CS329E  Elements of Computing in Society

Fall, 2009
Elaine Rich

Tentative Schedule of Topics and Reading Assignments

August 27 Introduction

September 1 Introduction, continued

· Ethics for the Information Age, Chapter 1

· Blown to Bits, Chapter 1

September 3 Ethics

· Ethics for the Information Age, Chapter 2

· Bynum, Terrell Ward, “A Very Short History of Computer Ethics”

· Bynum, Terrell Ward, “Norbert Weiner’s Foundation of Computer Ethics”

September 8 Ethics, continued

· Bertrand Russell, “Prolog” to Autobiography

· TURN IN your version of the Prolog to Bertrand Russell’s autobiography

September 10 Ethics, continued

· TURN IN your solution to the problem of rationing in the eBay era.

September 15 Ethics, continued

· TURN IN a printout of your results on the “many voices” quiz

September 17 The Internet and the World Wide Web

· Ethics for the Information Age, Chapter 3

· TURN IN your term paper topic statement

September 22 Privacy

· Blown to Bits, Chapter 2

· Ethics for the Information Age, Chapter 5

September 24 Privacy

· Blown to Bits, Chapter 3

· TURN IN your term paper outline

September 29 Privacy

· TURN IN your response to the ACM’s TIA letter

October 1 Free Speech and the Internet

· Blown to Bits, Chapters 7 and 8

October 6 How Does All That Knowledge Change Our Lives?

· Blown to Bits, Chapter 4

October 8 Digital Divide and Government Censorship

· Ethics for the Information Age, Section 9.5

October 13 Recreational Computing (Social Networking and Computer Games)

· Ethics for the Information Age, Section 3.10

October 15 Cybercrime and Security

· Ethics for the Information Age, Chapter 6

· TURN IN your term paper first draft

October 20 Cryptography

· Blown to Bits, Chapter 5

· Ethics for the Information Age, Section 5.11

October 22 Risk and Reliability

· Blown to Bits, Chapter 7

· TURN IN your response to the DC Metro Crash problem

October 27 Intellectual Property

· Blown to Bits, Chapter 6

October 29 Intellectual Property

· Ethics for the Information Age, Chapter 4

November 3 Artificial Intelligence

· Ethics for the Information Age, Chapter 9

· “Computing Machinery and Intelligence”, Alan Turing

November 5 Artificial Intelligence

· “Sounds Like Bach”, Douglas Hofstadter

· “Robotic Nation”, Marshall Brain

November 10 The Future of Technology

· “The Evolution of Mind in the Twenty-First Century”, Ray Kurzweil (handout)

· “What is the Singularity?”

· TURN IN your response to the singularity quiz

November 12 The Future of Technology

· “Manna”, Marshall Brain (Note: There are 8 chapters, each in a separate file. Read them all.)

· “Why the future doesn’t need us”, Bill Joy

· “The Future Needs Us!”, Freeman Dyson

November 17 Student presentations

· TURN IN your response to the resource allocation problem

November 19 Student presentations

November 24 Student presentations

· TURN IN your response to the Free Rice quiz

November 26 THANKSGIVING

December 1 Student presentations

December 3 Student presentations

· TURN IN the final draft of your term paper