Syllabus

Critical Web Design
Fall 2026 / DIG 245
M/W/F 10:30am-11:20pm
Film, Media, and Digital Studies / Davidson College
Moodle / Slack / Github
Instructor: Owen Mundy
Office hours: M/W 1:30–2:30pm VAC 220; Zoom by appointment

owenmundy.com/dig245

Course Description

In this course students will learn to conceptualize, design, and program responsive websites as both an applied and creative practice. We’ll explore technical topics like interface design, usability, and coding in HTML/CSS and Javascript, which will allow us to develop projects (websites, web-based applications, visualizations, games, etc.) at a professional level. In addition to technical aspects of web production, this course will critically assess the role of design in society. Students will be engaged in thinking and discussion around potential positive as well as more troubling roles design plays in the world (like when it reinforces power structures, inequality, consumerism, to name a few). To help evolve these skills and thinking, we’ll design, develop, and publish a series of small projects, leading up to a final web application that addresses some specific aspect of design in our world.

Learning Objectives

Students who complete this course will be able to:

• Use design principles and tools (e.g. grids, typography, critique) and methods (e.g. iteration, usability, inclusive design) to create custom website and application designs.
• Plan, design, execute, and publish responsive (mobile-first) websites and web interfaces at a professional level using Figma, HTML/CSS, Javascript, Git, and a web server.
• Describe technologies and communications protocols that make the internet possible such as TCP/IP, DNS, FTP, HTTPS, etc.
• Install, configure, and implement open source software, frameworks, libraries, and tools for creating web-based apps like Git, Bash, Unix, Atom, Bootstrap, and jQuery.
• Describe the functions and popular solutions for essential components of modern full-stack web applications.
• Understand and recall important themes and theories around design and development for the internet (e.g. speculative design, Castell’s network power).
• Recognize and compare important social, political, and economic issues around the internet like free speech, censorship, data privacy, and open source.
• Conceptualize, produce, and discuss idea-driven internet-based cultural / artistic works that reflect a high level of critical thought, resourcefulness and intentional decision-making with regard to their use of technological media.

Prerequisite(s)

This course is accessible to students with little to no prior programming experience. All you need is a willingness to learn and experiment.

Materials

Burrough and Mundy Critical Web Design (MIT Press) 2026

• Repository https://github.com/criticalwebdesign/book
• Wiki https://criticalwebdesign.github.io/wiki

DIG 245 AI Policy

LLMs (Large Language Models) generate new works by consuming massive amounts of existing works then synthesizing new outcomes of others’ copied work using your prompt. At worst, using unattributed work is plagiarism, at best the outcomes they produce can be seen as unoriginal and derivative. In the case of art and other visual outcomes, AI output appears ingenuine, fake, and even offputting. In this course, rather than stifle your own independent thinking and creativity, I want you to exercise your creative muscles, incorporate inspiration from the world, and respond to course assignments from a perspective that only you could imagine. I value originality, inquiry, and process. Thus, I would rather you try and fail (and learn!) rather than turn in something contrived by AI.

This said, AI tools are here to stay, and can be enormously useful for automation, to speed up production, or other easily repeatable tasks without diminishing our own capabilities at the same time. Therefore, after you have learned foundational course skills and can properly describe the tasks, identify hallucinations, and guide an AI agent to outcomes only you could have imagined, we will incorporate AI tools, identified using the following icons.

🤖🚫No AI - This is the default everywhere. Except where I or the assignment explicitly state, assignments in class should be completed without assistance from AI tools. Except in special cases, any submission found to contain AI content (especially generated graphics, code, or text) will receive a grade of zero. Our first step to learning is to disable Codepilot’s hallucinatory meanderings in VS Code.

🤖👍Some AI OK - Once we get to the production of our final project there will be opportunities for you to experiment with AI tools and share in class an assessment of your experience and output with Gemini, Claude, Copilot, ChatGPT, Meshy.ai, and others.

🤖🕶️🚫Except where I or the assignment explicitly state, wearable AI devices (glasses, watches, etc.) are NOT allowed in any circumstance. Talk to me if you have questions.

General Policies

Engagement

I place a high premium on participation. Your continual engagement with the readings, writing, and your peers is essential to the success of this course. I expect students to bring the day’s readings to class, well-marked up with notes and annotations, and participate in all discussions.

Attendance

Daily attendance (your’s and mine) is required. I understand that you may have to miss class, due to an illness, emergency, or situation out of your control. If this happens, it is your responsibility to make up the work listed in the schedule. Late arrivals or early departures from class are disruptive and should be avoided. Please look carefully at the syllabus during the first week of class and speak to me immediately if you know of any issues that will affect your attendance. Each class meeting you are given 10 points for attendance with the following adjustments:

• Pr (Present): 10 points
• Ex (Absent - Excused): 8 points (e.g. letter explains sports conflict, doctor’s note)
• L (Late or Leave Early): 7 points
• Ab (Absent - Advanced Notice): 3 points (unexcused but communicated about class)
• NS (Absent - No Show): 0 points

If absences become a pattern (>3 unexcused) it will affect your grade negatively. Please also know that this class follows Davidson College’s Academic Regulations, which state that a “student who is absent from more than one-fourth of the course meetings scheduled by the instructor shall be assigned a grade of F.”

Late Work

Due dates are listed in Moodle. I always accept late work. Note that after one week, the maximum grade will be reduced to a “B” and a “C”, if received more than 2 weeks late. This deadline may be extended if there are excused absences.

Access Statement

The college welcomes requests for accommodations related to disability and will grant those that are determined to be reasonable and maintain the integrity of a program or curriculum. To make such a request or to begin a conversation about a possible request, please contact the Office of Academic Access and Disability Resources by emailing AADR@davidson.edu. It is best to submit accommodation requests within the drop/add period; however, requests can be made at any time in the semester. Please keep in mind that accommodations are not retroactive.

Mental Health Resources

If you are feeling stressed, worried, or down at any point during the semester or notice signs of emotional distress in someone else, you are encouraged to seek support. You can visit my office, or better yet, reach out to the following campus resources:

• Dean of Students Office 704-894-2225
• Counseling Center 704-894-2300
• Chaplains Office 704-894-2423
• Health Services 704-894-2300
• Academic Support Services 704-894-2294

If you need to talk to someone immediately between the hours of 5 pm and 8 am, call 704-894-2300 and choose option 2 for a free and confidential conversation with a trained counselor, available 24/7.

Academic Integrity

Students at Davidson College abide by an Honor Code. The principle of academic integrity is taken very seriously and violations are treated gravely. What does academic integrity mean in this course? Essentially this: when you are responsible for a task, you will perform that task. When you rely on someone else’s work in an aspect of the performance of that task, you will give full credit in the proper, accepted form.

“AI”

The material generated by these programs may be inaccurate, incomplete, or otherwise problematic. They may also stifle your own independent thinking and creativity. Except in special cases, any submission found to contain AI content (especially generated graphics or text) will receive a grade of zero.

Unacceptable

• You may not submit writing (especially project statements, reading responses, and reflections) generated by an AI tool. These things should represent your voice and reflect your own thinking only.
• You may not submit visual content, like layout designs, logos,

Acceptable

• The subject of your research or creative activity involves an analysis or critique of AI/ML (see “criticism” in Fair Use).
• You may use code returned from Copilot, etc. provided 1) You cite its origin and the beginning and ending of the section you used with comments in the code (thus acknowledging you used someone else’s work); and 2) You type it by hand, which increases learning and decreases the possibility of errors from code solutions you don’t understand.

Other ideas? Talk to me. I am open to discussing additional potential uses that support learning. So far I feel, like others, that AI is not only not intelligent, but mainly just plagiarism masquerading as a “super-autocomplete.”

Inclusive Learning

I am committed to the principle of inclusive learning. This means that our classroom, our virtual spaces, our practices, and our interactions are as inclusive as possible. Mutual respect, civility, and the ability to listen and observe others carefully are crucial to inclusive learning.

Classroom Courtesy

While this course embraces the digital world it also recognizes that digital tools and environments complicate personal interactions. Studies have shown that students who use laptops in class often receive lower grades than those who don’t. Even more worrisome are studies that show laptop users distract students around them. I permit laptops and tablets in class, but only when used for classroom activities, such as note-taking or class readings. Occasionally I may ask students to turn off all digital devices.

Text messaging or other cell phone use is unacceptable. Any student whose phone rings during class or who texts in class will be responsible for kicking off the next class day’s discussion.

Zoom and Class Recordings

We may meet on Zoom sometimes. When we do, I’ll try to remember to record lectures. While FERPA allows faculty to use classroom video recordings with students for educational use, note that the recordings will only be available to students in the class through Moodle. If you do not consent to video or audio of yourself in the recording, please let me know.