CSE 291/DSC 291: Information Manipulation: Trustworthiness of Information in Cyberspace

CSE 291/DSC 291

Schedule: Lecture:TTh 2:00-3:20 (EBU3B 2154)

Instructors: Molly Roberts (Political Science/HDSI) and Stefan Savage (CSE)

    Office hours:
  • (Molly) Th 4:30-5:30, via Zoom zoom: https://ucsd.zoom.us/my/mollyroberts,
  • (Stefan) Mon 10-11am, CSE 3106

Teaching Assistant: Katherine Izhikevich: Office hours (TBD)

Description

This interdisciplinary course will focus on our understanding of misinformation/disinformation and how it impacts the spread and reliability of information online. We will explore the scope of misinformation, the factors that drive susceptibility, the incentives for creating or trafficking in such content and the impact it has on people's understanding and behavior. We will also try to understand the strategies of actors who purposely manipulate online information and the policies and technical measures proposed for addressing these issues.

Students are expected to have a background in basic programming and statistics so that they can work on projects that analyze social media data.

This will very much be a readings and discussion class, so be prepared to enage!

Grading:
50% Group Research project (at end of quarter)
20% Group leading paper discussion (once/quarter)
20% Individual research assessments (once/week)
10% Class participation (each class)

Please sign up for the areas you are most interested in for group paper discussion: https://forms.gle/ZtUMgi6w37GwLh6XA.