Build a Course Syllabus

Turn a bare topic list or reading list into a teachable syllabus: a course description, a sequenced weekly schedule, measurable objectives, an assessment scheme with a rubric, the boilerplate policies every syllabus needs, and a week→lecture work-list you can feed straight into /create-lecture. The instructor owns the academic judgment; this skill structures it.

When to use

• You have a pile of topics or papers and need them ordered into a term.
• You are converting last year's syllabus to a new length, level, or modality.
• You want the schedule's weeks pre-mapped to lecture decks before you start building slides.

Not for building the slides themselves (/create-lecture), reviewing a deck's pedagogy (/pedagogy-review), or assembling the reading list from scratch (/lit-review).

Phase 0: Intake (elicit before drafting)

A syllabus is shaped almost entirely by three parameters. Resolve them first, from flags, then by asking. Do not start sequencing until all three are pinned.

1. Level + audience, --level (phd / grad / undergrad). For economics, name the sequence (first-year metrics, micro theory, macro, field course, undergrad intermediate). Level sets reading depth, proof-vs-application balance, and assessment type.
2. Length + cadence, --weeks (default 14) and --sessions-per-week (default 2). A reading seminar and a problem-set course at the same length need very different schedules.
3. Material, the topic list or reading list ($ARGUMENTS, a file path, or a .bib). If the user points at a .bib or a folder of PDFs, Glob/Read to inventory it; if topics are bare, ask for 1-2 anchor texts per topic.

Echo a short Intake Report (level, weeks, cadence, N topics / N readings, any gaps) and get confirmation before Phase 1.

Phase 1: Sequence topics into weeks