Instructor: Prof. Chris
Kennedy
Office: Linguistics Department
(2016 Sheridan Rd.), Rm. 12
Phone: 491-8054
Email: kennedy@ling.nwu.edu
Office Hours: Tu 3-4; Th 4-5 (or by appointment)
Evaluation
Classroom participation (20%), three individual papers (60%), group project in cryptography (20%). The evaluation of written work will focus on both ideas and the clarity and coherence with which ideas are communicated, assigning equal weight to content and structure/organization.
Papers
Paper 1 (4-6 pages; due October 15) Coe (1992:26) observes that only three types of writing systems are used by the languages of the world: logographic, syllabic, or alphabetic/phonetic (or some combination). Why just these three? To address this question, construct an alternative writing system of your own design (that is neither logographic, syllabic, nor alphabetic). Explain how your system works in detail, giving illustrative examples where necessary. Contrast your writing system with the three listed above, and use this comparison to hypothesize why only logographic, syllabic and alphabetic systems are used to encode linguistic communication.
Paper 2 (8-12 pages; first draft due November 17, second draft due December 9) A research paper on a topic of the student's choice, determined in consultation with the instructor by November 12.
Group project in cryptography (cryptograms due October 29; papers due December 2) The class will be divided into four groups that will devise methods for enciphering English text and construct cryptograms in accord with these methods; each group will then attempt to decipher the others' cryptograms. Groups will document their work by writing a joint paper that describes their cryptographic system, their interpretations of the other groups' cryptograms, and the techniques and methods of cryptanalysis they used to solve them. Both the cryptograms and the papers will be posted on the class website; as a result, they must be submitted in html format (they may be submitted either on a floppy disk or by email).
Introduction
Required reading
Optional reading
9.24 Types of codes and ciphers
Kahn introR
9.29 Introduction to Northwestern's library **Class held in reference
classroom, Main Library**
The Original Encryption Technology
10.1 Types of writing systems
Coe ch. 1
Pope pp. 181-191
10.6 The decipherment of Mayan
Coe chs. 2-5
Kelly; Coe
10.8 Mayan (cont.'d); other writing systems
Coe chs. 6-11
Chadwick; Pope pp. 11-84
The Art/Science of Cryptography
10.13 A few words on secret writing
Poe 1841R
Smith chs. 3-6 ; Kahn ch. 21
Guidelines for group projects distributed
10.15 A brief history of cryptography
Kahn ch. 2R;
Way ch. 2
Paper 1 due
Text and Sub-Text
10.20 Literary ciphers
Gold BugR; Dancing MenR Kahn ch. 21
10.22 Kabbalah
KolataR; CohenR;
10.27 The postmodernist angle
Rosenheim chs. 1-3
Rue Morgue; Purloined Letter
War and Espionage
10.29 Navajo Code Talkers; criminal codes
Navajo Code Talkers video Way ch. 7
Submission of group cryptograms in html format
11.3 Ultra, Enigma, and bombes
Hinsley & Stripp (tba)
Rosenheim ch. 6
11.5 Ultra, Enigma, and bombes (cont.'d)
Hinsley & Stripp (tba)
Hodges 1983; Way ch. 4-5
Codes, Computation, and Consciousness
11.10 Turing's legacy
Hodges 1997
Turing 1950
11.12 The Genetic Code
BelkinR; TeslerR
Rosenheim ch. 4
11.17 The Linguistic Code
Stephenson
Draft 1 of paper 2 due
Looking Ahead
11.19 Secret writing on the Internet
Roesenheim chs.
Relevant websites
7-appendix; WaynerR (see below)
11.23 Video theater, 7.30 pm
Contact
11.24 Messages from outer space
Kahn ch. 26
Conclusion
12.2 Submission of group papers
12.3 Group presentations
12.9 Final draft of paper 2 due in my office
by 5 pm
Coe, Michael D. 1992. Breaking the Maya Code. New York: Thames and Hudson.
Hinsley, F. H. and Alan Stripp. 1993. Codebreakers: The Inside Story
of Bletchley Park. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hodges, Andrew. 1997. Turing. London: Phoenix.
Rosenheim, Shawn J. 1997. The Cryptographic Imagination. Baltimore:
The Johns Hopkins Univ. Press.
Stephenson, Neil. 1993. Snow Crash. New York: Bantam Spectra.
Course Reader (available from Quartet Copies, 818 Clark St., Evanston)
Kahn, David. A Few Words. In Kahn, D. 1967. The Codebreakers.
New York: MacMillan.
Poe, Edgar A. A Few Words on Secret Writing. Graham's Magazine.
April, 1841.
Kahn, David. The First 3,000 Years. Chapter 2 of Kahn 1967.
Way, Peter. Code Makers, Code Breakers. Chapter 2 of Way 1977.
Poe, Edgar A. The Gold Bug. In Poe, E. A. 1967. The Fall of the
House of Usher and Other Stories. London: Penguin.
Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur. The Dancing Men. In Hodgson, J. (ed.). 1994.
Sherlock Holmes: The Major Stories with Contemporary Critical Essays.
Boston: St. Martin's Press.
Kolata, Gina. A 500-Year-Old Mystery of a 'Demonic Tract' is Unraveled,
Twice. International Herald Tribune. Monday, April 20, 1998.
Cohen, Hal. God Only Knows. Lingua Franca. July/August 1998.
Tesler, Lawrence. Programming Languages. Scientific American.
September, 1994.
Belkin, Lisa. Splice Einstein and Sammy Glick. Add a Little Magellan.
The New York Times Magazine. August 23, 1998.
Wayner, Peter. From Toy Rings to Sophisticated Codes, a Quest for Secrecy.
The New York Times. Thursday, May 28, 1998.
Wayner, Peter. Code Breaker Cracks Smart Cards' Digital Safe. The
New York Times. Monday, June 22, 1998.
Kahn, David. Messages From Outer Space. Chapter 26 of Kahn 1967.
Readings on Reserve (Main Library, 2nd floor east tower)
Chadwick, John. 1958. The Decipherment of Linear B. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Coe, Michael D. 1997. The Art of the Maya Scribe. London: Thames
and Hudson.
Kahn, David. Heterogeneous Impulses. Chapter 21 of Kahn 1967.
Kelly, David H. 1976. Deciphering the Maya Script. Austin: The
University of Texas Press.
Hodges, Andrew. 1983. Alan Turing: The Enigma. New York: Simon
and Schuster.
Pope, Maurice. 1975. The Story of Decipherment: From Egyptian Heiroglyphic
to Linear B. London: Thames and Hudson.
Smith, Laurence. 1943. Cryptography: The Science of Secret Writing.
New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc.
Turing, Alan. 1950. Computing Machinery and Intelligence. Mind
LIX, no. 2236. 433-460.
Way, Peter. 1977. The Encyclopedia of Espionage: Codes and Ciphers.
London: The Danbury Press.
On the Web (a selection of relevant and informative websites)
The National Security Agency
The Center for Democracy
and Technology
Internet Privacy Coalition
International Cryptography
Alan Turing
Navajo Code
Talkers (U.S. Navy site)