English 25,"Literature and the Information, Media, and Communication Revolutions" (Spring 2020, Professor Alan Liu)

eng25s2020x

This "X" version of the course has been adapted by Professor Liu for two special current situations: the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during which UCSB is conducting instruction through remote online means, and the COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) strike by participating graduate-student TAs (including those assisting in this course). Depending on how these situations evolve (and how well features of the course function during them), Professor Liu may need to make additional alterations to this "X" course during the quarter.

The main adaptations in this "X" version of English 25 include the following. (See also FAQ on special course procedures in Spring 2020):

• Enrollment Process (and Confirming Your Place in the Course)
• Through the end of the first week of instruction (through the end of Friday April 3), students on the wait list in GOLD will be auto-added to the course enrollment when spaces open up. Students on the wait list and also those wishing to crash should listen to the lectures. (Those crashing will not only have access to the main course site here but will be allowed during this period to self-join the course's supplementary Gauchospace site.)
• After Friday April 3, auto-add from the wait list will be turned off.  From that point on, those on the wait list or wishing to crash the course (and also enrolled students who wish to switch sections) will need add codes. To assist the professor and TAs in managing enrollment in the current remote-teaching situation, all students (whether enrolled, wait-listed, or crashing) are required to fill out a Google Form here: https://forms.gle/XWFoCoy1ciG5NqhLA between Friday April 3 at 2 pm and Sunday April 5 at noon (all times Pacific Daylight Time). Note: places in the course are NOT determined by who fills out the form first. Important: All students must fill out this form even if they are officially enrolled to hold their place in the course. (This is so that the places of enrolled students who never actually showed up or who intend to drop the course but are still in GOLD can be freed up for others.)
• Online lectures
• Professor Liu will use the Zoom video conferencing service to deliver live lectures at the regular M,W,F time of the course (1:00 - 1:50 pm, Pacific Daylight Time).  All lectures will be at the following Zoom meeting address: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/377544976 (A password is also required to join the live Zoom meetings beginning April 3. The password will be provided on the Gauchospace course site.) (Note: English 25 live Zoom lectures will be recorded for students who may not be able to attend at the lecture time. By default, your microphone and camera will be muted when you join the session. If you do not want to be included in the recording, simply keep your camera and microphone off.)
• As noted above, live Zoom lectures will also be simultaneously recorded. Professor Liu will make the recordings (and also his PowerPoint slides) available as soon as they are ready on the course GauchoSpace site (through a folder on GauchoCast site).
• Professor Liu will not be taking attendance at his lectures, since this is unrealistic and unfair to students in the present circumstances (e.g., to students who have had to move home in a far time zone). Students have the flexibility to watch either the live or recorded lectures when they can.
• Professor Liu's Office Hours: Professor Liu will hold office hours over Zoom on Wednesdays, 2:00-3:00 at the Zoom meeting address: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/796874043 (Meeting ID: 796 874 043). Students will be placed in the Zoom "waiting room" and admitted by the professor into the meeting with him individually one after the other, except that some office hours may start with a collective Q&A session. 
•  Updated 4/3/2020   Sections in English 25 are beginning in the second week of instruction. They will require students to engage primarily in asynchronous "discussion forum" activity each week. See details on the course FAQ page and watch for email announcements from your TAs.
• Adjustments to Course Assignments and Exams
• Due to the COLA strike by TAs, three minor course assignments in this "X" version of the course have been made optional: the "Create your system for working with online readings" assignment in Week 2, the "Spreadsheet" assignment in Week 8, and the "Text Analysis Assignment" in Week 10. But the main assignments consisting of three short essays and two exams will remain as requirements. (See Assignments page.) However, if the COLA strike by TAs ends in time, one or more of the minor course assignments may be restored.
• Due to the remote instruction situation, students must submit essay assignments by email directly to their TA by 11:59 pm (Pacific Daylight Time) on the date the essay is due. (See FAQ on format for essay)
• Students will take the midterm exam and final exam in the course through Gauchospace. (See description of exams on the Assignments page.)  
• Grades
• Due to the COLA strike, no grades on assignments will be communicated to students by the TAs or final grades submitted to the registrar except by student request: TAs will continue to grade assignments and exams. As part of the COLA strike action, however, TAs will not except by individual request communicate grades to students for specific assignments and exams, and they will also not except by individual request submit final grades to the Registrar at the end of the quarter. But students can ask their TA for an informal grade report (by email or verbal communication) at any point in the quarter; and students who urgently need a final grade to be recorded on time at the end of the quarter can also ask their TA to submit that final grade. See the UCSB 4 COLA group's explanation for undergraduates about "Grading Requests", which includes the policy statement that TAs "are willing to submit individual grades for students who urgently need them.... They will never require you to disclose the reason for your request."
•  Updated 4/3/2020 to adjust for restoring section activities in the course (and thus the section participation grade)  The percentages of the final grade contributed by specific assignments have been adjusted for the elimination of the minor assignments. On the Assignments page, each required assignment (the three short essays and the two exams) is defined as contributing 18% to the final grade in the course. There is also a section participation grade that contributes to 10% of the final grade.
• Possible Additional Adaptive Changes in the Course: It is important for students to realize that the situations related to the COVID-19 virus and the COLA strike can rapidly evolve. Depending on any problems that emerge while running this "X" version of the course, Professor Liu may need to make some adaptive changes. For example, if there are too many problems with the Internet to make live online lectures feasible, then Professor Liu will change to pre-recording lectures (instead of giving live lectures that are later also posted to GauchoSpace as recordings). And if the COLA TA strike ends or changes in some way, then course procedures relating to sections and grading by TAs will change. (Any such changes due to contingencies outside the professor's individual control will be announced on the GauchoSpace supplementary site for the course and by email.)