FYS 25 ‘Writing Machines:’ Machine-writing from Frankenstein to ChatGPT
This course offers students an introduction to university writing and research by exploring the perennial conflict between humans and machines. Surveying topics in literature, technology studies, and digital media studies, the course will furnish students an eclectic array of writing strategies and approaches. With machine-learning in the background, and the promise of the perfectibility of university writing embodied in ChatGPT, students will wrestle with writing as both a mode of artistic expression and a mechanical procedure to relay information. Students will then develop the critical tools to be effective writers while learning about the ideological interest in clear, direct, and simple writing in our highly connected, capitalist world. They will learn the foundations of university writing and research as well as proper syntactical methods, key components to argumentation, and how to assess the merits and relevance of academic sources. Open only to first year frosh.