Photo: Colleen Hayes / NBC.
We will be using social media, on Twitter, to engage with each other throughout the course.
Here’s What I Want You to Do
You are required to tweet a minimum of 5 times between each class meeting. There are 25 between-class periods, so at least 125 tweets are expected from you.
When tweeting for this course, please always use the course hashtag #SP21 (which stands for Social Philosophy 2021). This hashtag is essential since I will not be snooping on your non-course-related tweets. Instead, I will be using an automated program to collect all #SP21 tweets for me to read. So using that hashtag ensures that I will have and count all your course-related tweets.
Just to repeat: if your tweet does not contain #SP21, then it is extremely unlikely that I will see that tweet.
Here’s Why I Want You to Do It
Part of my primary mission in this course is to equip you to meaningfully engage with others about issues of social justice. Such issues involve the inescapable need to secure the legitimate cooperation of others, including those with whom we may disagree. Mastering this skill of reasoned deliberation is essential to achieving any meaningful and lasting social change.
Yes, Twitter is an imperfect instrument for achieving those goals. Even so, I continue to find it remarkably effective in immersing you in the deliberative process entailed by the study of social justice. It does so by giving us all the opportunity to have informal conversations with each other about course material.
In particular, Twitter is useful for having discussions that assist in your progression towards achieving the last four learning outcomes for this course:
- Apply arguments from philosophical texts to the difficult debates concerning sexism and racism,
- Assess competing claims concerning the nature of social justice and the demands it may place on your actions and decisions,
- Reflect on your own assumptions and form more considered judgments on issues of social justice, and
- Communicate your understanding and analysis of these issues through written discourse.
To these ends, use Twitter to connect course topics to current events, assess the claims made in the course readings or by your classmates, and reflect on what it is you believe about social justice. Above all, use Twitter to find your own voice to discuss this vital topic.
Here’s How to Do It
Generally speaking, I expect that you will regularly check and join in the conversation on the course hashtag #SP21. Given that Twitter is meant to be a social experience for us, I would strongly prefer that the majority of your tweets are in response to a classmate or to me. However, I understand this may be difficult at times, so I will not penalize you for tweeting your thoughts in monologue form.
In any case, try not to overthink things, or feel like you have to tweet brilliant and original ideas. Just find something that interests you in the readings or from our class discussions, and then tweet about it. Or, better yet, scroll through the course hashtag #SP21. It really shouldn’t take long to find something that sparks a response from you. If all else fails, feel free to also ask questions when confused about any aspect of the course.
Furthermore, you do not need to only tweet about the current material. If you have something to say about material covered the previous week—go for it! If something on #SP21 from a few weeks ago catches your eye, and you want to respond—not a problem! Of course, I would prefer that you try to stick with more recent material. But hey, at the end of the day, I just want you all to be talking about this stuff. Philosophy is lonely, and definitely not fun, when done all by yourself.
So my bottom line here is simple: I want this Twitter assignment to be flexible and not too stressful. There are a lot of different ways in which you can meaningfully, and hopefully without much difficultly, complete your 5 tweets between each class meeting.
Finally, I will be regularly checking on and responding to your tweets. Feel free to follow me on Twitter (@ProfessorDEG). I also suggest that you follow leaders within your future fields. You may be surprised to see them discuss issues related to social justice!
Here’s How It Will Be Graded
I have adopted a form of specifications grading for this class. As a result, each of your tweets is marked Accepted or Incomplete.
At the end of the semester, I will count up your total number of Accepted tweets (capped at 5 between each class meeting). That number then determines whether your final course grade has a + (plus), a − (minus), or neither:
- Your final course grade earns a + (plus) if at least 113 of your tweets are Accepted,
- It earns a − (minus) if fewer than 100 of your tweets are Accepted, and
- It earns neither otherwise.
For instance, if you have met the requirements for a B in this class, and you also have 113 Accepted tweets, your final course grade is a B+.
In any case, I highly encourage you to look over the Grading Scheme for this class, which goes into a lot more detail about how I will calculate your final course grade.
Now, in order to be Accepted, a tweet must satisfy three specifications. That is, a tweet must be…
- Relevant,
- Substantive, and
- Respectful.
By relevant, I mean that your tweet is clearly connected to social justice or some other aspect of this course. Of course, I highly encourage you to chat with each other over Twitter, but non-relevant tweets will be ignored.
By substantive, I mean more than generic commentary, a retweet, or simply quoting from course material.
For instance, do not simply say that you agree with something; provide your reasoning behind that judgment. Similarly, a relevant retweet is great, but be sure to include some of your own thoughts about the original tweet. The same holds with quoting course readings. Such a quote should be followed up with your own commentary. While I will only count your substantive comment, the retweet or quote will provide valuable context.
By respectful, I mean that you critically assess the claims others are making but not attack the people making those claims. It is fine to disagree with others—even with me!—but it is disrespectful to besmirch another person’s integrity or character. Indeed, personal attacks suggest it is your position that is weak and unsound. So please no flame wars, no bullying, and no being a jerk!
If you are ever unsure about these specifications or how they are being applied to your tweets, do not hesitate to contact me!
Do not forget to have fun while tweeting at least 5 times between each class meeting using the #SP21 hashtag.
Using Free Passes
You may use one free pass to make up any Incomplete or missed tweets (up to 5) for one between-class period.
Considerations for Your Account
This means that you need a Twitter account. If you do not have one—or if you prefer not to use your personal account—feel free to create a disposable one. You are also not required to use an account connected to your real name or any other personal information.
I strongly encourage you to create a disposable account if you prefer not to use a personal account for this course.
In making these decisions, keep in mind that people outside of class—and even outside of the UB community—can see what you are saying.
For my part, I will never reveal which student is connected to which Twitter account. I want you to be comfortable having open and honest engagement with each other and with the material.
Alternatively, it is also fine if you use multiple Twitter accounts for this course. That is, you might use your regular account to tweet about things that your Twitter followers and friends may find interesting, while also using a disposable account to tweet about things you would rather not have connected to your name. While juggling two different accounts can be tricky, this offers you the potential of having the best of both options.
I do require that you send me the name(s) of the account(s) you want me to track for this class and that you make sure the contents of your account is publicly viewable. So even if your account is not connected to your real name, I will still know which account belongs to you and can assess your participation accordingly.
Once more: I will never share your account information with anyone.
Finally, if you have any trouble using Twitter do not hesitate to seek help from me or from one of your classmates.