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Government of the U.S.

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Government of the U.S.

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POL 1101 Syllabus Summer 2026 MP, CRN 56284.pdf
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Academic year:

2026

Semester:

Summer

Course prefix:

POL

Course number:

1101

Section:

MP

CRN

56284

Department (you may add up to three):

Sch/Public Policy

Instructor first name:

Michael

Instructor last name:

Polak

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This course is an introduction to American government and politics and is a foundational course elective required by the State of Georgia.   While national level policy making, and governance is designed to address issues facing our nation as a whole, state and local governance addresses policy issues that affect our everyday lives. In order to truly understand American government, we must understand how these parts work – separately and together.

The class is divided into six components.   The first six are lecture and speaker based.    They include the U.S. Constitution/Georgia Constitution, the Federal Government, the Federal Supreme Court, Georgia State Government and Local Government (Cities, Counties, School Boards).   The last component is student policy engagement.    The basis of this section, through group projects and speakers, is to teach students the importance and how to directly engage in the policy making process to enact change.  This section is divided into Aspire, Organize, Learn and Act assignments.

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HIST 2112 The United States Since 1877, Fall 2026

site:syllabus.gatech.edu/syllabi HIST 2112 syllabus

1

HIST 2112 – The United States Since 1877
Fall 2026

Instructor Information
Instructor: Professor Daniel Amsterdam
Email: daniel.amsterdam@hsoc.gatech.edu
General Course Information
Description
Through a combination of lectures, readings, visual art, documentary photography and film, this
course examines the major political, economic, social and cultural trends that have made the
United States the nation that it is today. The class also examines related dynamics in Atlanta and
in Georgia more generally. The course focuses on the period since 1877 and especially
examines:
1) the rise of a modern industrial economy and its transformation in recent decades;
2) the creation of modern American government as well as debates over its proper size
and scope;
3) how inequality has riddled American society and how various groups have sought to
redress this fact;
4) why the United States has gone to war since the late 19th century and how these
conflicts have, in turn, shaped American life.
Course Learning Outcomes
1) To give students a greater understanding of major events and trends that have shaped
the development of the United States since 1877, including in Georgia and Atlanta.
2) To give students a greater understanding of what historians do and therefore what
“history” is.
3) To convince students that historical inquiry is critically important for making sense of
the world around them.
4) Additional, related learning objectives specific to general education (Core Impacts)
requirements as discussed below.

2

Required Course Materials
1) Rebecca Burns, Rage in the Gate City: The Story of the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot (available as
an e-book through the Georgia Tech Library; there is no need to purchase this book).
2) Michael C.C. Adams, The Best War Ever: America and World War II (available as an e-book
through the Georgia Tech Library; there is no need to purchase this book).
3) Robert A. Pratt, We Shall Not Be Moved: The Desegregation of the University of Georgia
(available as an e-book through the Georgia Tech Library; there is no need to purchase this
book).
4) Warren St. John, Outcasts United: An American Town, A Refugee Team, and One Woman’s
Quest to Make a Difference. ISBN: 0385522045
You will need to purchase this book at the Georgia Tech Bookstore on Tech Square,
online, or obtain it through the Georgia Tech Library or Interlibrary loan. Be sure not to
read the young adult version.
5) Brief excerpts (1-3 pages) from the following primary sources, which will be posted on
Canvas and do not need to be purchased.
Josiah Strong, Our Country
Booker T. Washington, “Atlanta Exhibition Address”
W.E.B. DuBois, “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others”
Preamble to the Constitution of the Knights of Labor
Platform of the Populist Party.

Albert J. Beveridge, “March of the Flag”
Platform of the Anti-Imperialist League
Mrs. Arthur M. Dodge against Suffrage
Lyman Abbot, “Why Women Do Not Wish the Suffrage”
The Kennan Telegram
The Novikov Telegram
Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
Clark M. Clifford, “A Viet Nam Reappraisal”
Students for a Democratic Society, “The Port Huron Statement”
Casey Hayden and Mary King, “Sex and Caste: A Kind of Memo”
Ronald Reagan, “A Union of Individuals” (1988)
William Jefferson Clinton, “Statement on Signing 1996 Welfare Reform Act”

3

Grading Policy:
Students’ final grades will be determined through the following exams/exercises:
In-Class Exercises on Required, Book-Length Readings (15%)
Mid-Term I (20%)
Mid-Term II (20%)
Mid-Term III (20%)
Final Exam (25%)

Grading Scale for Final Grades:
90-100 – A
80-89.99 – B
70-79.99 – C
60-69.99 – D
59.99 and Below – F

Final grades will not be “rounded up.” In other words, to receive an A in the course, you must
earn an actual, final average of 90.00 or above. A final average of 79.95, for instance, will be a
C.
Description of Graded Components:
Due to the high student-teacher ratio in the class, all exams will be multiple choice. The in-class
exercises related to required book-length reading will vary, but students should feel confident
that they will perform well on them if they have completed the assigned readings.
Course Policies
Attendance and/or Participation
Attendance is mandatory for exams and on days when we discuss the required book-length
readings. Exceptions will be made only for documented medical and family emergencies or due
to an Institute-excused absence. Although I do not take attendance on days when there is a
lecture, it is exceedingly difficult to succeed in the class without attending all classes. If you do
miss a lecture, I am happy to answer questions about the content that you missed but only after
you have obtained notes from a classmate.
Academic Integrity
Georgia Tech aims to cultivate a community based on trust, academic integrity, and honor.
Students are expected to act according to the highest ethical standards. Review Georgia Tech’s
Honor Code and the student Code of Conduct.

4

Any student suspected of cheating or plagiarism on a quiz, exam, or assignment will be reported
to the Office of Student Integrity, who will investigate the incident and identify the appropriate
penalty for violations.
Core IMPACTS
This is a Core IMPACTS course that is part of the Social Sciences area.
Core IMPACTS refers to the core curriculum, which provides students with essential knowledge
in foundational academic areas. This course will help master course content, and support
students’ broad academic and career goals.
This course should direct students toward a broad Orienting Question:
• How do I understand human experiences and connections?
Completion of this course should enable students to meet the following Learning
Outcome:
• Students will effectively analyze the complexity of human behavior, and how
historical, economic, political, social, or geographic relationships develop, persist,
or change.
Course content, activities and exercises in this course should help students develop the
following Career-Ready Competencies:
•  Intercultural Competence
•  Perspective-Taking
•  Persuasion
This is also a Core IMPACTS course that is part of the Georgia Legislative Requirement
This course should also direct students toward a broad Orienting Question:
• How do I prepare for my responsibilities as an engaged citizen?
Completion of this course should enable students to meet the following Learning
Outcome:
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of the history of the United States and the
history of Georgia
Course content, activities and exercises in this course should help students develop the
following Career-Ready Competencies:
•
Critical Thinking

5

•
Intercultural Competence
•
Persuasion
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
If you are a student with learning needs that require special accommodation, contact the Office
of Disability Services (404-894-2563) as soon as possible to make an appointment to discuss
your special needs and to obtain an accommodations letter. Please also e-mail me as soon as
possible in order to set up a time to discuss your learning needs.
Student-Faculty Expectations Agreement
At Georgia Tech, we believe that it is important to strive for an atmosphere of mutual respect,
acknowledgement, and responsibility between faculty members and the student body. The
Student-Faculty Expectations articulate some basic expectations that you can have of me and that
I have of you. In the end, simple respect for knowledge, hard work, and cordial interactions will
help build the environment we seek. Therefore, I encourage you to remain committed to the
ideals of Georgia Tech while in this class.


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Survey of U.S. History II, Summer 2026

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HIST 2112 summer syllabus.pdf
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Academic year:

2026

Semester:

Summer

Course prefix:

HIST

Course number:

2112

Section:

A

CRN

51876

Department (you may add up to three):

Sch/History and Sociology

Instructor first name:

Matthew

Instructor last name:

Hild

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A survey of U.S. History from the post-Civil War period to the present. Topics include American industrialization, two world wars, New Deal, and the Civil Rights movement. Includes study of Georgia history during this period

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bobby.harris@gatech.edu

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ECON 2106 Principles of Microeconomics, Fall 2026

site:syllabus.gatech.edu/syllabi ECON 2106 syllabus

1

ECON 2106 – Principles of Microeconomics
Fall 2026

Syllabus

Class time, location:
GT5 Section: Tu, Th 9:30 – 10:45 am. Klaus 2443
GT4 Section: Tu, Th 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm. Boggs B5

Instructional Staff
Instructor: Bobby Harris (you can call me Professor Harris or Dr. Harris)
Office hours: Th 3-5 pm
Office location: School of Economics (Old Civil Engineering Building), Office 205
Email: bobby.harris@gatech.edu

Teaching assistant: TBD
Office hours: TBD
Location: School of Economics (Old Civil Engineering Building), Office 305
Email: TBD

Course description and learning objectives
Microeconomics is the study of individual, human decision-making. In this course, you will learn
to think like an economist, using conceptual frameworks such as preferences, incentives,
supply, demand, competition, markets, and prices to understand human behavior. The tools of
economic analysis provide a powerful lens to evaluate government policies, understand
business strategies, and make decisions in your own life.

Economists use the tools of microeconomics to study all aspects of life, ranging from business
to the environment, and even to dating and marriage! How should a firm decide how much
output to produce and what price to set? How can one evaluate the tradeoffs between
economic outputs and environmental costs? We will discuss the applied economics of these
and many other real-world examples throughout the course.

This course aims to equip students with the microeconomic tools and intuition necessary to (1)
understand phenomena in public policy, business, and everyday life, (2) anticipate agent
responses to incentives, (3) identify opportunity costs, tradeoffs, and comparative advantage,
and (4) make choices based on marginal benefits and marginal costs (i.e., think on the margin).
In essence, students will learn to think like economists.

2

Required Materials

Textbook and Achieve Homework System
Cowen, Tyler and Alex Tabarrok. Modern Principles: Microeconomics, 6th edition (2024).
Macmillan.

You must purchase the textbook from the publisher or from the bookstore (here) to get access
to the online homework system Achieve. A physical copy of the textbook is not required. If you
do not purchase a copy of the textbook and cannot complete the homework, you will not
receive credit for the assignment, so please do not delay purchasing the textbook.

While you are waiting for the textbook access code to arrive, you can start a free trial or “grace”
period. See the instructions on Canvas for more information.

You can access the Achieve homework system within the course’s Canvas site in the Macmillan
Learning tab.

Canvas
Communication about the course and other course materials is available on Georgia Tech’s
Canvas system. I will upload additional course materials and post course announcements on the
course page. You can access Canvas at https://canvas.gatech.edu/.

Point Solutions
We will use a digital polling platform called PointSolutions to track lecture attendance and
measure understanding of course material in real-time. Polls will be graded for accuracy and
will be included in the participation component of your grade. Therefore, you are expected to
bring an internet-enabled device to every lecture. Instructions for creating an account and
linking it to Canvas are posted on Canvas. To avoid concerns about excused vs. unexcused
absences, mobile/web devices not working, polls closing before you can submit, etc., I will drop
the bottom 10% of poll scores. No other exceptions will be made.

Grading Policies

Graded assignments and tests serve three purposes (among others):
1. To serve as a mechanism to incentivize and facilitate student effort and learning.
2. To provide feedback to the instructor about instructor effectiveness and to provide
feedback to the student about current performance in the course.
3. To certify student achievement to the Institute and to future employers.

Thus, I will assign problems that are graded as a pass/fail for completion (LearningCurve
homework assignments) to incentivize you to read the course materials, short, graded
homework assignments to engage you in learning and to provide feedback before exams, and

3

exams to evaluate your overall performance in the course. In addition, lecture attendance and
participation will be measured via a digital polling platform.

Material
Possible points Approx. weight
LearningCurve homework assignments
(5 points/chapter)
80
8.7%
Graded homework assignments (10 points/chapter)
160
17.4%
Class attendance and participation (PointSolutions)
80
8.7%
Midterm exam 1
150
16.3%
Midterm exam 2
150
16.3%
Final exam (comprehensive)
300
32.6%
Total:
920
100%
Extra credit
~20
~2.2%

There are 920 possible points for graded assignments in the course, thus your final grade is the
number of points you earn (plus extra credit) divided by 920. Your final grades transfer to the
Georgia Tech grading system as follows:

Letter
grade GPA Description
Grade range (using
interval notation)
A
4.0  Excellent
[90%, 100%]
B
3.0  Good
[80%, 90%)
C
2.0  Satisfactory
[70%, 80%)
D
1.0  Passing
[60%, 70%)
F
0.0  Failure
[0%, 60%)

In reading interval notation, left square brackets indicate “greater than or equal to.” Right
parentheses indicate “less than.” Thus, for instance, grades greater than or equal to 80% but
less than 90% will earn a B.

Note that grades are not rounded up (e.g., 89.99% is still a B). I reserve the right to increase all
final grades equally if the material is more difficult than expected, but this is unlikely. At the
end of the semester, your final grade cannot be changed with extra credit or makeup
opportunities; this is for fairness to all students.

4

Grade revisions
The instructional staff takes great care to ensure student assignments are diligently and fairly
graded. However, we may make mistakes. A student who believes coursework was incorrectly
graded may submit to the instructor a brief, typed memo detailing the potential error and
requesting instructor review. This memo must be submitted within one week of the student’s
receipt of the relevant graded assignment. Assignments that are submitted for the instructor
review will be examined in their entirety (such that the grade could be revised down). Students
are not guaranteed to receive higher grades when their assignments are reviewed by the
instructor.

Pass/fail policy
If you are taking the class pass/fail, you must achieve a C grade to earn a pass in the class.
Please reach out to me at the beginning of the semester if you are taking the class pass/fail.

Homework policy
Both LearningCurve and graded homework assignments are completed via the online
homework system Achieve associated with the textbook. LearningCurve assignments are
graded on a pass/fail basis. Each question you answer correctly earns points toward a target
score. When your score meets or exceeds the target score, you will get full credit for the
assignment. (If you want more practice, you can continue answering LearningCurve questions
after you have achieved the target score.) Graded homework assignments are assessed by the
accuracy of your answers. Each LearningCurve assignment is worth five (5) points and each
graded homework assignment is worth ten (10) points.

There is one LearningCurve assignment and one graded homework assignment per chapter of
the textbook. In some weeks we will cover two chapters; therefore, there will be two
LearningCurve assignments and two graded homeworks in those weeks.

All homework assignments are due by 11:59 pm ET on their due date. This deadline is strict for
LearningCurve assignments. I will accept a late graded homework assignment up to 24 hours
after the due date for a 10% penalty. After 24 hours late, you may not earn credit for the
assignment. There are no makeup opportunities.

Your two lowest LearningCurve grades do not count for the final course grade. Your two lowest
graded homework grades do not count for the final course grade.

Extra credit podcasts
Podcasts are one of the most enjoyable ways to learn about economics. To incentivize you to
explore economics podcasts without making them stressful or a time burden, I will offer several
extra credit opportunities for listening to assigned economics podcasts and completing
corresponding podcast quizzes.

You will be able to earn approximately 10 extra credit points throughout the semester for
completing the podcast quizzes. A podcast (and corresponding quiz) will be assigned

5

approximately weekly (with some exceptions). The podcast and quiz will be available in the
Modules section on Canvas.

Podcast quizzes will be due by 11:59 pm ET on the weekly due date (along with other course
assignments). Late podcast quizzes do not count and there are no makeup opportunities.

CIOS extra credit
Your feedback helps improve the course. At the end of the semester, Georgia Tech issues a
CIOS Course Survey. To encourage you to fill out this anonymous survey and keep response
rates high, I will give extra credit to the whole class based on the CIOS response rates in the
class.

If we get a 60 percent response rate, I will give everybody 2 points of extra credit (based on the
possible points outlined above; i.e., not a percentage point). If we get an 80 percent response
rate, I will give everybody 3 points of extra credit. If we get a 90 percent response rate, I will
give everybody 6 points of extra credit. If we get a 100 percent response rate, I will give
everybody 10 points of extra credit. I will count the CIOS completion deadline for this offer as of
the day after the Final Exam at 11:59 pm.

Exam policy
The course has two exams during the middle of the semester and one cumulative final exam.
Exams will be taken in person and cannot be rescheduled. If there is a verifiable emergency or
approved athletic absence, we can work out an appropriate resolution. For illness, injury, or
other emergency, provide appropriate documentation to the Office of the Dean of Students
(https://studentlife.gatech.edu/content/class-attendance). False doctor’s notes fall under the
Academic Honor Code.

Collaboration
In this course, group work and discussion are allowed on homework assignments. When turning
in homework assignments, each student must turn in an individual submission via Achieve. The
midterm and final exams are not to be discussed between students and must be completed
individually. The table below summarizes these policies.

Type
Group or Individual Work
Turn in
Homework assignments  Group discussion and
collaboration allowed
Each student makes their own online
submission.
Podcast quizzes
Group discussion and
collaboration allowed
Each student makes their own online
submission.
Exams
Individual work only. No
discussion and no
collaboration allowed.
Exams will be in-class.
Each student makes their own
submission.

6

I trust you to complete exams individually. Cheating on exams is very serious and results in a
zero grade and a report to the Office of Student Integrity and Dean of Students. See the section
on Academic Integrity.

Course Policies

Email policy
Please include “ECON 2106” at the beginning of the subject line of any emails to any members
of the instructional staff (Professor Harris and your TA). This helps us to navigate our email
inboxes and ensure that we do not miss your email.

Every effort will be made to respond within 24 hours to questions posed via email; however,
substantive questions related to course material should be reserved for office hours or lecture.
Questions related to assignments should be posed more than one day in advance of respective
deadlines. Sometimes emails get overlooked—if you do not get a timely response, please
resend your email or follow up with us during office hours.

Recording classroom activities
The instructor will record real-time classes on Zoom and will make them available on the course
Canvas site. These recordings are not permitted to be shared anywhere except the course
Canvas site.

Students must receive the written consent of the instructor to distribute, sell, or otherwise
commercialize class notes, lecture slides, lecture videos, and materials such as homework
assignments and answers. Students may not store or distribute class notes and materials in
homework repositories or test banks under any circumstances. Students may not share or
distribute lecture videos or lecture notes outside of this class.

Freedom of expression
As a faculty member at Georgia Tech, I respect your rights to the freedom of speech and
expression. I am also committed to maintaining an orderly learning environment for all
students and ensuring that all facilities are used in a way that facilitate teaching, learning, and
research. Therefore, you should treat your peers and instructor respectfully in discussion.
Disagreements are likely to happen. When they do, you are expected to disagree respectfully
and to keep your discussion focused on evidence.

Discussions in this class are expected to take place solely within the course. Thus, statements
made during class should not be quoted on social media unless the individual being quoted has
provided their express permission. This applies to the instructor, students, and classroom
guests. This policy is meant to protect student privacy and create a safe environment to learn.

7

Academic integrity
“I commit to uphold the ideals of honor and integrity by refusing to betray the trust bestowed
upon me as a member of the Georgia Tech community.”

Georgia Tech aims to cultivate a community based on trust, academic integrity, and honor.
Students are expected to act according to the highest ethical standards. For information on
Georgia Tech's Academic Honor Code, please visit
http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/policies/honor-code/ or
http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/rules/18/. Academic integrity is extremely important to me.
Any student suspected of cheating or plagiarizing on an exam or assignment will be reported to
the Office of Student Integrity, who will investigate the incident and identify the appropriate
penalty for violations.

Student-faculty expectations agreement
It is important to strive for an atmosphere of mutual respect, acknowledgement, and
responsibility between faculty members and the student body. See
http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/rules/22/ for an articulation of some basic expectations that
you can have of me and that I have of you. In the end, simple respect for knowledge, hard work,
and cordial interactions will help build the environment we seek. Therefore, I encourage you to
remain committed to the ideals of Georgia Tech while in this class.

Athletics absences
If you are a student athlete, you must obtain statements of approved absence from the Office
of the Registrar (https://registrar.gatech.edu/) one week in advance of your planned absence. I
will accommodate your schedule if I have enough time, so please get in touch early.

Accommodations for students with disabilities
If you are a student with learning needs that require special accommodation, contact the Office
of Disability Services at (404) 894-2563 or http://disabilityservices.gatech.edu/, as soon as
possible to make an appointment to discuss your special needs and to obtain an
accommodations letter. Please also e-mail me as soon as possible to set up a time to discuss
your learning needs. Your accommodations cannot be put into place until you discuss them
with me.

Required syllabus language about CORE Impacts courses
This is a Core IMPACTS course that is part of the Social Sciences area.
Core IMPACTS refers to the core curriculum, which provides students with essential knowledge in foundational academic areas. This course will
help master course content, and support students’ broad academic and career goals.
This course should direct students toward a broad Orienting Question:
•
How do I understand human experiences and connections?
Completion of this course should enable students to meet the following Learning Outcomes:
•
Students will effectively analyze the complexity of human behavior, and how historical, economic, political, social or geographic
relationships develop, persist or change.
Course content, activities and exercises in this course should help students develop the following Career-Ready Competencies:
•
Intercultural Competence
•
Perspective-Taking
•
Persuasion

8

This syllabus is subject to change
At any time for any reason, I may need to update this syllabus. I will inform you immediately if I
make any changes.


rproctor@stanford.edu

rproctor@stanford.edu

joannk@stanford.edu

joannk@stanford.edu

melissas@leland.stanford.edu

melissas@leland.stanford.edu

gkw@stanford.edu

gkw@stanford.edu

February 11

March 10

March 20

Paper 1 (5-6 pages)             20% Due February 11 at 11:00 AM <br>

February 11

Paper 2 (6-7 pages)             25% Due March 10 at 11:00 AM <br>

March 10

Final Exam                         30% Mar. 20 3:30-6:30 PM <br>

TDD 725

assignments

assignments

assignments

Grading

Grading

World History of Science: Course Syllabus

site:stanford.edu "course syllabus" introductory writing pdf

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Syllabus

            Schedule

World History of Science:

          From Prehistory through the Present

          IHUM 6a Winter 2008

Prof. Robert N. Proctor (rproctor@stanford.edu)

          Tues-Thurs 1:15-2:05 Annenberg Auditorium

What are the oldest scientific discoveries of humans?  Knowledge of the stars? Medicinal plants? Our own mortality? How have people in different parts of the world come to know the natural world, and what does this tell us about the history of science more generally?

  The purpose of this course is to trace the broad sweep of global science, from the prehistoric roots of the oldest known technologies through the mega-events of the Scientific Revolution, global voyaging, and recent triumphs in the physical and life sciences. We begin with theories of human origins and the oldest known tools and symbols, especially those found in Africa, following which we turn to achievements of the Maya, Aztecs, and native North Americans (calendrical astronomy, paleobotany, metallurgy, mathematical nomenclature, etc.).  Science and medicine in the ancient worlds of the Mediterranean will be the focus of several lectures, following which we’ll look at the sciences of early China, Africa, medieval Europe, and the Islamic world, along with challenges to traditional cosmologies in Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton.

  Whereas the first quarter concentrates more on prehistory and cosmology, the second focuses more on the life sciences since the Scientific Revolution.  We begin with an exploration of how 16th-18th century voyages of discovery transformed (especially European) knowledge, as people tried to understand and exploit new kinds of animals, plants, and minerals in the New World, Africa, and Asia.  Some attention is given to Enlightenment philosophies of the eighteenth century and the chemical revolution, following which we turn to early theories of fossils, the nineteenth century discovery of “deep time,” debates over extinction vs. evolution (Cuvier vs. Lamarck), and the uniformitarianism triumphant in Lyell’s geology and Darwin’s theory of evolution.  A final section looks at the twentieth century’s revolutionary understandings of matter, life and the cosmos, with particular attention to the impact of the First and Second World Wars, computerization, the molecular understanding of life, and ethical challenges raised by the abuses of Nazi racial science, the Scopes Trial and creationism, tobacco industry agnotology, global climate change and threats to biodiversity.

  Our focus throughout will be global, recognizing that history is always profoundly and unavoidably selective. The overarching theme will be to explore how science transforms—and is transformed by—human engagements with technology, religion, art, politics, and moral values.

Teaching Fellows                                                Section #            Time

Joann Kleinneiur                                                14                        WF            11:00-11:50a

          (joannk@stanford.edu)                                    15                        WF            2:15-3:05p

          16                        WF            3:15-4:05p

Molly McCarthy                                                  2                        TTh            3:15-4:05p

          (mollym1@stanford.edu)                                      3                        TTh            4:15-5:05p

    4                        TTh            5:15-6:05p

Mark Sander                                                            11                        TTh            3:15-4:05p

          (sanderm@stanford)                                                12                        WF            10:00-10:50a

          13                        WF            1:15-2:05p

Melissa Stevenson                                                  5                        WF            9-9:50a

          (melissas@leland.stanford.edu)                          6                        WF            10-10:50a

    7                        WF            11-11:50a

Gabriel K. Wolfenstein                                      8                        TTh            3:15-4:05p

          (gkw@stanford.edu)                                                  9                        TTh            4:15-5:05p

          Course Coordinator, Winter & Spring             10                        TTh            6:00-6:50p

Course Goals:

          The goals of winter/spring IHUM courses are the following: to introduce students in a sustained way to a body of material in a specific discipline; to hone the reading, analytical, and critical thinking skills begun in fall quarter; and to continue to develop college-level argumentation skills, both oral and written.

  Course Wiki: http://worldhistoryofscience2008.pbwiki.com (password ihum6ab)

  Required Texts:

          Course reader. Available through Field Copy’s (for sale after class during the first week and in

          the basement of Lane during Weeks 1 & 2.)

          Francis Bacon. Selected Philosophical Works. Ed. Rose-Mary Sargent. Hackett, 1999.

          Rene Descartes. Discourse on Method, Optics, Geometry, and Meteorology. Hackett, 2001.

          Jared Diamond. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. Norton, 1999.

          Stephen Jay Gould. Wonderful Life. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989.

          Galileo Galilei. Sidereus Nuncias, or the Sidereal Messenger

          Londa Schiebinger. The Mind Has No Sex? Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989.

 Schedule

WINTER QUARTER

            ( ** = Found in the Course Reader)

            Week 1:  Introduction

              Jan.   8  Tues: What is History?  What is Science?

              Jan. 10  Thurs: Human Origins

                          Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life, pp. 23-52

                          **Thomas Kuhn, “The Function of Dogma in Scientific Research”

Week 2:  Prehistoric Science and Technology

              Jan. 15  Tues: Human Origins and the Earliest Tools

                          **Elaine Morgan, Descent of Woman

              Jan. 17  Thurs: Acheulean Handaxes: What were they used for?  Guest Demo: Ian Robertson

                          Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs and Steel (pp. 9-52)

                          **Kafka, “Report to an Academy”

  Film night: Quest for Fire!  Time TBA

Week 3:  Prehistoric Science and Technology cont.

              Jan. 22  Tues: Paleolithic Astronomy

                          Jared Diamond, Guns Germs and Steel (pp. 83-156, 403-26)

              Jan. 24            Thurs: Mesoamerican Math and Paleoastronomy

                          Film: The Sundagger

Week 4:  Science in the Ancient Mediterranean World

              Jan. 29 Tues: Mesopotamian Life and Science

                          **Plato, Timaeus (selections)

              Jan. 31 Thurs: Presocratic and Socratic Philosophy

                          **Plato, The Allegory of the Cave

Week 5:  Ancient Science and Medieval Science

              Feb. 5  Tues: Aristotelian Philosophy and Ptolomaic Astronomy

                          **Aristotle, Physics, Book 8

              Feb. 7  Thurs: Galenic Medicine

                          **Hippocratic oath(s)

*Paper #1 due Monday, February 11*

Week 6:  Middle Eastern Science and the Islamic World

              Feb. 12  Tues: Science in Arabia, India, and the Islamic World

                          **Ibn Sina, Canon of Medicine, selections

              Feb. 14 Thurs: Magical and Alchemical Traditions

                          Ibn Khaldun, The Muquaddimah, selections (found on wiki and Coursework)

Week 7:  Eastern Science and Medicine

              Feb. 19 Tues: Gunpowder, Printing, the Compass, and other Chinese Wonders

                          **Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine

              Feb. 21 Thurs: Chinese Medicine and Philosophy

                          **Yellow Emperor’s Classic. cont.

  Discussion of Research Papers

Week 8:  Renaissance Science

              Feb. 26 Tues:  Leonardo’s World – Guest lecture: Prof. Paula Findlen

                          **Stephen Jay Gould, “Leonardo’s Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms”

                          **Pico della Mirandola, “Oration of the Dignity of Man”;

                          **Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels, selections

              Feb. 28 Thurs:            Copernicus, Giordano Bruno, Galileo and the Heliocentric Universe

                          Galileo, Sidereus Nuncias, selections

Week 9:  The Scientific Revolution

              Mar. 4 Tues:  Bacon’s New Method

                          Francis Bacon, Novum Organon

              Mar. 6 Thurs:  The Cartesian Method

                          Descartes, Discourse on Method

*Paper #2 due Monday, March 10*

Week 10:  The Modern Cosmos

              Mar. 11 Tues:  Newton’s Calculus

                          Londa Schiebinger, The Mind Has No Sex, pp. 1-101, 265-277.

              Mar. 13 Thurs: Recent Controversies

March 20 3:30-6:30 FINAL EXAM

* Please note that if you are in a Wed/Fri section, then the reading assignment for Tuesday applies to Wednesday and the reading assignment for Thursday applies to Friday.

Course Policies: Course communications & email etiquette: various course announcements and materials will be sent via email and/or be available on the course website. It will be assumed that students have ready web access and will check email regularly; please advise your section leader if you anticipate any difficulties. Although section leaders and faculty may encourage email communication from students, be sure to allow adequate time for a response (i.e. at least 24 hours on weekdays); it’s advisable to limit such email communications to the important and/or necessary (i.e. “what did I miss today” is best directed to another student in the course).

Attendance at lectures and seminars is required, and absences will cause your grade to suffer. The IHUM Attendance Policy states the following:  More than two section absences will severely affect a student’s participation grade. If a student has a prolonged illness, varsity athletic competitions, or a personal situation that might lead to more than two absences, the student should contact his or her Teaching Fellow before missing section. Under certain conditions (such as varsity athletic competitions or prolonged illness), a student may be provided an opportunity to make up the work missed in section. Note: insufficient section attendance will result in failure of the course.

Late work is similarly subject to penalization and, in some cases, may require make-up work. All major (graded) written assignments are due on coursework on or before the specified due date; hard copies should be turned in to your section leaders in your regularly scheduled sections or as otherwise specified. It is expected that students will complete all required assignments. Late assignments are subject to penalization of 1/3 of a grade per day late.

Grading:

          Paper 1 (5-6 pages)             20% Due February 11 at 11:00 AM

          Paper 2 (6-7 pages)             25% Due March 10 at 11:00 AM

          Final Exam                         30% Mar. 20 3:30-6:30 PM

          Class Participation             25%

Note: Failure to complete any one assignment will result in a failing grade for the quarter.

Grading Guidelines: Essays: IHUM courses foster rigorous inquiry and critical thinking and promote effective written argumentation.

A range: This paper is outstanding in form and content. The thesis is clear and insightful; it is original, or it expands in a new way on ideas presented in the course. The evidence presented in support of the argument is carefully chosen and deftly handled. The argument is not only unified and coherent, but also complex and nuanced.

B range: This paper’s thesis is clear; the argument is coherent and presents evidence in support of its points. The argument shows comprehension of the material and manifests critical thinking about the issues raised in the course. The paper is reasonably well written and proofread. The argument, while coherent, does not have the complexity, the insight, or the integrated structure of an A range paper.

C range: This paper has some but not all of the basic components of an argumentative essay (i.e., thesis, evidence, coherent structure): for example, it may offer a thesis of some kind, but it presents no evidence to support this thesis; or it may present an incoherent thesis; or it may simply repeat points made in class without an overall argument. Such a paper is usually poorly organized, written and proofread.

          A paper lacking more than one of the basic components of an argumentative essay will earn a grade of “D” or below.

Section Participation: IHUM courses are mandated to encourage vigorous intellectual exchange, the expression of various viewpoints, and the ability to speak effectively and cogently. Participation in discussion will be evaluated on the following guidelines, which stress the quality rather than the mere quantity of contributions to discussion.

A range: The student is fully engaged and highly motivated. This student is well prepared, having read the assigned texts, and has thought carefully about the texts’ relation to issues raised in lecture and section. This student’s ideas and questions are substantive (either constructive or critical); they stimulate class discussions. This student listens and responds to the contributions of other students.

B range: The student attends participates consistently in discussion. This student comes to section well

          prepared and contributes quite regularly by sharing thoughts and questions that show insight and a familiarity with the material. This student refers to the materials discussed in lecture and shows interest in other students’ contributions.

C range: The student meets the basic requirements of section participation. This student is usually prepared

          and participates once in a while but not regularly. This student’s contributions relate to the texts and the

          lectures and offer a few insightful ideas but do not help to build a coherent and productive discussion.

          Failure to fulfill satisfactorily any of the criteria for C-range participation will result in a grade of “D” or below.

Resources:

            Stanford Writing Center (Building 460, Room 20) does not offer editing services but rather help for your overall writing skills in one-to-one conferences and writing workshops. Make appointments online at:

            http://swc.stanford.edu

            Stanford’s Center for Teaching and Learning (4th Floor, Sweet Hall, ctl.stanford.edu) provides a wide variety

          of resources for students including tutors, workshops.

  Provost’s Statement concerning students with disabilities:

          Students who have a disability that may necessitate an academic accommodation or the use of auxiliary aids and services in a class, must initiate the request with the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC), located within the Office of Accessible Education (OAE). The SDRC will evaluate the request with required documentation, recommend appropriate accommodation, and prepare a verification letter dated in the current academic term in which the request is being made. Please contact the SDRC as soon as possible; timely notice is needed to arrange for appropriate accommodations. The Office of Accessible Education is located at 563 Salvatierra Walk (phone 723-1066; TDD 725-1067).

∞ Syllabus subject to change


July 25

August 16

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CS103 Course Syllabus

site:stanford.edu filetype:pdf syllabus calculus freshman

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 Course

              Syllabus

              Honor Code

              How to Succeed in CS103

              Office Hours

              How to Improve

 Resources

              Mathematical Prerequisites

              Guide to Elements and Subsets

              Guide to Proofs

              Guide to $\LaTeX$

              Proofwriting Checklist

              Guide to Negation

              Guide to Logic Translations

              Logic Translation Checklist

              Guide to Proofs on Discrete Structures

              Discrete Structures Proofwriting Checklist

              Guide to Induction

              Induction Proofwriting Checklist

              Guide to CFGs

              Guide to Self-Reference

              Guide to the Lava Diagram

              Timeline of CS103 Results

 Lectures

                    0.  6/23 Introduction, Set Theory

                    1.  6/25 Mathematical Proofs

                    2.  6/27 Indirect Proofs

                    3.  6/30 Propositional Logic

                    4.  7/2 First-Order Logic, Part I

                    5.  7/4 First-Order Logic, Part II

                    6.  7/7 Functions, Part I

                    7.  7/9 Functions, Part II

                    8.  7/11 Graphs, Part I

                    9.  7/14 Graphs, Part II

                    10.  7/16 Mathematical Induction, Part I

                    11.  7/18 Mathematical Induction, Part II

                    12.  7/21 Finite Automata, Part I

                    13.  7/23 Finite Automata, Part II

                    14.  7/28 Regular Expressions

                    15.  7/30 Nonregular Languages

                    16.  8/1 Context-Free Languages

                    17.  8/4 Turing Machines, Part I

                    18.  8/6 Turing Machines, Part II

                    19.  8/8 Unsolvable Problems

                    20.  8/11 Unsolvable Problems II

                    21.  8/13 Final Review

 Problem Sets

              Guide to Partners

                    0.   Problem Set 0

                    1.   Problem Set 1

                    2.   Problem Set 2

                    3.   Problem Set 3

                    4.   Problem Set 4

                    5.   Problem Set 5

                    6.   Problem Set 6

                    7.   Problem Set 7

 Exams

              Exam Logistics

              Practice Midterm 1

              Practice Midterm 2

              Midterm Extra Practice Problems

              Midterm Solutions

              Practice Final 1

              Practice Final 2

              Final Extra Practice Problems

              Final Solutions

🗓Schedule

CS103 Course Syllabus

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Are there “laws of physics” in computing? Are there fundamental restrictions to what computers can and cannot do? If so, what do these restrictions look like? What would make one problem intrinsically harder to solve than another? And what would such restrictions mean for our ability to computationally solve meaningful problems?

In CS103, we'll explore the answers to these important questions. We'll begin with an introduction mathematical logic, proofs, and discrete structures (sets, functions, graphs). These mathematical tools will enable the real heart of the course, which is to rigorously answer questions like “what does it mean for a computer to solve a problem?” and “what makes some problems (sorting) inherently harder than others (searching)?”

In the course of the quarter, you'll see some of the most impressive (and intellectually beautiful) mathematical results of the last 150 years. In some ways, we like to think of this as a course in both art appreciation and practice. We’ll bring you through a gallery and show you some of our favorite achievements of mathematical artistic beauty, and like a good tour guide help you understand what is special about what you’re looking at. You’ll also need to pick up the paintbrush yourself and write some proofs of your own. You'll learn how to think about computation itself and how to show that certain problems are impossible to solve. Finally, you'll get a sense of what lies beyond the current frontier of computer science, especially with regards to the biggest open problem in math and computer science, the P = NP problem.

Teaching Team

Our talented course staff is super excited to share our love for CS103 material with you. We encourage you to get in touch with us through the course EdStem forum. Ed is the best place to contact us with questions on any topic - course logistics, problem set questions, life advice, you name it! When appropriate to protect your privacy or avoid sharing assignment solutions with other students (an honor code violation!), you can mark your post as private and only staff will be able to view it.  We ask you to limit emailing instructors to exceptionally sensitive matters for which even the private setting on Ed is insufficiently protective. Posting on Ed rather than emailing helps us share the load of answering questions among our staff – and the benefit to you is much quicker response time!

Zheng Lian
Instructor

Abhijit Devalapura
TA

Keller Blackwell
TA

Websites and Technology

The main CS103 website is where you are right now, cs103.stanford.edu. We have links to a bunch of other tools here. Here's the quick rundown:

Our main course website cs103.stanford.edu is the main hub for course information. It contains links to everything you’ll need.

We use Panopto to host lecture videos.

You’ll submit work using Gradescope.

We use EdStem as our Q&A forum.

You will need to download and install Qt Creator to complete the coding assignments.

You may find it helpful to use Overleaf to typeset your problem sets. (Your @stanford.edu email address gives access to “Pro” features.)

Prerequisites

CS103 has CS106B as a prerequisite or corequisite. This means that if you want to take CS103, you must either have completed or be concurrently enrolled in one of CS106B or CS106X (or have equivalent background experience).

Over the course of the quarter, we will be giving out a number of programming assignments to help you better understand the concepts from the course. Those assignments will assume a familiarity with C++ and programming concepts (especially recursion) at a level that’s beyond what’s typically covered in CS106A. The timing on these assignments is designed so that they’ll sync up with what’s covered in CS106B.

Although CS103 is a course on the mathematical theory behind computer science, the only actual math we'll need as a prerequisite is high-school algebra. We'll build up all the remaining mathematical machinery we need as we go. We've released another handout detailing the mathematical prerequisites for this course, so if you have any questions, check it out and see what you find!

Lectures

Our lectures are MWF 6:00 - 7:50 PM in Hewlett 201. Lectures will be recorded and posted on the course Canvas page.

It's important to keep pace with the lectures rather than to batch them up and watch them all in one go. To give you an incentive to stay on top of lectures, we've reserved 5% of your grade for lecture participation. Here are the details: Starting on Monday of Week 2, we'll ask a small number of practice questions through the PollEV polling system. You will earn participation credit if your answer those questions, regardless of whether your answers are right. You have the option to instead count your final exam score in place of your lecture participation grade. Our final course grade calculation software will automatically apply the grading option that is best for you at the end of the quarter, so there is no need to formally communicate with us your choice either way.

To allow for some flexibility, you're allowed to miss the credit opportunity (i.e. not completing PollEV) for three lectures over the course of the quarter and still earn the full 5%.

If you are a CGOE student, then we will drop the participation portion of your grade when computing raw scores, renormalizing the remaining 95% of your grade back up to 100%. However, when calculating final letter grades, we will ensure this does not place you at a disadvantage compared to those who were able to earn participation credit through PollEV.

Lecture Recording Legal Notice

Video cameras located in the back of the room will capture the instructor presentations in this course. For your convenience, you can access these recordings by logging into the course Canvas site. These recordings might be reused in other Stanford courses, viewed by other Stanford students, faculty, or staff, or used for other education and research purposes. Note that while the cameras are positioned with the intention of recording only the instructor, occasionally a part of your image or voice might be incidentally captured. If you have questions, please contact a member of the teaching team.

Units

If you are an undergraduate or are taking this course through CGOE, you need to enroll in CS103 for five units (these are department and university policies, respectively). If you are a matriculated graduate student, you may enroll for anywhere between three and five units, depending on what best fits into your schedule. Regardless of how many units you are enrolled for, the course content and requirements will be the same. The unit flexibility is simply to make enrollment bookkeeping easier for matriculated graduate students.

Problem Sets

There will be eight total problem sets in CS103, given out once per week. They will be posted on Friday afternoons and are due the following Friday at 6:00PM Pacific time. (Although we do therefore have an assignment that overlaps with the weeks of our exams, rest assured they will be lighter than usual and have additional flexibility.)

Submitting Work

You will submit an assignment by uploading a PDF to GradeScope. Please practice being good engineers by leaving yourself a fault tolerance window of time before the due date/time, to allow for any hiccups in the uploading process, thank you! :-)

In the past we’ve had issues with clarity of handwritten work, so barring a very extenuating circumstance (contact course staff for approval), you are required to type your assignment solutions, not hand-write. $\LaTeX$ is a great way to type up solutions, and we'll help you get started with that tool if you like, but Microsoft Word or similar options are also acceptable.

Coding Problems

Some of the questions on the problem sets will ask you to write C++ code. You’ll code these in Qt Creator on your own computer and upload the code on Gradescope. Note that programming questions and written questions for a pset will end up as two separate uploads on Gradescope.

Partners

You are allowed to work on the problem sets individually or in pairs (no groups larger than two people). Regardless of how many people you work with, your problem set will be graded on the same scale. You are not required to work with the same people on each problem set – you're welcome to work in a pair on one problem set, individually on the next, in a pair with a different partner the next time.

For more details about collaborating with other students, please read over our Honor Code policy and our Guide to Partners.

For pairs, only one person should submit to Gradescope, and that person should then add their partner’s name. (Should you find yourself in the situation that you forget to add your partner's name, Gradescope does allow you to add it even if the due date is passed. Partners–please double-check this each week!)

How We Grade

When grading assignments, we will grade both for intuition and for execution. When looking for execution, we will check whether your reasoning is correct, whether you prove the desired result, whether all your intermediary steps are valid, etc. If your proofs contain logical errors or prove statements other than the ones you needed to prove, we may deduct points for correctness. We will also grade your proof based on how clearly it lays out its argument and whether it adheres to the standard mathematical conventions governing proofwriting. If your proof proceeds on unnecessary tangents, doesn't clearly articulate where it's going, uses unnecessarily cryptic notation or shorthand, etc., then we may deduct points. We'll release more information about our proofwriting standards over the quarter.

Regrade Requests

We do our best in this course to grade as accurately and as thoroughly as possible. We understand how important it is for your grades to be fair and correct. If there is an error, you're encouraged to submit a regrade request on Gradescope. Regrade requests must be submitted no later than one week after that assignment/exam's grades are released. Regrade requests that are not polite or that take issue with the rubric design (as opposed to misapplication of the rubric as it is) may be closed without comment.

Late Policy

We urge you to focus on being ready for the exams by finishing the problem sets on time, even if not perfectly. In the software industry, they often say, "Shipped is better than perfect." Therefore, there are no automatic free late days or grace periods this quarter. Thus we will only grant accommodations in the case of unforeseen special circumstances (illness, etc) - please contact the course staff via email if this applies to you.

Please note that we take the square root of your assignment scores when calculating your final grade, which has the effect of hugely raising low scores. This is our way of supporting you and meeting you halfway in this "shipped is better than perfect" philosophy, by minimizing the grade impact of imperfect or incomplete solutions.

Gradescope will not accept late submissions (though it does allow you to add a forgotten partner’s name after the deadline, in case you ever find yourself in that situation). If your group needs an extension on a problem set due to extenuating circumstances, you will need to email your PDF and extension request to the course staff email cs103-sum2425-staff@lists.stanford.edu. (Please do not email individual instructors/TAs as we have a centralized system for processing.) Emergencies exempted, all requests for extensions must be received at least 24 hours in advance of the posted due date.

Honor Code Policy

Please see our Honor Code page for more information about the Honor Code as it applies in CS103.

Exams

There will be one midterm and one final exam. We are planning on holding exams in-person this quarter, though this is subject to change based on university guidance. The exams will run on the following days:

Midterm is Friday, July 25 from 5PM - 8PM. (End of Week 5)

Final Exam is Saturday, August 16 from 7PM - 10PM. (End of Week 8)

Please note that you are required to attend the exams as scheduled. The final exam date is set by the Registrar. Note that you must not enroll in classes with conflicting final exams. This is a University-level policy, and we do not make exceptions under any circumstances.

SCPD students will receive information over email about taking the exams remotely.

Exam-Related Accommodations

Super important note! In accordance with regulations for all courses participating in this quarter's proctoring study, we will only be able to implement exam-related OAE accommodations if they reach us at least 10 days prior to the exam.

Grading

Your raw score in CS103 is determined as follows:

\[\begin{aligned}
                \text{Raw Score } = & \quad 0.4 \cdot \text{PSet Score} \\
                                    & + 0.2 \cdot \text{Midterm Score} \\
                                    & + 0.35 \cdot \text{Final Exam Score} \\
                                    & + 0.05 \cdot \text{Lecture Participation Score}
            \end{aligned}\]

Here, your problem set score is computed as

\[\text{PSet Score} \quad = \quad \frac{\text{sum of square roots of problem set scores}}{\text{sum of square roots of problem set point totals}}.\]

Taking the square root of each problem set score provides a boost to each problem set grade. For example, if you score an 81% raw score on one problem set, we’d count it as though you’d earned a 90%. We do not drop your lowest problem set score.

Your midterm and final exam scores are computed using raw percentage scores. Note that, in particular, this means that we do not curve midterm or exam scores.

If you choose to count your final exam score in place of your lecture participation grade, here is the alternate grading breakdown:

\[\begin{aligned}
                \text{Raw Score } = & \quad 0.4 \cdot \text{PSet Score} \\
                                    & + 0.2 \cdot \text{Midterm Score} \\
                                    & + 0.4 \cdot \text{Final Exam Score}
            \end{aligned}\]

Grade Notes:

We assign letter grades as follows. We first determine a grading curve over raw scores to assign initial letter grades. Historically, the median raw score has ended up somewhere near the B/B+ cutoff. We never assign letter grades that are lower than the decile of your raw score; for example, a 90% will never map to anything lower than an A-.

There is one exception to this rule. To earn a passing grade in CS103, your composite score on the problem sets and your composite score on the exams must each be passing work. (The actual numbers used to denote “passing work” are set at the discretion of the instructor. We will likely use 60% as a cutoff for passing work for problem sets and 50% as a cutoff for passing work for exams, though this is subject to change.) If your score in at least one area is below this cutoff, you will receive a non-passing grade. This rule is to ensure that you have demonstrated competency throughout the quarter. Historically, very few students are impacted by this rule, since usually having a non-passing score in either area results in having a low overall composite score.

Your final grade will be determined solely as mentioned above. We do not offer any make-up work.

Withdraw / Incomplete Policy

If a serious emergency arises and you cannot complete the work in this course, you may contact Zheng – not the TAs – to request an incomplete. We reserve incompletes for emergencies, so we do not grant incomplete grades for poor performance on the assignments or exams, nor do we offer incompletes for busy work schedules. Withdrawing is the appropriate option in those circumstances.

In order to be eligible for an Incomplete, University policy says you must have completed a “substantial” part of the course work in “satisfactory” fashion. This means that incompletes are appropriate for serious medical or family emergencies that occur late in the quarter, which prevent you from completing the course despite having done well up to that point.

Access and Academic Accommodations

Stanford is committed to providing equal educational opportunities for disabled students. Disabled students are a valued and essential part of the Stanford community. We welcome you to our class and look forward to supporting you!

If you experience disability, please register with the Office of Accessible Education (OAE). Professional staff will evaluate your needs, support appropriate and reasonable accommodations, and prepare an Academic Accommodation Letter for faculty. To get started, or to re-initiate services, please visit oae.stanford.edu.

If you already have an Academic Accommodation Letter, we invite you to share your letter with us. Academic Accommodation Letters should be shared at the earliest possible opportunity so we may partner with you and OAE to identify any barriers to access and inclusion that might be encountered in your experience of this course. Please use the PSet0 Google Form Survey to share your OAE exam requirements, if any, and email a copy of your letter to the staff at cs103-sum2425-staff@lists.stanford.edu.

Readings

There are two recommended textbooks for this quarter. The first is How to Read and Do Proofs by Daniel Solow, which is a great resource for learning how to approach mathematical problem-solving. The second is Introduction to the Theory of Computation, Third Edition by Michael Sipser. You might find this book useful in the second half of the quarter. We will never directly test material available only in the textbooks; the course materials we provide will be all you need.

There are copies of each of these books in reserve in the Engineering Library.

A helpful note from the School of Engineering:

“All students should retain receipts for books and other course-related expenses, as these may be qualified educational expenses for tax purposes. If you are an undergraduate receiving financial aid, you may be eligible for additional financial aid for required books and course materials if these expenses exceed the aid amount in your award letter. For more information, review your award letter or visit the Student Budget website.”

Force Majeure

A note from the Center for Teaching and Learning:

Stanford as an institution is committed to the highest quality education, and as your teaching team, our first priority is to uphold your educational experience. To that end we are committed to following the syllabus as written here, including through short or long-term disruptions, such as public health emergencies, natural disasters, or protests and demonstrations. However, there may be extenuating circumstances that necessitate some changes. Should adjustments be necessary we will communicate clearly and promptly to ensure you understand the expectations and are positioned for successful learning.

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