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CS377: Communication and Ethical Issues in Computing

This course discusses ethical, societal, and public-policy issues relating to computing and to computing professionals, and also gives extensive training and practice in oral communication for computing professionals.

Spring Semester 2017

Lecture Instructor: Pat Troy
Lab Instructor: Cody Cranch
Semester Web Page

Fall Semester 2015

Instuctor: Prof. Robert Sloan.

Co-Instructor: Cody Cranch

Lecture Section 1: MW 12:00–12:50, 220 Stevenson Hall
Lecture Section 2: MW 2:00–2:50, 312 Lincoln Hall

Lab/Workshop/Speaking Sections:

Monday, 3:00–4:50, 100 Lincoln Hall
Tuesday, 3:00–4:50, 315 Stevenson Hall
Wednesday 3:00–4:50, 100 Lincoln Hall
Friday, 12:00–1:50, 101 Stevenson Hall
Friday, 3:00–4:50, 100 Lincoln Hall

You must be enrolled in one lecture and one lab. You must attend the session that you are enrolled in because there will be frequent graded exercises and required attendance in both lecture and lab, and you will get credit only for attending the one that you are registered in.

Syllabus

CS 377 Syllabus (Updated in November 2015 to reflect tweaking of course grading criteria voted on by class in anonymous Piazza poll in October.)

Examples of currently hot topics (as of mid-August 2015) that might be discussed:

Tracking smartphone and web users. As one example among many, Spotify just changed its privacy policy to get much more creepy.
Data breaches of all sorts of motives
- For profit, such as the Target Breach and the Home Depot Breach
- Suspected nation-state action for espionage, blackmail, or national glory, such as the presumed Chinese attack on the US Office of Personnel Management, and the presumed North Korean attack on Sony.
- "Hacktivism," such as the recent breach followed by publication of Ashley Madison's customer list.
Whether decisions made by algorithm are biased, and if so, what do do about it
Can software be patented?
Snowden's revelations, various responses, and continuing new revelations about US government surveillance.
Is Artificial Intelligence going to produce super-intelligent software entities, and if so, is that a problem for us humans?

Early Semester To-Do's for Students

Do the "Put it in your pocket" assignment (preferably on Tuesday, definitely by Friday) and submit a short reflection. See Homeworks.
Obtain the book. (See syllabus).
Obtain a clicker if you don't already own one and start bringing it to Lecture as of Wednesday.
Do the assigned reading before Wednesday'slectue.