CISC 355: Computers, Ethics, and Society

Fall 2012
Instructor: Richard Gordon

Instructor:
Richard Gordon
Office: 227LL UDCC (192 S. Chapel St.)
Office Hours: Wed noon - 1pm, Perkins "Scrounge" & by appointment
Phone: (302) 831-1717
T.A./Grader:
Brad Fletcher
Office: 103 Smith Hall (TA Room)
Office Hours: 103 Smith Hall, Times Tu & Th 10:00 - 11:00 am

Meeting Information:
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:00 - 6:15 p.m.
325 Purnell Hall

Required Texts:

  • Quinn, M. (2012) Ethics for the Information Age (5th edition). (Quinn)

  • Singh, S. (1999) The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography. (Singh)

  • An assortment of readings on the World-Wide Web.

The syllabus will be updated throughout the semester.
DateAssignment
Tu 8/28
  1. Before coming to class, please complete this short survey.
  2. Before coming to class, please read/review this material:
Th 8/30
  1. Quick History Lesson (Part 1): Quinn pp. 1-32
  2. Key Milestones in the development of Internet (alternate copy) (AP 8/30/09) and Hobbes' Internet Timeline v8.2 (Robert H'obbes' Zakon 2006)
  3. Why Amish businesses don't fail (CNN Money 5/10/10)
  4. Discussion of how we'll monitor current events
  5. Discussion of Google Groups & other possible tools
Tu 9/4
  1. Quick History Lesson (Part 2): Quinn pp. 32-50
  2. Continue discussion of Key Milestones in the development of Internet (alternate copy) (AP 8/30/09) and Hobbes' Internet Timeline v8.2 (Robert H'obbes' Zakon 2006)
  3. Building smarter machines (NY Times 6/24/10)
  4. Five billionth device about to plug into the Internet (Network World 8/16/10)
  5. Why Your Battery Life is Terrible, in One Handy Chart (MIT Technology Review 8/11/11)
Th 9/6
  1. Get ready for the personal robot revolution Thomas Friedman, NY Times. Reprinted in Pittsburgh Post Gazette 8/28/12.
  2. Quinn section 2.1 (pp. 51-58)
  3. Singh Introduction (pp. xii - xvii)
  4. Singh First part of Chapter 1 (up to "Renaissance in the West; pp. 1-25)
Tu 9/11
  1. Finish Chapter 1 in Singh (pp. 26-44)
  2. Quinn sections 2.2 - 2.4 (pp. 58-67)
  3. In-class exercise
Th 9/13
  1. Start Chapter 2 in Singh (pp. 45-82--stop at "Gold Bug"/Beale Papers story)
  2. Quinn sections 2.5 - 2.6 (pp. 67-75)
Tu 9/18 Class cancelled
Th 9/20
  1. Finish Chapter 2 in Singh (you can skim--but do read the one short paragraph about keytexts on p. 95
  2. Begin Chapter 3 in Singh (pp. 101-124--stop at "The Development of Cipher Machines")
  3. Quinn sections 2.6 - 2.7 (pp. 70-80)
  4. In-class exercise
Tu 9/25
  1. Finish Chapter 3 in Singh (pp. 124-142)
  2. Quinn sections 2.8 - 2.9 (pp. 80-91)
Th 9/27
  1. Quinn: review section 2.9. Read 2.10 and 2.11 (pp. 84-95)
  2. Singh: Begin Chapter 4 (Read until "The Geese that never Cackled" pp. 143-160.)
Tu 10/2
  1. Google Group Posting 1 Due
  2. Virtue Ethics: Quinn sections 9.4.2 (pp. 417-419)
  3. Ethics of Care (aka "feminist ethics"):
    Robert Cavalier's Ethics of Care (Carnegie Mellon University 2002)
    Feminist Ethics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [2009])
  4. Walter Maner's Summary of Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development
Th 10/4
  1. Another Perspective on Ethical Decision-Making: Chapter 1 from Rushworth Kidder's How Good People Make Tough Choices (Institute for Global Ethics 1995, revised 2005)
  2. The Biology of Ethics (Christopher Shea, The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 12, 2011)
Tu 10/9
  1. Singh: Finish reading Chapter 4, Cracking the Enigma (pp. 143-190)
  2. Singh: Read the section of Chapter 5 about the Navajo code talkers (pp. 191-201)
  3. Quinn: review section 2.10 and 2.11 and read chapter summary (pp. 91-98)
  4. Quinn: read James Moor interview (pp. 105-107)
We 10/10
  1. Google Group Posting 2 Due
Th 10/11
  1. How to persuade (Lincoln Mullen, The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 18, 2011) Skim the comments, too--especially the one about "mythos."
  2. Review all of chapter 2 in Quinn
Tu 10/16 The Network
  1. Quinn Chapter 3, read through section 3.5 (pp. 109-131)
Th 10/18 The Network
  1. Quinn Chapter 3, sections 3.6 - Summary and interview with Michael Liebhold (pp. 131 - 160)
Su 10/21
  1. MidTerm 1 (Take-Home) Due
Tu 10/23 Intellectual Property
  1. Quinn Chapter 4, read through section 4.6 (pp. 161 - 195)
10/23 is the last day students can withdraw from Fall 2012 classes without academic penalty.
Th 10/25 Intellectual Property
  1. Quinn Chapter 4, review section 4.5. Read sections 4.7 - Summary and Interview with June Besek (pp. 195-226)
Tu 10/30 Information Privacy
  1. Quinn Chapter 5, read the entire chapter, including interview with Michael Zimmer (pp. 227-266)
Th 11/1 Information Privacy
  1. Singh, Chapter 6. (pp. 243-292)
Fr 11/2
  1. Google Group Posting 3 Due
Tu 11/6 Information Privacy
  1. No class meeting. Election Day. However, expect a short online assignment due by 11:59 pm covering the following:
    • Singh, Chapter 7 (pp. 293-316)
Th 11/8 Privacy and the Government
  1. Quinn Chapter 6, including the interview with Jerry Berman (pp. 267-314)
Sa 11/10
  1. Google Group Posting 4 Due
Tu 11/13 Computer and Network Security
  1. Quinn Chapter 7, sections 7.1 - 7.4 (pp. 315-337)
Th 11/15 Computer and Network Security
  1. Finish Quinn Chapter 7, section 7.5 - Summary and Interview with Matt Bishop (pp. 337-354)
Computer Reliability
  1. Quinn Chapter 8, sections 8.1 - 8.4 (pp. 355-371)
Tu 11/20
  1. No class meeting. But expect an online assignment due at 11:59pm today about the following:
    • Computer Reliability: Quinn Chapter 8, sections 8.5 - Summary and Interview with Avi Rubin. (pp. 371 - 402)
Th 11/22
  1. No Class. American Thanksgiving Day
Su 11/25
  1. MidTerm 2 (Take-Home) Due
Tu 11/27 Professional Ethics
  1. Quinn Chapter 9 (pp. 403-446)
Th 11/29 Workplace Changes and Robotics
  1. Quinn Chapter 10, sections 10.1 - 10.3 (pp. 447-463)
  2. Difference Engine: Luddite Legacy N.V., The Economist, 11/4/11
  3. Robots at War: Scholars Debate the Ethical Issues, Don Troop, Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/10/12.
  4. Morals and the machine, The Economist, 6/2/12.
  5. (If you have time, supplemental reading.) The next wave in robotic war: autonomous drones, Dan De Luce, Cosmos, 9/28/12
  6. (If you have time, supplemental reading.) Robotic Nation, Marshall Brain, marshallbrain.com, 2011.
Mo 12/3
  1. Google Group Posting 5 Due
Tu 12/4 Work and Wealth
  1. Quinn Chapter 10, section 10.4 - summary and Interview with Martin Ford (pp. 463-490)
Fr 12/7
  1. Google Group Posting 6 Due
We 12/12 Take Home Final Exam Due at 6:00 p.m.
  1. Singh, Chapter 8. (pp. 317-350)

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