Special Topics

Special Topics courses cover some of our most innovative and promising research directions.  They are often prototypes of new courses that we are developing.

Special Topics courses offer variable course content, so each semester's offerings are unique.

Summer 2026

We aren't offering any courses in Summer 2026.

Fall 2026

CSE 410 Agentic AI Engineering (Lecture)
Section: AE
Instructor: David Doermann
Description: Agentic AI Engineering is a project-based course on designing, building, and responsibly deploying AI-powered agents. Unlike standard chatbots, agents are engineered systems that sense bounded environments, choose actions through well-designed interfaces, and use tools to achieve explicit objectives. The curriculum focuses on the orchestration of foundation models with memory, planning, and structured workflows. Students will evaluate systems against safety constraints and performance benchmarks while building autonomous applications that solve multi-step tasks.
Notes: The class meets once weekly, utilizing a hybrid format that alternates between conceptual lectures and intensive, hands-on technical practice. Students will work extensively with Python-based frameworks (such as LlamaIndex or LangChain), local LLM orchestration, and containerized deployment using Docker.
Prereqs: CSE 250 Data Structures or equivalent programming maturity. Students should be comfortable writing Python programs, using Git/GitHub, reading technical documentation, and debugging code. Useful background: CSE 331 Algorithms and Complexity, CSE 368 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, CSE 442 Software Engineering, CSE 435 Information Retrieval, CSE 474 Introduction to Machine Learning, or equivalent experience. These are recommended, not required. Mathematical maturity will help.
Instruction Mode: In person
Class #: 24590
Dates: 08/24/2026 - 12/07/2026
Days, Time: W, 5:00PM-7:40PM
Location: Clemen 120, North Campus
Credit Hours: 1-3
Enrollment: 0/15 (0/15 seats reserved: force registration only) (Active)
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CSE 410 Human–Computer Interaction: Foundations for Design and Research (Lecture)
Section: XI
Instructor: Xi Lu
Description: CSE 410: Human–Computer Interaction: Foundations for Design and Research introduces undergraduate students to the principles, methods, and research foundations of Human–Computer Interaction (HCI). The course examines how interactive systems can be designed, prototyped, and evaluated to better support human needs, abilities, and contexts of use. Core topics include the HCI design process, user needs and task analysis, usability principles, interviewing and survey methods, sketching and prototyping, contextual inquiry, cultural probes, participatory and co-design methods, and interface evaluation approaches such as heuristic evaluation and usability testing. The course also introduces students to major research themes in contemporary HCI, including accessibility, privacy and security, health, interaction beyond the individual, and emerging interface technologies. Through readings, discussion, and project-based work, students will learn both practical design skills and foundational research literacy for understanding and creating interactive computing systems.
Prereqs: No
Instruction Mode: In person
Class #: 22855
Dates: 08/24/2026 - 12/07/2026
Days, Time: TR, 12:30PM-1:50PM
Location: Norton 216, North Campus
Credit Hours: 1-3
Enrollment: 7/38 (0/1 seats reserved: force registration only) (Active)
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