental impacts).
• what is the future of the cluster? (No need for wild speculation, but you can note recent trends and cite predictions/forecasts by others)
• [optional] Are there any myths/misconceptions about the cluster that you want to counter?
12. a complete set of sources (with correct citations) and perhaps also a short list of further readings. Use either inline citations OR footnotes to directly indicate the sources of specific data, text, images, graphics, photos, etc.

Somewhere in your draft, clearly, concisely explain to the reader:

• What the basic, essential information to know about the case (a simple, short, no-nonsense briefing).
• A clear sense of why this case is interesting/important to know about
• The key takeaway lessons from this case.

Creating your web page of your case study:

1. We will use google sites to create a collection of web pages. Here is a link to the project web site [link to be added]
2. Each case study will be an individual web page.
3. I will create a basic template that you can then copy and add your case study information (title, your name, text, images, sources, bibliography, links). We will aim for a fairly consistent look to each page (especially the opening section of each case study page), including a consistent font type and size. That said, you also have the option of modestly customizing the formatting of your page to suit your specific case.
4. IMAGES, etc.: be sure to add complete sources for all your borrowed data, images, maps, graphics, etc. I would recommend using publicly available, royalty-free images where possible. The University of Michigan has "unlimited access to Adobe Stock photos, vectors, and illustrations." Here is the link to use: https://its.umich.edu/computing/computers-software/software-services/software-information/adobe-stock. Be sure to cite Adobe Stock as source. (e.g., [Photographer's Name] / Adobe Stock). If you use your own images, do also list that. (e.g., Source: author).

2d. Presentations of your Draft: Nov. 12

[I will set a schedule for brief presentations.]

Note: if you need to leave class early, let me know so that we don't schedule you as the final presentation.

upload slides to this shared google folder [link to be added]
[Please add your slides AFTER the colored separation slide with your name highlighted]

--> Editing teams provide written feedback of drafts (Nov 19)

[Please provide written comments, and feel free to meet informally to discuss your suggestions/comments with each other.]

2e. Presentation of your final version (Dec 3)

add final version to project web site [link to be added]

2f. Finalize the your final version (Dec 5)

Make any final modest updates/revisions based on feedback from your Dec 3 presentations

3. Final week - lessons learned (Tuesday, Dec 8)

This last session will provide an opportunity to reflect on the course, and develop a set of conclusions and/or principles that you learned and explored in the course this semester.

TASK: Each student is to prepare a concise, insightful distillation of what have been, for you, the most important or resonant (or disconcerting) lessons/principles/ideas/themes in your encounters with technology, urbanization, tech districts, innovation, smart cities. I welcome a range of approaches and themes, and I encourage you to be rigorous and creative.

Advice: To refresh your memories of the topics over the semester, review the syllabus, your class lecture notes, copies of the class lecture slides in Canvas.

You are to prepare several items:
(a) a brief (3-4 minute) oral presentation that concisely highlights your central points.
(b) prepare a slide to be shared with the class on this shared google slide file. [link to be added]
[NOTE:  one slide will do, but if you find it easier to present your materials on two slides, that is also an option.] Consider various formats, including diagrams, maps, tables, illustrations, a concept map, a flow chart, a numbered list.,a storyboard, a comic strip, a Socratic dialogue. Use supplementary text where appropriate to elaborate specific ideas/points. As with all such tasks, please use your own thinking, text and analysis, and note any sources of quotes or images. Do NOT use AI for this task.

4. Exam (Thursday, Dec 10)

This will be an in-class exam, held during the final course session.

Format:

• a mixture of short-answer, multiple-choice, compare-and-contrast, matching and perhaps a short essay.
• Closed book/notes/devices. (Please leave those behind.)
• I will aim to write an exam that can be completed in 45 minutes or less (but you will have the full 80 minute class time if needed).
• You will write the exam on the exam copy I will pass out at the beginning of class: no need to bring blue books, just a pencil and/or pen.

Please see the course overview page for a list of key concepts and case studies to know (these are from lectures and readings).