Welcome to CS 4001C Computing and Society, Spring 2007

This static website is for the course syllabus and materials. We will also use this Swiki for posting and summarizing discussions.

UPDATE: Term Papers are now due SUNDAY (April 29th) at 6pm

Course Objectives

There are three primary objectives for the course:

Explain and evaluate consequences of computing on individuals, organizations, and society.
Critically analyze situations of computer use and descriptions of technology and policy proposals, identifying the salient issues and evaluating the reasoning behind them.
Communicate with others about computing impacts in writing and speech.

You will be challenged to broaden your understanding by learning something of the history of computing and the issues surrounding its use over time, the similarities and differences in public attitudes and policies concerning computing in the U.S. and in other countries. Some of these issues are unique to computing; others arise in the context of other technologies; still others are new manifestations of more general ethical, political and constitutional law issues.

You will have ample opportunity to analyze critically various situations and descriptions in papers, books, on the Web, and from your own observations.

You will be able to practice your ability to communicate by writing coherent and well-structured critiques of situations and papers, researching and organizing a longer paper, and leading and participating in class discussions.

Texts

"FIRE" Baase, Sara. A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal and Ethical Issues for Computers and the Internet (2nd Edition), Prentice Hall, 2003. ISBN 0-13-008215-5
"WACE" Ramage, John D., John C. Bean and June Johnson, Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings, Concise Edition (4th Edition), Longman ISBN 0-321-41289-3
Tufte, Edward R., Visual and Statistical Thinking: Displays of Evidence for Making Decisions, Graphics Press, ISBN 0-9613921-3-4 (Reprint of chapter 2 from the book Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative

People

Instructor	Colin Potts	TSRB Room 339	potts@cc.gatech.edu	Office hours t.b.a.
T.A.	Liam Mac Dermed	TSRB Room 225	liam@cc	Office hours by appointment

Schedule

Week(s)	Topics	Activities	Readings	Assignments
1 (Tue)	Introduction	Gordon Adams petition	WACE chs. 1-3
1 (Thu)	Introduction	Thursday class joint with CS 4002 in CCB Room 102.	Bill Joy's article "Why the Future doesn't need us"
2 (Tue)	Ethical foundations: Intuitions and deontology	Cheating 101. Term paper requirements.	WACE chs. 4-5
2 (Thu)	Ethical foundations: Consequentialism and utilitarianism.	Cost-benefit analysis.	n/a
3 (Tue)	Ethical foundations: Virtue ethics & professional development		WACE chs. 14-15	Term paper topic proposals due
3 (Thu)	Ethical foundations: Ethical decision making			Do Myers-Briggs personality inventory
4 (Tue)	Implications of computing: individual, organizational/work/social. Causal argumentation.	Short class. Term paper topics and groupings.	FIRE chs. 1, 8-9.
4 (Thu)	Implications of computing (cont.)	Benefits and burdens of technology use in organizations: educational and administrative systems at Tech.
5 (Tue)	Implications of computing (cont.)	"Fudgeability".
5 Thu	Implications of computing (cont.)	Fudgeability (concl.). Diffusion of innovations.
6 Tue	Implications of computing (concl.)	Argumentation about policies and proposals.	WSJ editorial, Google position on network neutrality, Int ernet Freedom declaration
6 Thu	Introduction to computing policy	Argumentation about causes and effects of technology use.	WACE ch. 6, 12. Tufte chapter.	FRIDAY: Ethics scenario analysis homework
7-10	Week or two on each of the main focus topics: privacy, intellectual property, security and law enforcement, dependability. Similarity & definitional argumentation.	Mainly small group discussions. Regular term paper progress discussions and panels	FIRE chs. 2-7, WACE chs. 10-13.	Due March 16th: Computing implications interview homework
	SPRING BREAK.

11 (Tue)	Professional responsibility, including public communication. Audience analysis. Writing technique, including citations.	Code of ethics scenario	Nancy Leveson's analysis of Therac-25 incidents up to and including 3.4
11 (Thu)	Professional responsibility (cont.)	Code of ethics scenarios. Therac-25 analysis.	Nancy Leveson's analysis of Therac-25 incidents (the rest)	Quiz on the Therac paper (up to 3.4)
12 (Tue)	Professional responsibility (concl.)	Therac-25 (or similar) analysis.	FIRE ch 10, appendices.	Quiz on the Therac paper (3.5 and beyond)
12 (Thu April 5th)	MIDTERM			MIDTERM
13 (Tue)	Photographic manipulation: truth and beauty	"Guest" lecture, joint with CS 4002. Colin Potts: Photographic manipulation: truth and beauty (Room 102)
13 (Thu)	Intelligent agents, rights and responsibility.	Term paper panel and class discussion, joint with CS 4002 (Room 102 as usual).	WACE chs. 7-8, pp. 290-292, 297-300.	Term paper drafts or outlines. Due Friday night April 13th at 11:59 pm
14 (Tue)	Student-led: DRM & Media	Term-paper panel sessions.	n/a
14 (Thu)	Student-led: E-commerce & Impact of Computing	Term-paper panel sessions.	n/a
15 (Tue)	Student-led: Privacy & Oversight	Term-paper panel sessions.	n/a
15 (Thu)	Student-led: Tech on the Future & Tech on Society	Term-paper panel sessions.	n/a	Term paper
16	FINALS WEEK.			NO FINAL

DRM: Miklos T., Robert M., Beth Y., Troy B.
Media: Pat W., Peter R., Chaunte H. Vinay A

E-Commerce: Jagdish R., Stephen A., Charles B.
Comps & Impact: Kevin L., Hai D., Kaori T.

Privacy: Brandon V., Ben C., Emily Y.
Oversight: Tim B., Kelly L., Michael H., Kyndal C.

Tech on the Future: J. David S., Leandro F., Jefferson S., Galen H.
Tech on Society: Prerna B., Luke A., Manabu S.

Assessment

Grades for the course are calculated as follows:

Term paper: 35%
Class participation (incl. term paper proposal): 15%
Homeworks (two pair/team assignments): 30%
Midterm: 20%

Letter grades will be assigned on the normal 90%+ = A; 80%+ = B.... scale. There will be no curve.