Sunset Review Board
The capstone --- defend or block an assigned deprecation notice in front of the class, using only evidence
Due: 28 May 2027 · Weight: 45%
You’re assigned a deprecation notice — one written by a classmate, or one of the semester’s twelve. Defend it or block it in front of a review board, using nothing but the notice and whatever evidence you bring.
This is the course’s own version of the check every lecture has described all semester: someone accountable, reading a notice closely, before it goes out. The board makes that check a live event instead of a private habit.
What you submit#
A short written brief (400–600 words) prepared before the session, stating your position and your three strongest pieces of evidence. In the session itself, you present and defend that position against cross-examination from the room. The written brief and the live defence are marked together, as one piece of work — a strong brief with a defence that can’t survive questioning is not a strong result, and neither is the reverse.
Held in the last week of semester, after every lecture’s notice and every classmate’s filed notice are available to draw evidence from.
The spec
The brief poses the problem and leaves room for a response. The spec is the fixed part: what a marker checks. Some lines can be checked mechanically; the rest call for judgement.
- you are assigned a notice you didn't write, in advance of the session
- your case for defending or blocking it cites specific sentences from the notice, not the industry in general
- you answer at least one cross-examination question with new evidence, not a restatement
How it is marked
Judged on whether your defence or block argument uses specific, checkable evidence from the assigned notice and your own research, rather than general scepticism about AI pitches or general enthusiasm for automation. A strong case concedes the points that don't go its way rather than ignoring them, and answers cross-examination with evidence instead of restating its opening position.