CTZN 110: Inquiry into citizenship—The computers are everywhere; what now?
Spring 2019
Prof. Blaheta
The study of ethics is as old as ancient Greece, but still has the power to help us inform ourselves on how we can act, how we should act, how we must act, and how we want to act. Technologists sometimes imply or even explicitly state that their work is independent of ethical analysis or constraint; but our disciplines of mathematics and computer science give us many examples of ethical questions, some of which are old questions wearing new hats, some of which are entirely new, and some of which are long-discussed hypothetical questions that are rapidly becoming concrete.
In this course, we will learn several frameworks with which to explore ethical questions, and we will investigate case studies and policy questions with relevance to the disciplines of mathematics and computer science.
This class meets in two sections (2 and 4), at 2:30 and 4pm on MW in Ruffner 350. The book for this course will be Michael J. Quinn's Ethics for the information age, 7e. ISBN 978-0-13-429654-8. (6th edition is also generally fine.)
Course materials
- Syllabus
- Collaboration policy
- Case study presentations:
- Assignment details
- Menu of topics (email prefs by 28 Jan)
- Schedule (updated, now complete)
- Article discussions:
- Assignment details
- Menu of articles (email prefs by 18 Feb)
- Reading for 25 Feb sample discussion: How white engineers built racist code – and why it's dangerous for black people
- Schedule
- Midterm paper:
- Assignment details
- Menu of policies (email prefs by 18 Feb)
- Thesis assignments
- Debates:
- Final paper details
Posts and scenarios
- 23 Jan: Discovered child pornography
- 5 Feb: Consulting hazard
