Here’s a draft day-by-day schedule for the course. I’ll be updating this as we go, so check back here for the latest version of the schedule throughout the semester.
The “Modality” column describes how we will conduct class that day.
- Hybrid = I will be teaching class from Buttrick 301, and all students are encouraged to participate in person. However, I’ll make remote participation available for students who can’t be there.
- Zoom = I will be teaching class on Zoom. Check Brightspace for the Zoom link.
- Async = On asynchronous days, students will have a set of activities to complete, but we won’t be meeting synchronously as a class, either in person or on Zoom.
- TBD = To be determined
| Week | Date | Topic | Modality | What’s Due |
| 1 | Mon, 1/25 | Course Introduction | Hybrid | |
| Wed, 1/27 | Substitution Ciphers | Hybrid | Introductions | |
| Fri, 1/29 | Classical Cryptography | Hybrid | Singh Ch. 1 & Quick Survey |
|
| 2 | Mon, 2/1 | Modular Arithmetic | Hybrid | Bookmark |
| Wed, 2/3 | Privacy & Surveillance (Part 1) | Async | Async Activities | |
| Fri, 2/5 | Decimation Ciphers | Hybrid | 99pi: Perfect Security | |
| 3 | Mon, 2/8 | Prime Numbers | Hybrid | |
| Wed, 2/10 | Zodiac Ciphers | Async | Async Activities | |
| Fri, 2/12 | Transposition Ciphers | Hybrid | Problem Set #1 | |
| 4 | Mon, 2/15 | Frequency Analysis | Zoom (Snow) | |
| Wed, 2/17 | Little Brother (Part 1) | Async | Async Activities | |
| Fri, 2/19 | Who’s Winning? | Zoom (Snow) | Singh Ch. 2 | |
| 5 | Mon, 2/22 | Flex Day Mastery Quiz #1 |
Hybrid | |
| Wed, 2/24 | Little Brother (Part 2) In-Class Reading Day |
Zoom | Little Brother | |
| Fri, 2/26 | The Vigenère Cipher | Hybrid | Problem Set #2 | |
| 6 | Mon, 3/1 | Paper Workshop | Hybrid | Draft of Paper #1 |
| Wed, 3/2 | Writing Day | Async | ||
| Fri, 3/5 | Breaking the Vigenère | Hybrid | Paper #1 | |
| 7 | Mon, 3/8 | The Friedman Test | Hybrid | |
| Wed, 3/10 | Revision Workshop | Async | ||
| Fri, 3/12 | Crypto Goes to War | Hybrid | Singh Ch. 3 Problem Set #3 |
|
| 8 | Mon, 3/15 | Code Girls | Async | Paper #1 (Revised) |
| Wed, 3/17 | Privacy & Surveillance (Part 2) | Async | ||
| Fri, 3/19 | Breaking the Enigma | Async | Singh Ch. 4 and Ch. 5 | |
| 9 | Mon, 3/22 | Podcast Workshop #1 | Hybrid | |
| Wed, 3/24 | Computer Ciphers | Async | ||
| Fri, 3/26 | RSA Encryption (Part 1) | Hybrid | Singh Ch. 6 | |
| 10 | Mon, 3/29 | RSA Encryption (Part 2) | Hybrid | Problem Set #4 |
| Wed, 3/31 | Podcast Workshop #2 | Async | Podcast Sources | |
| Fri, 4/2 | Privacy & Surveillance (Part 3) | Hybrid | Singh Ch. 7 | |
| 11 | Mon, 5/5 | Podcast Workshop #3 | Hybrid | Podcast Outline |
| Wed, 5/7 | Crypto Hunt In-Class Reading Day |
Zoom | ||
| Fri, 5/9 | It’s Complicated | Hybrid | boyd Ch. 2 | |
| 12 | Mon, 4/12 | Citizenfour | TBD | Podcast |
| Wed, 4/14 | Snowden | Async | ||
| Fri, 4/16 | Cyber Crime | Hybrid | Problem Set #5 | |
| 13 | Mon, 4/19 | Paper Workshop | Hybrid | Paper #2 Outline |
| Wed, 4/21 | Big Data | Async | LL: Chris Gilliard | |
| Fri, 4/23 | Apple vs. the FBI | Hybrid | ||
| 14 | Mon, 4/26 | Paper Workshop | Hybrid | Paper #2 |
| Wed, 4/28 | Privacy & Surveillance (The Debate) | Hybrid | ||
| Fri, 4/30 | Course Wrap-Up | Hybrid |
Please note that the final version of your second paper will be due Thursday, May 6th.
