Social and Ethical Issues in Computing
Wednesdays 1:00–1:50 — CENT 1030
Prof. Patrick Gage Kelley
pgk @ cs.unm.eduTopics
- philosophical ethics,
- privacy and databases,
- intellectual property,
- computer security,
- computer crime,
- safety and reliability,
- professional responsibility and codes,
- electronic communities and the Internet, and
- social impact of computers.
Assignments
Nearly every week you will have to turn in a short written essay. These should be turned in, printed out, each Wednesday in class.
Final Project
There will be one larger project which you will create a final written report for. The topic will be selected by you, and you will convince me it is of the correct scope and related to the course. This project could be a book review, an original essay, an experimental study, an explanatory brochure, or something completely different. The project will be completed in phases. More details about the project will follow.
Project Proposal Guidelines
Your project must have:- your name
- your email address
- and a potential project name (you can change this later)
- a one paragraph description of the project
- at least four (4) links to starter ideas, arguments, facts, thoughts, essays
- and a short description of what you will turn in (paper, website, comparison table, app, poster, etc.)
Expectations
You are expect to attend class, to have completed the assigned readings, and to participate in class discussion. If you must miss a class, please send me an email in advance. All assignments should be done individually.
Grade
- Class discussion – 30%
- Short weekly assignments – 40%
- Longer project – 30%
Schedule
- Wednesday August 21
Discussion: Introduction and class goals. - Wednesday August 28
Essay due: Should the government be responsible for informing people what information they collect/store?
Discussion: NSA and Edward Snowden. - Wednesday September 4
Read for class: Maner– The Uniqueness of Ethics
Read for class: Johnson– The Uniqueness of Ethics
Essay due: Summarize the ethical/social impact of a single, specific new technology.
Discussion: The new ethics of technology. - Wednesday September 11
Read for class: ACM Code of Ethics
Essay due: Describe how a scientist/engineer acted unethically.
Discussion: ACM Code of Ethics. - Wednesday September 18
Essay due: Find and describe an example of how you think the copyright system either did or did not work.
Discussion: Intellectual Property. - Wednesday September 25
Essay due: What is the value of Wikipedia?
Discussion: Content creation, blogs, wikis, and more. - Wednesday October 2
Essay due: Find and describe an example of how privacy is *not* dead.
Discussion: Consumer privacy. - Wednesday October 9
Read for class: Solove on Privacy
Project proposal due.
Discussion: Résumés. - Wednesday October 16
Résumé help sites: Why I Won't Read YOUR Resume
Making a Good CS Resume Samples Résumé due.
Discussion: AI & Futurism. - Wednesday October 23
Project outline and sources due.
Discussion: Project presentations (1). - Wednesday October 30
Discussion: Project presentations (2). - Wednesday November 6
Discussion: Project presentations (3). - Wednesday November 13
- Wednesday November 20
Final project due. - Wednesday November 27
No class (enjoy thanksgiving). - Wednesday December 4
Last class.