Course: Technologies for democratic society | Moodle

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Weekly outline

Overview

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Lecture: Mondays at 15:15 - 17:00 in CM 1 3
Lecture Recordings: Available here
Exercise Session: Mondays at 17:15 - 18:00 in INM202
Unsupervised collaboration: Thursdays, 08:15-10:00, BS160 and BS170
This course is highly interactive, and your active participation in lectures is essential.

Course Staff

Professor: Bryan Ford
TAs: Shailesh Mishra, Yi Jiang
AEs: Grace Ledin, Nicolas Khamis, Srushti Singh
The CS-234 staff can be reached by email, on Ed, and during exercise sessions.

Assessments

Assignments make up 50% of the final grade, and the Final Exam accounts for the other 50%.

Assignments (Grade Weights & Deadlines)

HW #1 (5%): Usenet

Released: Sep 15
Due: Sep 22 @ 23:59

HW #2 (15%): Peer Review
Part 1 (6%): Write Up
Released: Sep 23 (entire HW#2 is released)
Due: Sep 29 @ 23:59
Part 2 (6%): Peer Review
Due: Oct 6 @ 23:59
Part 3 (3%): Metareview
Due: Oct 13 @ 23:59

HW #1 (5%): Graded

Usenet (due Oct 13 @ 23:59)

HW #2 (10%): Peer Review Assignment: Graded.

~~Part 1 (5%): Write Up (due Oct 18 @ 23:59)~~

~~Part 2 (3%): Peer Review (due Oct 26 @ 23:59)~~

~~Part 3 (2%): Metareview (due Nov 1 @ 23:59)~~

HW #3 (20%): Collective Problem Solving

~~Problem Proposal due~~ ~~Nov 7 @ 23:59~~

~~Comment on Assigned Proposal due~~ ~~Nov 9 @ 23:59~~

~~Comment on other proposals due~~ ~~Nov 10 @ 23:59~~

~~Responding to Comments due~~ ~~Nov 13 @ 23:59~~

~~Proposal Voting due~~ ~~Nov 14 @ 23:59~~

~~Team Assignments due~~ ~~Nov 16 @ 12:00~~

~~Final Presentations Poll closes at~~ ~~Nov 21 @ 23:59 (not graded).~~

~~Information Gathering & Solution Proposals due~~ ~~Friday Dec 1 @ 23:59~~

~~Discussion & Feedback due~~ ~~Tuesday, Dec 5 @ 23:59~~

~~Presentations due~~ ~~Thursday, Dec 7 @ 7:00~~

~~Oral Presentations~~: ~~Dec 7 (8:15 - 10:00) & 8th (13:15 - 14:00)~~.

Final Approval Voting + Peer Evaluations due Thursday, Dec 21 @ 23:59

HW #4 (5%): Ethereum Smart Contract

~~Part 1:~~ ~~Dec 11 @ 23:59.~~

Part 2 & 3: Dec 21 @ 23:59.

Quizzes:

~~Quiz #1: Oct 13th~~

~~Quiz #2: Nov 3rd~~

~~Quiz #3: Nov 24th~~

Quiz #4: Dec 22nd
- Announcements Forum
- Ed Discussion External tool
Week 1: Introduction
This week: 1. Course introduction
***No exercise session this week***
Next week: 2. UseNet, Internet, and "Democratization"
- Assigned reading: "The Computer as a Communication Device" File
  
  By J.C.R. Licklider and Robert W. Taylor, April 1968.
- Assigned reading: "A Theory of the Democratic Process" File
  
  Excerpt: Chapter 8 from "Democracy and its Critics", Robert Dahl, 1989
- Optional reading: "Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet" File
  
  By Michael and Ronda Hauben, April 1997.
  Reading assignment: chapters 1-4 and 18.
- Optional reading: "Democracy - Council of Europe" URL
- Optional reading: "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" URL
- Lecture recording URL
Week 2: Usenet, Internet, Democracy
This week: 2. UseNet, Internet, and "Democratization"
Video: https://mediaspace.epfl.ch/media/CS-234+Week+2/0_oy5akiib
Next week: 3. Social influence and choice
Week 3: Influence
This week: 3. Social influence and choice
Next week: 4. Trust and online reputation
Week 4: Trust and Online Reputation
This week: 4. Trust and Online Reputation
Next week: 5. Election Methods
Week 5: Election Methods
This week: 5. Smart contracts and DAO
Next week: 6. Liquid Democracy
Week 6: Smart Contracts and DAO
This week: 6. Smart contracts and decentralized governance
Next week: 7. Scaling participation through delegation
Homework

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