There is one extra credit opportunity in this class, and it is worth 5 points. That opportunity is participation in a reading group. Students wanting to participate must notify Professor Brown via email by February 4 and must obtain a copy of the book by February 11. Meetings will take place on six Wednesdays during the free period (11:20-12:20). The dates of meetings are:
February 18, March 4, March 25, April 1, April 15, April 29
In order to receive credit, students must attend 5 meetings, they must arrive with notes and/or annotations in the text, and they must be actively engaged in discussion. Because this is an extra credit opportunity, there are no "excused" absences. Students can miss one of the meetings, and they do not have to provide a reason for missing. However, anyone who misses more than one meeting for any reason will not receive credit.
The use of AI/LLM technology during reading, note-taking, and discussion is not allowed.
The group will discuss the book Enshittification by Cory Doctorow, and all participants must obtain a paper copy of the text (no ebooks).
The reading group discussion will be about the book itself, but it will also be a discussion of your experience of reading the book. When did you read? Where did you read? What was difficult, challenging, or rewarding about the experience? Given media reports about the struggles of many college students to read entire books, the goal of this reading group is to provide you with space to read a book start to finish and to reflect on the book as well as on your own capacity for the attention often required for this kind of activity.
