Winter 2026
Vibe Coding Autoethnography
Instructors: Mina Zavary, Murtaza Ali, Dr. Sayamindu Dasgupta
Undergraduate students will participate in a quarter-long programming project of their choice where they vibe code using a large language model and associated tools such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and Firebase Studio. Extensive prior coding experience is not required, we are looking for a range of experiences to contribute.
There is a lot of flexibility in what the project can look like, we will help scope down in the beginning of the quarter. The group will meet weekly in person to discuss project progress and to complete and discuss extensive weekly reflections using collaborative autoethnography.
Students will have the option to be co-authors in the resulting paper from this work.
Vibe coding: “The practice of prompting AI tools to generate code rather than writing code manually.” (IBM)
Collaborative autoethnography: “a qualitative research method in which researchers work in community to collect their autobiographical materials and to analyze and interpret their data collectively to gain a meaningful understanding of sociocultural phenomena reflected in their autobiographical data” (Chang, Heewon, et al. 2012)
Enrollment information:
- Meeting time: Tuesdays, 4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
- Credits: 2
- Who should apply: Undergraduate students with an interest in creating programmed applications with conversational AI agents and large language models, formally known as vibe coding. Students who are interested in both weekly writing and developing their skills in academic paper writing will be a good fit
- This DRG meets the PhD directed research requirement.
- To apply: Fill out this application form
- Anticipated notification date: December 27
- Questions: Email zavarym@uw.edu