| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

Syllabus

Page history last edited by JBJ 14 years, 2 months ago

Secrecy: Science and Fiction

 

General description 

This course examines the evolution of secret communications, code making, and code breaking from ancient times to today. The role of secret communications in history, modern society, and development of computing technology will be examined. During the trip to UK, students will visit a number of historic sites where many of the events discussed in the course took place. During the visit to Bletchley Park, a focal point of this course, students will obtain hands-on experience with the machinery used for breaking secret communications during World War II.

 

CS 290 - Topics in Computer Science (catalog description)

Topics in Computer Science. Prereq.: CS 151 or equivalent, and permission of instructor. This course will provide an opportunity to introduce into the curriculum elementary topics of current interest.

 

ENG 214 – Studies in International Literature (catalog description)

Studies in International Literature Study Area I [I] [L] An exploration of select subjects, techniques, and themes in British and world literature. Topics to be announced each semester. Students may not take this course under the same topic more than once. Does not count toward the English major.

 

Logistics

Class meetings             MW 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm @ EW 306 

 

ENG 214

      Instructor Dr. Jason B. Jones, Associate Professor of English                   
  Office DiLoreto 208-12
  Phone 860.832.2761
  Fax 860.832.2784
  E-mail jonesjason1@ccsu.edu (by far the best way to get in touch)
  Web "It's complicated."  Try Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jbj
  Office hours M 11-1, F 11-2, and by appointment.  (Self-cater your appointment here: http://tgl.me/jbj )

 

CS 290

      Instructor Dr. Stan Kurkovsky, Professor of Computer Science
  Office MS 303-08
  Phone (860) 832-2720
  Fax (860) 832-2712
  E-mail kurkovskysta@ccsu.edu (best way to get in touch)
  Web http://www.cs.ccsu.edu/~stan/
  Office hours MW 3:15 - 5:15 pm and TR 3:00 - 3:30 pm, or by appointment

 

Textbook and other reference materials

This wiki: http://secrecysciencefiction.pbworks.com/

Simon Singh, The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon

Cory Doctorow, Little Brother

William Gibson, Pattern Recognition

 

Learning outcomes

CS program objectives and outcomes (http://www.cs.ccsu.edu/mission.html#objectives) are supported by the following learning outcomes achieved by students upon a successful completion of this course:

  • Understand the basic role of secret communications in the development of modern society (g);
  • Understand the role of cryptography in the development of modern computing technology (b,g);
  • Understand ethical, legal, and societal implications of secret communications and code breaking (e);
  • Be able to discuss cryptography-related issues at a technical level accessible to a broad audience (f);
  • Work as a member of a team to design and implement a software project (a,b,c,d,i);
  • Be able to apply mathematical and algorithmic problem-solving methods to implement a basic substitution cipher (a,b,i,j);
  • Be able to apply mathematical and algorithmic problem-solving methods to decrypt messages encoded using a basic substitution cipher (a,b,i,j).

ENG program outcomes: Students will

  • Understand the complex relationship between literature and its historical contexts, including geography (i.e., London as a real and a literary city).
  • Understand the similarities and differences between codebreaking and literary interpretation.
  • Write effectively across a variety of genres and media about literature and the world.

 

Course schedule 

Generally, class activities on Mondays will be conducted by Dr. Kurkovsky, and class activities on Wednesdays will be conducted by Dr. Jones.

Reading: S = Singh, The Code Book 

 

Week

Monday

Wednesday

1 – Jan 25

Introduction
Code breakers (National Geographic video)
Applicable to: all students

Intros, redux.
Applicable to: all students

 

Read: "In the Beginning Was the Command Line" (Stephenson / whole article)

  

2 – Feb 1

Ancient ciphers: Caesar cipher, etc.
Reading: S-1
Applicable to: all students

Doctorow, Little Brother
Applicable to: all students

3 – Feb 8

Vigenere: an unbreakable Victorian cipher
Reading: S-2
Applicable to: all students

Doctorow, cont.
Applicable to: all students

4 – Feb 15


Feb 12-15 President’s Holiday - no classes

Stephenson, Cryptonomicon
Applicable to: all students
 

5 – Feb 22

Mechanization of secrecy: Zimmerman telegram and World War I
Reading: S-3
Applicable to: all students

 

Stephenson, cont.
Applicable to: all students

6 – Mar 1

Secret communications during WWII
Reading: S-4
Applicable to: all students

Stephenson, cont.
Applicable to: all students

7 – Mar 8

Decoding Nazi Secrets (NOVA/PBS video)
Applicable to: all students

Stephenson, cont.
Applicable to: all students

8 – Mar 15

Language barrier: Rosetta stone
Reading: S-5
Applicable to: all students

Stephenson, cont.
Applicable to: all students

9 – Mar 22

Spring break

Trip to London

10 – Mar 29

Apr 2-3 Good Friday

Solving the key exchange problem
Reading: S-6
Applicable to: CS 290

Gibson, Pattern Recognition
Applicable to: ENG 214

11 – Apr 5

Pretty good privacy
Reading: S-7
Applicable to: CS 290

Gibson, Pattern Recognition
Applicable to: ENG 214

12 – Apr 12

Course project presentations
Applicable to: all students

Presentations
Applicable to: all students

13 – Apr 19

Course project presentations
Applicable to: all students

Presentations.
Applicable to: all students

14 – Apr 26

 

  

15 – May 3

 

  

16 – May 10

May 12 last day of classes

  

 

 

 

Assessment

Performance of all students will be assessed using several short quizzes, a variety of online writing projects, a final exam, and a course project (for CS 290) or a term paper (for ENG 214).

 

Course project (CS 290 only)

Working in small teams, all students enrolled in CS 290 will be required to complete a course project that will illustrate their understanding of the course material and their ability to apply theoretical concepts in practice by implementing an encryption/decryption software system. All students will also be required to make a class presentation describing their work and demonstrating the software they produced.

 

Paper sequence (ENG 214 only)

Students will complete a sequence of assignments: short exercises in close reading, followed by slightly longer papers linking those exercises to locations in London.  While in London, students will complete a variety of online assignments across various media.  Upon return, students will develop a collective bibliography on codes in literature, and make podcasts of their engagement with literary codes. Finally, they will complete a reflective self-assessment.

 

The grade breakdown works like so: Weekly blog posts & comments: 20%; explication paper (10%); collective bibliography (10%); London-based projects (30%); podcast (20%); self-assessment (10%).  You've already gotten an invite to the class blog, which is linked from the sidebar.

 

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.