Bryn Mawr College
The Emily Balch Seminars
Section 011
Secret Code
Fall 2012
Course Materials

Information
Texts  Important Dates  Assignments  Lectures  Grading Links

General Information

Instructor: Deepak Kumar, 246B Park Hall, 526-7485
E-Mail: dkumar at cs brynmawr dot edu
Tweet: @bmcdeepak
WWW: http://cs.brynmawr.edu/~dkumar

Lecture Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 11:15a to 12:15p
Room: Park Science Building, Room TBA

Laboratories:

Course Description:

The history of humankind is punctuated with the use of secret codes. They have decided the outcomes of battles and led to deaths of kings and queens. Through a tour of the history and use of secret codes this course introduces students to the evolution of codes and code breaking starting from the earliest ciphers in Ancient Egypt to the modern uses of codes and ciphers in everyday life. Along the way students will learn about the intricacies and implications of secret/codified communication, cryptography, cryptanalysis, and our current issues of security (of online purchases), privacy (involvement in social media), and how these manifest themselves into the locks and keys of the Information Age. Students will read, write, reflect, and participate in computer experiments relating to secret codes and code breaking. Texts will include The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography by Simon Singh and other readings on codes and cryptography. The class will also take a field trip to the National Security Agency’s Cryptologic Museum.

Texts & Software
The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy From Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography. By Simon Singh, Anchor Books, 1999.

Writing With Sources: A Guide For Students. By Gordon Harvey, Hackett Publishing, 1998.

No need to buy this book. It will be provided to all students in the class.

A Pocket Style Manual. By Dianna Hacker. Bedford St. Martin's; 6th Edition 2011

Readings

Writing Center

The trained tutors at the Writing Center offer help with any stage of the writing process, whether one is brainstorming, revising, or polishing a final draft. I encourage you to visit the Center often this semester, and I would appreciate receiving a copy of the tutor's report so that I can be aware of what you accomplish during the conference.

The Writing Center is located on the first floor of Canaday Library; tutors are available M-Th 2-6 and 7-10 and Sundays 2-8. Appointments may be made online at www.brynmawr.edu/writingcenter.

Important Dates

September 4: First Meeting
December 13: Last Meeting

Assignments

  1. Homework (Due on Tuesday, September 11): Write a piece about the coding scheme that you designed in Week 1. Describe the coding scheme in sufficient detail so any reader is able to adopt it, and use it to successfully send and receive secret coded messages. Based on the discussion(s) and readings from Week 1 classify and critique your coding scheme. Each person should write this independently but do mention on the top of your submission who your partner is. Use a word processor to write your assignment. Use a 12-point font, single-spaced, and 1-inch margins all around. Make sure that your full name appears on the top of the first page. Make sure that the pages are numbered and stapled together. The assignment will be collected at the start of class.
  2. Homework (Due on Thursday, September 20): It has been alleged that laser printer manufacturers, perhaps in collusion with federal agencies, insert steganographic signatures on every piece of paper printed on a laser printer. These signatures encode information identifying the serial number of the printer as well as a time stamp and other information that can be used to trace the originator of a printout. You have to do some research to establish the validity of these claims and write a piece on it. You piece could take the form of a report, or an informative article for mass consumption (as in a printed magazine or newspaper or a blog). Be thorough with your research, prvide evidence to support your claims and arguments, and write a commentary based on your findings.

    Use a word processor to write your assignment. Use a 12-point font, single-spaced, and 1-inch margins all around. Make sure that your full name appears on the top of the first page. Make sure that the pages are numbered and stapled together. The assignment will be collected at the start of class.
  3. Homework (Due on Thursday, October 25): Write a short paper (~5 pages) on some aspect of Alan Turing's life and/or his contributions. You do not have to write a complete biography. Base your article on the reeadings and/or the film(s) from this week.

    Use a word processor to write your assignment. Use a 12-point font, single-spaced, and 1-inch margins all around. Make sure that your full name appears on the top of the first page. Make sure that the pages are numbered and stapled together. The assignment will be collected at the start of class.
  4. Homework (Due on Thursday, December 6): Write a short paper (~5 pages) on one of the artifacts you found the most interesting during your visit to the National Cryptologic Museum.

    Use a word processor to write your assignment. Use a 12-point font, single-spaced, and 1-inch margins all around. Make sure that your full name appears on the top of the first page. Make sure that the pages are numbered and stapled together. The assignment will be collected at the start of class.

Lectures

Grading

All graded work will receive a grade, 4.0, 3.7, 3.3, 3.0, 2.7, 2.3, 2.0, 1.7, 1.3, 1.0, or 0.0. At the end of the semester, final grades will be calculated as a weighted average of all grades according to the following weights:

Discussions & Written Work: 100%
Total: 100%

Links

CSoI: The Center for Science of Information

Codebreaker: Film on Alan M. Turing

Kryptos

 

Created by dkumar at cs dot brynmawr dot edu on August 22, 2012.