Paper theses
From the syllabus:
The first paper will be roughly 1000 words in length (3-4 pages), articulating both sides of a policy question with ethical implications, and arguing for one of them. See below for details on format and rubric; topic choices will be available in early February. A draft of the paper will be due on 19 March (this is a change) (in class, where we will workshop it) and the final version, worth 15% of the course grade, will be due on the 26th (also a change). [...] The last few weeks of the course will involve pairs of students debating policy questions with ethical implications; in each case the student will be arguing the opposite side of the same policy question they wrote their midterm paper on. Format and rubric details will be available after spring break. Debate performance will constitute 20% of the course grade.
The following theses are assigned for the papers. You'll be taking the opposite position in the debates (so, you also now know who your opponent will be). This page does not necessarily give the order that the debates will occur.
| Thesis | Paper position | Paper position |
|---|---|---|
| We should(/n't) ban the use of autonomous AI/robots in domestic and international military conflicts. | Denise "should" | Cameron "shouldn't" |
| We should(/n't) consider access to the Internet a positive right, and the US government should(/n't) provide it free or cheap to every household. | Isaiah "should" | Andrew "shouldn't" |
| Facebook's intended "Free Basics" program in India was(/n't) a modern colonialism, and FB should(n't/) have pushed it and India was (right/wrong) to ban it. (See also: Facebook and the new colonialism) | Katelin "was, shouldn't, right" | Alex "wasn't, should, wrong" |
| Books, music, and games that are out of print, and whose owners have gone out of business, should(/n't) be considered "abandonware" and released into the public domain. | Luke "should" | Janelle "shouldn't" |
| Social media are(/n't) obliged to be a safe space for their users, so they should(/n't) delete controversial or sexist/racist/other -ist content, and/or ban users that post them. | Wade "are, should" | Sierra "aren't, shouldn't" |
| On-duty police officers should(/n't) be required to wear body cameras turned on at all times, with the recordings saved for at least a few weeks after each shift. | Jacob "should" | Johnathan H "shouldn't" |
| Voter registration databases should(/n't) be linked among jurisdictions and to state ID databases, with matches (showing multiple registrations) and mismatches (showing nonexistent people) automatically removed from the voter rolls. | Brendan (TBA) | |
| The government should(/n't) mandate that Internet service providers handle all transmitted data in the same way without privileging certain platforms over others or charging extra for some content. (See also: "net neutrality") | Jordan "should" | Esteban "shouldn't" |
| The government should(/n't) ban Internet service providers from editing transmitted content to inject advertisements into the users' data downloads and web pages. | Josh "should" | Jonathan G "shouldn't" |