Syllabus

• Instructor Information
• Course Introduction
• Learning Outcomes
• Grading Scale
• Grading Policy
• Attendance Policy
• Zoom & Electronics Policies
• Student Accommodations
• How to Use This Site
• University Policies

Instructor: Christopher Lynn (call me Chris), Associate Professor of Historical, Critical and Cultural Studies in Art and Design
Office: JKB 3116A
Phone: 801.422.1328
Email: chrislynn@byu.edu
Office Hours: Immediately after class or by appointment

Office hours will be conducted remotely via Zoom. If you can’t use Zoom, please email me to work out an alternative. To join office hours, stick around after class, or a new link will be sent to you when we schedule an alternate time.

Course Agreement

I acknowledge that this is a required course, and that some of you are taking this primarily out of obligation. That being said, each of us is making a choice to be here, and by choosing to take part in this class, we each will agree to the following.

What the instructor will do

• Acknowledge where you are, and where you can be.
• Work with you as an equal human being
• Communicate to you what I am doing and why.
• Share with you what I know to help you become a more informed and well-rounded person.

What you will do, as a student

• Be present and participate.
• Not view our relationship as that of customer and service provider.
• Criticize ideas, not individuals.
• Commit to learning, not debating (except in our debates).
• Avoid blame and speculation.
• Avoid inflammatory language and behavior.

What we will do together

• Build a healthy relationship.
• Demonstrate respect by acknowledging the value of each others’ personal experiences.
• Listen to each other respectfully, without interrupting.
• Work toward creating something of which we are all proud and is the best representation of our efforts.

Course Purpose

DES 390 is designed to provide students theoretical grounding for their own work and a foundational understanding of the work of their predecessors and contemporaries so that students may see a trajectory to culturaal praactice.

Course Description

Theoretical and historical readings and discussions explore visual culture, aesthetics, critical studies, ethics, and design practice across various professional disciplines with a focus on historical trajectories and speculative futures.

Prerequisites

ARTHC 202; Design majors only.

Course Materials

There is no required textbook for this course. Most of your “readings” will be provided online. There may be occasions when you need to rent/buy a film, print materials, etc. that will incur minor costs. You will also need an open mind and something to take notes—computer, tablet, notebook and pen, etc.

Design and Cultural History

Students will be able to identify ways in which visual design shapes and is shaped by society through communications, social relations, culture, economies, education, politics and history.

Critical Discourse

Students will be able to understand, discuss, and write about the theoretical, philosophical, social, and critical discourse—the “whys” and “why nots” of design practice and visual culture—and how their work fits into these contexts.

Image and Meaning

Students will be able to demonstrate fluency in interpretation and analysis of image systems, semiotics and meaning of visual culture in its diverse forms.

Ethics and Innovation

Students will be able to understand the ethics of design and principles of innovation for engaging with and improving the world through design and image.

Grade	Percent
A	93%
A-	90%
B+	87%
B	83%
B-	80%
C+	77%
C	73%
C-	70%
D+	67%
D	63%
D-	60%
E	0%

Average work gets average grades. An “A” is given to thoughtful serious students who attend regularly, contribute positively to the class and whose work, research and experimentation are beyond the norm.

Hooked on Aerobics illustrating that high effort results in a better grade. Just being present and going through the motions might get you a C.

Regarding your work load, the University’s article Realizing the Rigors of College Education sums it up well:

Students need to understand college-level academic expectations

Most freshmen know they will have to work harder in college than they did in high school, but few understand how much harder. [. . . ] in order to succeed academically at BYU, students need to study at least two hours outside of class for every hour they spend in class. Most course work at BYU will be more rigorous and demanding than their high school coursework. And there is more of it. An average class load for freshman is about 14 hours—that means they are in class 14 hours per week. It also means that they need to study at least 28 hours a week outside of class—three or four or five times as much as they are used to studying. That’s a big adjustment for these young people, especially while they are living away from home for the first time.

This is a 3 credit hour course where we meet for 3 hours each week. That means that you are expected to do 6 hours of work outside of class each week. That being said, some students study and work faster, and some a little slower. I have designed the course load to be about 6 hours of work outside of class per week for an average reader. You may end up spending a little more or a little less time depending on your individual abilities and backgrounds.

Assignment grades will be based on the following:

• Conceptual Concerns (45%)
  • Student demonstrates evidence that they understand and inventively integrate conceptual concerns. The student’s research is evident and ample given the allotted time.
    • Excellent: Student demonstrates conversational familiarity with the material—making interesting connections between ideas, readings, and presentations.
    • Average: Student is able to recall and recite material, but not do anything interesting with it.
    • Below Average: Student struggles to demonstrate a grasp of the material and shows no facility in connecting ideas or new thinking.
• Articulation (45%)
  • When selecting a thesis or POV, the student is able to succinctly and plainly build a case using good storytelling techniques.
  • This includes proper spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, grammar and formatting for written assignments; and annunciation, confidence and focused arguments for oral assignments.
    • Excellent: Student understands modes of writing and presentation including style guides and oral confidence and is able to nimbly employ these tools in their writing and speaking.
    • Average: Student makes some stylistic and formatting mistakes by ignoring provided guidance.
    • Below Average: Student repeatedly makes the same mistakes and ignores instructor input and suggestions.
• Following Instructions (10%)
  • The student adheres to the guidelines provided for the course and the assignment. If the paper has a particular framework, the student adheres to that framework. If an assignment is to be submitted as a Word doc on Learning Suite, the student does not email the instructor a PDF.
    • Excellent: A detail-oriented student who takes instruction and fastidiously executes it within their work.
    • Average: A student who misses some details because they didn’t read instructions thoroughly or take proper notes when instructions were given.
    • Below Average: Student ignores basic instructions and guidance given for assignments.
• On-time Submission
  • Typically, projects will lose 5 points (out of 100) per 24-hour period they are late. Specifics are addressed within each assignment brief.

Grades will be posted on Learning Suite.

There is material covered in class that will be advantageous for you to know in general, and specifically for your assignments. A missed class, or a missed portion of class will put you at a disadvantage. Being able to participate in class discussion and have your questions answered will also be important for your development as an artist.

To begin the semester, we will not be “taking attendance.” You are encouraged to take diligent notes not only for your own development, but because there will be three surprise online extra credit exams over the course of the semester. These exams will be entirely based on the lectures and you will be able to use your notes. The final exam will cover both the lectures and the readings and will be open book and open note. These exams are extracurricular and do not count toward supplementary reading time. I reserve the right to change this attendance policy if overall attendance drops dramatically.

Lectures are recorded and available for students via the Resources link at the top of the page. However, recordings preclude the student participating in class discussion, asking real-time questions of the instructor, viewing Zoom chats, and other layers not found outside of synchronous class gatherings. Always do your best to join our live, virtual classes. The lectures are also recorded as a courtesy. If a recording is unavailable because of a technical or administrative glitch, it is not the responsibility of the instructor to fill-in the student.

Over the course of the semester, there will be approximately 10 in-class writing responses that will be completed during class time. If you are absent when those writing responses are conducted, you have until the beginning of class seven days from the point the prompt was given in the lecture to complete the response on Learning Suite. So, if a prompt was given on a Wednesday, you have until the start of class the following Wednesday to complete the response on Learning Suite. You will be allowed to drop one lowest grade for this assignment group. You will also be assigned to participate in one in-class debate. If you are absent or late and miss your debate, you cannot make it up.

If you miss class for any reason (illness, work, travel, etc.), you have two options:

1. view the lecture recording;
2. talk to a classmate about what was missed.

A video recording of a lecture may be unavailable because of technical or administrative reasons. If that is the case, borrow a classmate’s notes. Borrowing notes is a pale substitute for participating in the video lecture since all content is being filtered and edited by someone else. Being present in class is optimal. Extra credit exams will pull exclusively from class lectures. The final exam will pull questions from both lectures and required readings.

You will be required to access the course content and schedule on a regular basis on Zoom, Learning Suite, and the course website.

Zoom Etiquette and Tips

I know it is tempting to do other homework, surf the web, check your bank account, send/receive texts/emails, or peruse social media while in Zoom class. Please be mentally present in class and focus on the content rather than being distracted. The same goes for heading to the kitchen for a snack, attending class on your phone while you are out running errands, and other things that distract from the learning experience. Just because the lecture is recorded doesn’t mean that it is easily accessible for exams and papers. You are better off taking notes and being actively engaged.

I encourage in-class internet and computer usage for the following things:

• looking up artists, movements, and terminology with which you are unfamiliar;
  • If you are feeling charitable, you can paste links to your findings in the Zoom chat box for the rest of the class to be edified.
• taking notes.

Zoom tips:

• To conserve bandwidth, you can have your video off for the lecture portions. However, have a recognizable image of yourself as your avatar on Zoom. This helps the instructor get to know you and associate you and your work with your image. When we have breakout rooms, please turn your video on.
• Keep your audio on mute until you need to make a comment;
  • When you are ready to speak, press and hold the space bar for the duration of your comment. Make sure you are not in the chat box, or else you will not be unmuted and you will just type a series of spaces.
• if you have a question for the class or instructor, you can use the Raise Hand function, type your comment in the chat box, or just unmute yourself and speak to get the instructor’s attention—all three are fine;
• I recommend attending our Zoom lectures on a laptop or desktop machine rather than your phones. Some text on the slides is somewhat small and will be hard to read on a phone. It is also easier to view the video while having the Zoom chat window open. I understand if you prefer to have the lecture open on your phone or tablet while you take notes on a laptop/desktop. It is a matter of personal preference.

I am happy to work with students who need different accommodations. That being said, I will need a letter from the University Accommodations Office in order make exceptions for deadlines, course policies and other adaptations. Even if you think that you may not need to take advantage of these exceptions, please get your accommodation letter to me within the first three weeks of class. It is much harder for me to work with you if I don’t receive a letter until the end of the semester. Any accommodations you need me to make regarding assignments and exams should be brought up at least 24 hours prior to the due date.

Your schedule, readings, assignments, syllabus and other resources are found in the menu at the top of the page. Course content is subject to change at any time. Any changes will be communicated to students and be reflected on this site and Learning Suite.

Schedule

The schedule is broken down by weeks and is in three columns: Date, Due, and In Class. The In Class column addresses what we will be discussing in class that day. The Due column features items that are due for that class period. This includes reading assignments, papers, and debates.

Readings

Readings are also broken down by the week. Week 1.1 indicates readings for Monday of Week 1. Week 1.2 would indicate readings for Wednesday of Week 1. The term “Readings” encompasses texts, videos and audio materials. Within the readings there are three main headers: Required, Supplementary Readings, and Consider.

Required readings are the ones everyone in the class will read to help contextualize the lectures and inform our discussions and your individual assignments.

Supplementary readings are those that will help you contextualize the material and give you the freedom to dive deeper into subjects in which you are interested. For each reading set, you are expected to have done 1 hour of supplementary work (for a total of 2 per week). Since you will select which supplementary readings you will complete, this is a chance to gain unique perspectives and share them in class discussion. Conducting research for debates or papers, or writing papers can count toward your supplementary work time. Extra-credit exams and writing your reading responses do not count toward your supplementary work time. Do not double dip—i.e., count readings from another class as your supplementary readings for this class.

Response Questions are there to help focus your attentions as you complete the required readings. Some of these questions point directly at sections of the readings, and others ask you to think. For each reading response, you should be answering one response question associated with the reading.

Assignments

Each assignment is outlined here. Most assignments will be submitted through Learning Suite. How each assignment should be approached and submitted is outlined in the individual assignment’s brief found under the Assignments menu link. If you have any questions about an assignment, be sure to ask the instructor sooner rather than later.

Other Resources

Some of these resources are generated by other classes to provide helpful contextual information for future classes. Other resources are there to help as you work to complete assignments or gain understanding of more difficult material. This is also where you will find a link to class lecture PDFs and videos under “Course Box.”

Honor Code

In keeping with the principles of the BYU Honor Code, students are expected to be honest in all of their academic work. Academic honesty means, most fundamentally, that any work you present as your own must in fact be your own work and not that of another. Violations of this principle may result in a failing grade in the course and additional disciplinary action by the university. Students are also expected to adhere to the Dress and Grooming Standards. Adherence demonstrates respect for yourself and others and ensures an effective learning and working environment. It is the university’s expectation, and every instructor’s expectation in class, that each student will abide by all Honor Code standards. Please call the Honor Code Office at 422-2847 if you have questions about those standards.

Preventing & Responding to Sexual Misconduct

In accordance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Brigham Young University prohibits unlawful sex discrimination against any participant in its education programs or activities. The university also prohibits sexual harassment-including sexual violence-committed by or against students, university employees, and visitors to campus. As outlined in university policy, sexual harassment, dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking are considered forms of “Sexual Misconduct” prohibited by the university.

University policy requires all university employees in a teaching, managerial, or supervisory role to report all incidents of Sexual Misconduct that come to their attention in any way, including but not limited to face-to-face conversations, a written class assignment or paper, class discussion, email, text, or social media post. Incidents of Sexual Misconduct should be reported to the Title IX Coordinator at t9coordinator@byu.edu or (801) 422-8692. Reports may also be submitted through EthicsPoint at https://titleix.byu.edu/report or 1-888-238-1062 (24-hours a day).

BYU offers confidential resources for those affected by Sexual Misconduct, including the university’s Victim Advocate, as well as a number of non-confidential resources and services that may be helpful. Additional information about Title IX, the university’s Sexual Misconduct Policy, reporting requirements, and resources can be found at http://titleix.byu.edu or by contacting the university’s Title IX Coordinator.

Student Disability

Brigham Young University is committed to providing a working and learning atmosphere that reasonably accommodates qualified persons with disabilities. A disability is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Whether an impairment is substantially limiting depends on its nature and severity, its duration or expected duration, and its permanent or expected permanent or long-term impact. Examples include vision or hearing impairments, physical disabilities, chronic illnesses, emotional disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety), learning disorders, and attention disorders (e.g., ADHD). If you have a disability which impairs your ability to complete this course successfully, please contact the University Accessibility Center (UAC), 2170 WSC or 801-422-2767 to request a reasonable accommodation. The UAC can also assess students for learning, attention, and emotional concerns. If you feel you have been unlawfully discriminated against on the basis of disability, please contact the Equal Employment Office at 801-422-5895, D-285 ASB for help.

Academic Honesty

The first injunction of the Honor Code is the call to “be honest.” Students come to the university not only to improve their minds, gain knowledge, and develop skills that will assist them in their life’s work, but also to build character. “President David O. McKay taught that character is the highest aim of education” (The Aims of a BYU Education, p.6). It is the purpose of the BYU Academic Honesty Policy to assist in fulfilling that aim. BYU students should seek to be totally honest in their dealings with others. They should complete their own work and be evaluated based upon that work. They should avoid academic dishonesty and misconduct in all its forms, including but not limited to plagiarism, fabrication or falsification, cheating, and other academic misconduct.

Respectful Environment

“Sadly, from time to time, we do hear reports of those who are at best insensitive and at worst insulting in their comments to and about others… We hear derogatory and sometimes even defamatory comments about those with different political, athletic, or ethnic views or experiences. Such behavior is completely out of place at BYU, and I enlist the aid of all to monitor carefully and, if necessary, correct any such that might occur here, however inadvertent or unintentional.

“I worry particularly about demeaning comments made about the career or major choices of women or men either directly or about members of the BYU community generally. We must remember that personal agency is a fundamental principle and that none of us has the right or option to criticize the lawful choices of another.”

President Cecil O. Samuelson, Annual University Conference, August 24, 2010

“Occasionally, we … hear reports that our female faculty feel disrespected, especially by students, for choosing to work at BYU, even though each one has been approved by the BYU Board of Trustees. Brothers and sisters, these things ought not to be. Not here. Not at a university that shares a constitution with the School of the Prophets.”

Vice President John S. Tanner, Annual University Conference, August 24, 2010

Diversity and Inclusion in the Classroom

“Because we feel the depth of God’s love for His children, we care deeply about every child of God, regardless of age, personal circumstances, gender, sexual orientation, or other unique challenges” (President Russell M. Nelson, “The Love and Laws of God,” September 2019). As a university community we strive to foster an educational environment that promotes the personal dignity of every student and accept individual responsibility to eliminate racism, sexism, and nationalism. Our course participation reflects our understanding that every individual is a child of Heavenly Parents. We create learning environments in which every individual is motivated to express their opinions and perspectives and ask questions to augment discussions and learning. We listen to, learn from, and strive to consider thoughtfully the opinions of others. We use language that is polite, considerate, and courteous—even when we strongly disagree.

Covid 19 Statement

While COVID 19 conditions persist and until further notice, students and faculty are required to wear face coverings at all times during class; faculty are not at liberty to waive this expectation.

Students who feel sick, including exhibiting symptoms commonly associated with COVID 19 (fever; cough; shortness of breath/difficulty breathing; chills; muscle pain; sore throat; new loss of taste or smell; etc.) should not attend class and should work with their instructor to develop a study plan for the duration of the illness.

Inappropriate Use of Course Materials

All course materials (e.g., outlines, handouts, syllabi, exams, quizzes, PowerPoint presentations, lectures, audio and video recordings, etc.) are proprietary. Students are prohibited from posting or selling any such course materials without the express written permission of the professor teaching this course. To do so is a violation of the Brigham Young University Honor Code.

Plagiarism

Intentional plagiarism is a form of intellectual theft that violates widely recognized principles of academic integrity as well as the Honor Code. Such plagiarism may subject the student to appropriate disciplinary action administered through the university Honor Code Office, in addition to academic sanctions that may be applied by an instructor. Inadvertent plagiarism, which may not be a violation of the Honor Code, is nevertheless a form of intellectual carelessness that is unacceptable in the academic community. Plagiarism of any kind is completely contrary to the established practices of higher education where all members of the university are expected to acknowledge the original intellectual work of others that is included in their own work. In some cases, plagiarism may also involve violations of copyright law.

Intentional Plagiarism-Intentional plagiarism is the deliberate act of representing the words, ideas, or data of another as one’s own without providing proper attribution to the author through quotation, reference, or footnote.

Inadvertent Plagiarism-Inadvertent plagiarism involves the inappropriate, but non-deliberate, use of another’s words, ideas, or data without proper attribution. Inadvertent plagiarism usually results from an ignorant failure to follow established rules for documenting sources or from simply not being sufficiently careful in research and writing. Although not a violation of the Honor Code, inadvertent plagiarism is a form of academic misconduct for which an instructor can impose appropriate academic sanctions. Students who are in doubt as to whether they are providing proper attribution have the responsibility to consult with their instructor and obtain guidance. Examples of plagiarism include:

• Direct Plagiarism-The verbatim copying of an original source without acknowledging the source.
• Paraphrased Plagiarism-The paraphrasing, without acknowledgement, of ideas from another that the reader might mistake for the author’s own.
• Plagiarism Mosaic-The borrowing of words, ideas, or data from an original source and blending this original material with one’s own without acknowledging the source.
• Insufficient Acknowledgement-The partial or incomplete attribution of words, ideas, or data from an original source. Plagiarism may occur with respect to unpublished as well as published material. Copying another student’s work and submitting it as one’s own individual work without proper attribution is a serious form of plagiarism.

Mental Health

Mental health concerns and stressful life events can affect students’ academic performance and quality of life. BYU Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS, 1500 WSC, 801-422-3035, caps.byu.edu) provides individual, couples, and group counseling, as well as stress management services. These services are confidential and are provided by the university at no cost for full-time students. For general information please visit https://caps.byu.edu; for more immediate concerns please visit http://help.byu.edu.