Writ001: Introduction to Academic Writing
Sec 01&02: Humans vs. Machines: Perceiving the Human Face
Harvey Mudd College, Fall 2010
Profs. Christine Alvarado and Debra Mashek

Have you ever wondered if robots can “understand” how you feel by “looking” at your face? Have you ever suspected friends were lying to you based on the way they raised their eyebrows? In this section, you will use your writing to explore how machines and people perceive the human face. In service of our writing about this topic, students will read primary scholarship from computer science and psychology, as well as articles from the popular media. Class sessions will involve direct writing instruction, the generation of informal writing, and structured peer-review.

Useful Links

Schedule (including all assignments, readings and due dates)

Date Class Due
(by class time unless otherwise specified)		 Handouts
Wed, Oct 20  Introductions. Writing across the disciplines (Part I: Why write?) You must visit the Writing Center at least
once this semester.  See below for suggested
times for this visit.		 Reading/quick write assignment 1 
Gladwell article [link] [reference]
Weinberger article [link] [reference]
Reading Handout
Fri, Oct 22 Discuss Gladwell and Weinberger Reading/quick write assignment 1  Critique assignment
Mon, Oct 25 Thesis, structure & evidence (part 1)
Critique assignment Reading/quick write assignment 2
Bartlett et al. article [link] [reference]
Eckman et al. article [link] [reference]
Wed, Oct 27 Discuss Bartlett et al. and Eckman et al.
 Reading/quick write assignment 2 Williams assignment Ch 1, 2, 10
Main paper prompt
Thesis statement assignment
Fri, Oct 29 Thesis, structure & evidence (part 2) [slides]
Citing sources and avoiding plagiarism		 Williams reading; Thesis statement draft Outline: thesis/evidence assignment
Mon, Nov 1 Workshop Outline: thesis/evidence Outline: thesis/evidence
Writing Center visit suggested		 Abstract construction assignment
Research article [link] [reference]
Peer review draft assignment
Wed, Nov 3 Writing across the disciplines (Part II: Evidence and conventions);
Guest mini-lecture;
Discuss abstract assignment.		 Abstract assignment Reading/quick write assignment 3
Lamott article [link] [reference]
Fri, Nov 5 Introductions and Peer-Editing Reading/quick write assignment 3  Peer review assignment
(also review
peer review draft assignment)
Mon, Nov 8 Conduct and edit peer reviews Peer review draft due 5pm SUNDAY NOV 7
Peer review assignment (steps 1-3 only)
Writing Center visit suggested		 First draft assignment
Wed, Nov 10 Actions and characters Paper first draft
Writing Center visit suggested		 Williams assignment Ch 3, 4 & 5
Fri, Nov 12 Cohesion and coherence Williams assignment Ch 3, 4 & 5 Williams assignment Ch 6
Mon, Nov 15 Emphasis Williams assignment Ch 6 Williams assignment Ch 7
Paper revision assignment
Look for paper feedback on Sakai
by 5pm on Tuesday, Nov 16
Wed, Nov 17 Concision Williams assignment Ch 7 Williams assignment Ch 11
Fri, Nov 19 Global coherence Williams assignment Ch 11 (review paper revision assignment)
Mon, Nov 22 No class None None
Wed, Nov 24 No class Paper revision + revision letter (by 10am)
Writing Center visit suggested		 None
Fri, Nov 26 No class None None
Mon, Nov 29  Writing across the disciplines (Part III: Applying lessons learned) Bring lab report to class Work plan assignment
Reflective essay assignment
Portfolio assignment
Wed, Dec 1 Conferences/work day Work plan due by 9AM
Fri, Dec 3 Conferences/work day Peer review assignment for reflective essay
Mon, Dec 6 Peer review Reflective essay Reflective essay draft
Writing Center visit suggested
Wed, Dec 8 Writing across the disciplines (Part IV: Teaching for long transfer) (review portfolio assignment)
Fri, Dec 10 Evaluation and reflections Final Portfolio
Writing Center visit suggested

References

Bartlett, M. S., Littlewort, G., Frank, M., Lainscsek, C., Fasel, I., Movellan, J. (2006, April). Fully automatic facial action recognition in spontaneous behavior.  Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition (FGR 2006). IEEE.

Ekman, P., O'Sullivan, M., & Frank, M. (1999). A few can catch a liar. Psychological Science, 10(3), 263-266.

Gladwell, M. (2002, August 5). The naked face. The New Yorker, 38-49.

Lamott, A. (1995).  Shitty first drafts.  From Bird by bird: Some instructions on writing and life. New York, NY: Anchor Books.

Lee, H. H., Molla, M. N., Cantor, C. R.,  Collins, J. J. (2010, September 2).  Bacterial charity work leads to population-wide resistance. Nature, 467, 82-86.

Weinberger, S.  (2010, May 27).  Intent to deceive?  Nature, 465, 412-415.

Williams, J. M., Colomb, G. G. (2010). Style: Lessons in clarity and grace (10th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Longman.