CSE 40175 is the one of the core classes in the Computer Science and Engineering program at the University of Notre Dame. The purpose of the course is to develop a solid foundation for reasoning about ethical, professional, and social issues that arise in the context of computer science and engineering. Emphasis is placed on identifying appropriate legal, professional and moral contexts and on applying sound critical thinking skills to a problem. Topics covered include professional codes of ethics, safety-critical systems, whistle blowing, privacy and surveillance, freedom of speech, intellectual property, and cross-cultural issues. This course relies heavily on case studies of real-world incidents.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
Communicate effectively about a wide range of ethical, professional, and social issues regarding computer science and engineering in a variety of mediums and platforms.
Analyze complex moral and technical issues by identifying stakeholders, exploring opposing positions, and considering short and long-term consequences.
Discuss the impact of computing and technology in the past, the issues and obstacles facing society in the present, and the opportunities for the future.
Evaluate different ethical, professional, and social issues in the context of computer science and engineering and in terms of Catholic social teaching.
Unit | Date | Topics | Assignment |
---|---|---|---|
Introduction | 08/23 | Syllabus, Ethics, Code of Ethics Slides Slides | Reading 00 |
08/25 | Talents, Responsibility Slides | ||
Hackers | 08/30 | Computer Science, Hackers Slides | Reading 01 |
09/01 | Meritocracy, Philanthropy, Income Inequality Slides | ||
Careers | 09/06 | Hiring, Negotiation, Contracts Slides | Reading 02 |
09/08 | Salaries, Promotion, Mobility Slides | Project 01 | |
09/13 | Graduate School Slides | Reading 03 | |
Workplace | 09/15 | Work-Life Balance Slides | |
09/20 | Diversity in Technology Slides | Reading 04 | |
09/22 | Codes of Conduct Slides | ||
Engineering Disasters | 09/27 | Mission Critical Systems Slides | Reading 05 |
09/29 | Whistleblowing Slides | Project 02 | |
Privacy vs Security | 10/04 | Snowden Slides | Reading 06 |
10/06 | Government Surveillance Slides | ||
Pervasive Computing | 10/11 | Cloud computing Slides | Reading 07 |
10/13 | Advertising Slides | ||
Fall Break | |||
Election Issues | 10/25 | Outsourcing, H1-B Visas Slides | Reading 08 |
10/27 | Electronic Voting Slides | Project 03 | |
11/01 | Network Neutrality Slides | Reading 09 | |
11/03 | Online Censorship Slides | ||
Artificial Intelligence | 11/08 | Intelligence Slides | Reading 10 |
11/10 | Automation Slides | ||
11/15 | Self-Driving Cars Slides | Reading 11 | |
11/17 | Internet of Things Slides | ||
Intellectual Property | 11/22 | Patents, Patent Trolls Slides | Reading 12 |
11/29 | Copyright, Open Source Slides | ||
12/01 | DMCA, Piracy Slides | Project 04 | |
Education | 12/06 | Computer Science Education Slides | Reading 13 |
12/08 | Computer Science 4 All Slides | ||
12/14 | Band of Brothers | Project 05 |
Component | Points |
---|---|
Readings Weekly reading assignments and corresponding writing prompts. | 12 × 10 |
Projects Periodic group projects. | 5 × 30 |
Participation Regular class attendation and contribution to course community. | 30 |
Total | 300 |
Grade | Points | Grade | Points | Grade | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
A | 280-300 | A- | 270-279 | ||
B+ | 260-269 | B | 250-259 | B- | 240-249 |
C+ | 230-239 | C | 220-229 | C- | 210-219 |
D | 180-209 | F | 0-179 |
All your Readings and Projects are to be submitted to your own blog before the class period on the day assigned in the schedule above.
Students are expected to attend and contribute regularly in class. This means answering questions in class, participating in discussions, and helping other students.
Foreseeable absences should be discussed with the instructor ahead of time.
All responses to the Readings should be posted to each student's individual blog. Choice of blog platform is up to each student, but the student must provide a valid RSS or ATOM feed to their blog at the beginning of the semester for easy syndication and monitoring.
In the case of a serious illness or other excused absence, as defined by university policies, coursework submissions will be accepted late by the same number of days as the excused absence.
Otherwise, there is a penalty of 25% per day late (except where noted). You may submit some parts of an assignment on time and some parts late. Each submission must clearly state which parts it contains; no part can be submitted more than once.
All work that you submit must be your own. Collaboration is encouraged but must be disclosed by all parties. Print or online resources are allowed, but must be disclosed. However, you may not look at solutions from other current or past students, or any other source.
Any student who has a documented disability and is registered with Disability Services should speak with the professor as soon as possible regarding accommodations. Students who are not registered should contact the Office of Disabilities.
If you want something turn-key, you can consider one of the following hosted blogging services:
If you are a little more adventurous, you can consider statically generating your blog and hosting the files on a web server (such as Github Pages or Netfile).
If you are really adventurous, you can consider managing and hosting your blog on a cloud platform: