CS 1023 Cultural Implications of the Information Society

Lectures and Assignments, Spring 2000

Week Dates Topic Assignment Sources
1 Jan 19, 21
(Jan 17: MLK day)		 Course organization and aims.
The Internet. Writing		 Read Preface (v-vii), 9.1.2 (297-300),
9.1.3 (300-302), and Guide to Writing. 		Preface and
Webpage
2 Jan 24, 26, 28 Introduction. The Information Age.
New solutions, new viewpoints.		 Read 1.1.1 (2-3), 1.2.1 (8-13),
1.2.2 (14-15), and Education.		 1 and
Webpage
3 Jan 31, Feb 2, 4 Ethics and ethical theories. Moral
sense, tilitarianism, social contract,
Kant's theory. Why act ethically?		 Read 10.1, 10.2 (332-340), and Ethics.
Essay 1 due Feb 2.		 10 and
Webpage
4 Feb 7, 9, 11 Technology (exponential growth).
iIdentification, ID cards.		 Read 1.1.2 (6-8), 2.2.5 (46-48),
and Identification.		 1, 2, and
Webpage
5 Feb 14, 16, 18 Privacy. Government databases.
Medical data. Right to privacy.
Credit Bureaus.		 Read 2.1(38-40), 2.2.2(42-44), 2.4(56-57),
2.5(57-61), 2.7.1(63-64), Privacy, and
Code of Fair Info Practices (Figure 2.4, 71)		 2 and
Webpage
6 Feb 21, 23, 25 Security and Cryptography.
Public-key cryptography.		 Read 3.1 (86-91) and 3.3.1 (95-100).
Essay 2 due Feb 23.		 3
7 Feb 28, Mar 1,
Mar 3		 Risks of Computer Use. Read 4.1.1 (114-116), 4.1.3 (120-123),
4.2 (125-129), and Avoiding Risks.		 4 and
Webpage
8 Mar 6, 8, 10 Free Speech. Offensive
speech. Anonymity.		 Read 6.2 (203-213),
6.3 (213-215), and Anonymity.		 6 and
Webpage
Spring Break, Mar 13-17
9 Mar 20, 22, 24 Computer Crime. Identity
theft. Hacking.		 Read 7.2.2 (232-233), 7.4 (237-242), and
7.6 (252-254).
Essay 3 due Mar 22.		 7
10 Mar 27, 29, 31 The Workplace. Creating and
destroying jobs. Teleworking.
Monitoring on the job.		 Read 8.1 (262), 8.2.1 (262-266),
8.2.4 (269-270), 8.3.1 (270-273),
and 8.4 (275-281). 		8
11 Apr 3, 5, 7 Artificial Intelligence and Agents.
Knowledgebases.		 Read Knowledgebases and Prolog, 
and Agents		 Webpages and
Joy's article
12 Apr 10, 12, 14 Social Issues.
Freedom versus control.
Neo-luddites.		 Read 9.2 (302-305), 9.3.1 (305-311),
and Anti-technologists.
Essay 4 due Apr 12.		 9 and
Webpage
13 Apr 17, 19, 21 Fingerprinting.
Crime-proof hardware.		 Read Fingerprinting. Webpage
14 Apr 24, 26, 28
(Apr 28: B of F)		 Bad uses: Warfare,
Gambling. Pornography.		 Read Bad Uses.
Web Resource Project due Apr 26.		 Webpage
15 May 1, 3
(May 4, 5: Study)		 Wrap-up.    

Notes:

  1. In the table above the reading assignments refer to either
    1. the text: A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Computing, by Sara Baase, Prentice-Hall, 1997 (in green), or
    2. other materials on the web supplied by me (in blue).

  2. In every case the Friday quiz will cover that week's reading, except that the quiz on Jan 28 will cover both Weeks 1 and 2. Note that there are thirteen quizzes -- the two lowest grades will be thrown out, leaving eleven grades. There will be no make-up quizzes.

  3. The four essay assignments (in red) are each due on a Wednesday. You can find details about the essays by following the link, but in brief each is to be typed on one side of one sheet of paper. If they are handed two days late on Friday, they lose 10% of their grade, and if handed in the next Monday, they lose 25%. After the next Monday they will not be accepted.

  4. The Web Resource Project is discussed in the Syllabus.