2018-07-21 20:34:26 +00:00
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Lectures will be loosely organized around four modules: differential privacy,
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cryptography, language-based security, and adversarial machine learning. The
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instructor will give most of the lectures for the first module, on differential
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privacy. For each of the remaining modules, the instructor will give the first
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lecture introducing the topic and background material. Then, each student will
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lead one lecture, presenting a paper and guiding the discussion.
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The topics we will be reading and thinking about are from the recent research
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literature---polished enough to be peer-reviewed and published, but not always
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completely refined. Given that this is a graduate course, not all lectures are
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set in stone and there is some flexibility in the choice of topics. Students
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with interested in specific topics not covered in the syllabus should feel free
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to contact the instructor.
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## Readings and Homework
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2018-07-27 04:12:22 +00:00
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Paper discussions are a core component of this course. Students are expected to
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read papers before lecture, attend lectures, and participate in discussions.
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Before every lecture presenting a paper, students are expected to read the paper
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closely and understand its significance, including (a) the problem addressed by
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the paper, (b) the main contributions of the paper, and (c) how the authors
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solve the problem in some technical detail.
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2018-07-21 20:34:26 +00:00
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The instructor will also send out 2-3 questions before every paper presentation.
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Students will submit brief answers---no more than 1-2 paragraphs per
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question---before the lecture. These questions are meant to make sure you have
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understood the paper at a high level and prepare for the discussion in class,
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they are not meant to be very difficult or time-consuming.
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## Course Project
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Students will work individually or in pairs on a topic of their choice,
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producing a conference-style write-up and presenting their project at the end of
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the semester. This project should have the potential to turn into a research
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paper or survey. Details can be found [here](projects/details.md).
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2018-07-27 04:12:22 +00:00
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## Grading and Evaluation
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Grades will be assigned as follows:
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- **Discussions: 15%** (Pre-lecture questions and class participation)
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- **Paper presentation: 25%**
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- **Final project: 60%** (First and second milestones, and final writeup)
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## Academic Integrity
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Pre-lecture questions should be done individually. The final project may be done
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individually or in groups of two students. Collaboration projects with people
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outside the class may be allowed, but must be approved by the instructor.
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