Digital technology and communications permeate our lives. Many students text or monitor their social media feeds while studying or during class and turn to their phones to fill any spare moment. The constant connection to devices throughout the day can affect learning and comprehension and may also have far-reaching cognitive and emotional effects, such as diminishing the ability to sustain focused attention, interfering with relationships, and impairing sleep.
The Provost's Office invited faculty to participate in a Tech Sabbatical during Summer Session. These courses require students to refrain from using laptops or other devices when in session, except for class access and notes, or for emergencies or accessibility accommodations.
 | CS 4501: Creative Interaction Design |
This study abroad course in Crete, Greece allows students to practice multiple concepts and techniques involved in the design of interactive software in a real-world context. The program provides the opportunity for students to apply skills acquired in various courses and work experiences in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). The course is augmented by lessons on creativity from an expert in the host institution, as well as creativity workshops and challenges. Students will work in groups in a fast-paced environment, identifying real-world problems and designing- prototyping-testing innovative solutions in multiple iterations. They will receive feedback from pre-determined stakeholders in their design domain, acting as clients.
As part of the tech sabbatical integrated into this program, students will be asked to strictly refrain from using phones, laptops, and other digital devices beyond the demands of in-class, on-task work. Despite technology being an integral part of interaction design, students will be asked to focus on interpersonal design: i.e., within-group communication, team bonding, and intercultural skills. In other words, participating students will be expected to keep their technology away (i.e., no phone apps/games, social media, text/chat messaging, email, etc.) whenever in the presence of their project group, extended program team (incl. instructors and clients), and while engaging with locals (i.e., during lunch/breakfast, museum visits, or excursions). Exceptions will be accepted only for the following reasons: a) developing or testing your prototypes, b) taking photos during visits or for work, and c) emergency contact with family or others (beyond the designated communication time). This tech sabbatical will allow you to fully immerse yourself in the culture and pay attention to things that matter the most during this experience, the people and the settings around you! | |
 | CS 4501: Human-Centered Computing for Digital Well-Being |
This course explores the intersection of technology, design, and human well-being, focusing on how digital systems impact our attention, emotions, relationships, and health. Students will engage with concepts from human-centered design, digital well-being, contemplative computing, and positive computing, developing the skills to create technologies that prioritize human needs, experiences, and flourishing. Activities include case studies, design critiques, re-designs, and other methods to engage with the concepts. The course incorporates a "technology sabbatical" to gain insight into the impact of technology on students’ lives. The sabbatical includes reducing technology use outside of class and will be tailored to each student’s needs based on individualized technology use assessments at the beginning of the course. Students will set personalized goals for the technology sabbatical and track changes in their habits and well-being throughout the course. Sabbatical examples could include refraining from social media, disabling notifications, or practicing daily "device-free time" for the duration of the course. Students will maintain a journal documenting their experiences with reduced technology use and how it affects their focus, emotions, and relationships. Additionally, the class will collectively brainstorm strategies to manage technology use and support each other during the sabbatical. | |
 | ENGL 3010: History of the English Language |
“Tasting HEL: A Language Lab History of the English Language” immerses students in the history of our language, from its origins as a dialect of Proto Indo-European, on through Old English, Middle English, and Early Modern English. This journey will help students build up cognitive endurance as we work together to acquire and hone a suite of interdisciplinary skills to become philologists (lovers of language, but also literary linguists)—by tasting each stage of the language and reading them aloud together. We will draw from modern and historical linguistics, literary criticism, book history and paleography, lexicography, and more as we dive deep into each stage of the language to see what made it tick, and what made it different from what we speak now. Note: there are two “tech sabbatical” aspects to this course—an in-class and out-of-class pledge. In the classroom, we will all pledge to be “low-tech”, leaving our phones and other ping-able smart devices in a communal class bin for the duration of the class; likewise, computers and other electronic devices will remain in our bags while class is in session. We will use only print materials for class lab times. Outside of our classroom time, students will pledge to spend 60-90 minutes tech-free per day outside of class time. | |
 | SPAN 2020: Advanced Intermediate Spanish |
| SPAN 2020 is a version of the traditional advanced-intermediate Spanish course that offers the challenge of putting aside technology and the typically used digital language learning platforms, to give students a break during the summer from the dependence that we all have on the machines that are part of our daily lives, especially mobile phones. To do this, we will return to a traditional classroom, open to dialogue, debate, and reading, which will lead students to reflect without distraction, develop critical thinking, and open the window to knowledge of the Hispanic world with the eyes of those who discover a new horizon, made up of almost 600 million speakers around the world. All this with a return to books, dialogue, writing, cinema, and human relations. |