CS329E  Elements of Computing in Society

Fall, 2010
Elaine Rich

Tentative Schedule of Topics and Reading Assignments

August 26 Introduction

Ausgust 31 Introduction, continued

· Ethics for the Information Age, Chapter 1 NOTECARD (from one of the two readings)

· Blown to Bits, Chapter 1

September 2 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 7 Ethics, continued

· Bertrand Russell, “Prolog” to Autobiography

· TURN IN your solution to the “How I Lived My Life” assignment

September 9 Ethics, continued

· TURN IN your solution to the problem of Rationing in the eBay Era

September 14 Ethics, continued

· Blown to Bits, Chapter 4 NOTECARD

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

September 16 Ethics, continued

· Ethics for the Information Age, Section 3.1 – 3.3, 3.8

· TURN IN your term paper topic statement

September 21 How Do We Exploit the Bits?

The Internet and the World Wide Web – Free Speech and Censorship

· Blown to Bits, Chapters 7 and 8 NOTECARD

· Ethics for the Information Age, Sections 3.4 – 3.7

September 23 Bits, Free Speech and Censorship, continued

· Blown to Bits, Chapter 2

· Ethics for the Information Age, Chapter 5 (except 5.11)

· TURN IN your responses to the set of questions about Tom Mitchell’s opinion piece on data and privacy

September 28 Shooting Emergency

· Blown to Bits, Chapter 5 NOTECARD

· Ethics for the Information Age, Section 5.11

September 30 Cryptography

· Blown to Bits, Chapter 3

October 5 Privacy and Cryptography Guest Speaker: Andrew Blumberg

· TURN IN your Cryptography homework

October 7 Privacy

· TURN IN your term paper outline

October 12 Cybercrime and Security

· Ethics for the Information Age, Chapter 6 NOTECARD

October 14 Cybercrime and Security Guest Speaker: Bill Young

October 19 Privacy

October 21 Risk and Reliability

· Ethics for the Information Age, Chapter 7 NOTECARD

· TURN IN your response to the DC Metro Crash problem

October 26 Risk and Reliability, continued

Artificial Intelligence

· “Computing Machinery and Intelligence”, Alan Turing

· TURN IN your term paper first draft

October 28 Artificial Intelligence

· Ethics for the Information Age, Sections 9.1 – 9.4

November 2 Artificial Intelligence

· “The Ethical Frontiers of Robotics”, Noel Sharkey (Science, Vol. 322, pp. 1800-1801)

· TURN IN your response to the questions we’ve raised about Sharkey’s article

· “Sounds Like Bach”, Douglas Hofstadter

· “Robotic Nation”, Marshall Brain

November 4 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 9 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 11 Student presentations

November 16 Student presentations

· TURN IN your response to the Resource Allocation Problem

November 18 Student presentations

November 23 Student presentations

· TURN IN your response to the Free Rice quiz

November 25 THANKSGIVING

November 30 Student presentations

December 2 Student presentations

· TURN IN the final draft of your term paper