CSSE 490: Ethical and Societal Implications of Computing: Syllabus


Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Computer Science and Software Engineering Department
Winter 2019/20

Instructors

Kim Tracy, Michael Wollowski and Steve Chenoweth

Credits

2

Prerequisites

Junior standing

Meeting times

MW/3:00-3:50/Myers

Course Description

This course will be held in the style of a graduate seminar in which the instructors as well as the students present and discuss materials relevant to the course topic. This course will focus on the societal and ethical impacts of computing. We will focus on the somewhat overseeable near future of five to 15 years. We will study papers as well as form our own thoughts on how computing, in particular software will influence aspects of the future. We will study intended as well as project unintended consequences of the adoption of select computing technologies.

Course Objectives

Students who successfully complete this course should be able to:

Major Assignments

  1. A five-page, single-spaced essay expressing your stance on a specific issue related to the course. Cite and incorporate appropriate literature. Essay topics must be approved by the instructors. This is a pair assignment. During the last three weeks of the term, you will be asked to present your paper and lead a discussion on it.
  2. Pairs of students will give a one 15-minute class presentation on a paper or issue of interest to the class. Must use slides. Paper or issue must be approved by the instructors. Notice that the topics are assigned to specific dates; they cannot be moved. You have about 10 minutes to present the work you studied and then will lead a 15 min. class discussion.
  3. Attend at least 80% of the class sessions.
  4. Actively participate in class discussions. Must take a stance, make a major contribution to the class discussion in at least 30% of class sessions.

Grading Scheme

Course grades will be determined by weighing the scores of items 1-4 from the “Major Assignments” section as follows: 40%, 30%, 5%, 25%.

List of Topics

The following list covers the major themes and topics addressed in this seminar. It is not a complete list.