ECS 188 - Spring 2007 - Day-by-Day List of Readings and Topics

Week .....Class..... Topic
00 01 - R 3/29 Introduction to the course (CG).
01 02 - T 4/03 Read Johnson, Chapter 1 (Why Computer Ethics?), Greenfield, Section 1 (What is everyware?), pp. 9-34. (CG)
03 - R 4/05 Discussion: What are computer ethics? (CG)
02 04 - T 4/10 Read Collins and Pinch, Introduction, Chapters 1-2 (A clean kill?: the role of the Patriot in the Gulf War; The naked launch: assigning blame for the Challenger explosion); Greenfield, Section 2 (How is everyware different from what we're used to?). Quiz 1. (CG)
05 - R 4/12 Film, The Decalogue
03 06 - T 4/17 Read Sunstein, Chapters 1-2 (The Daily Me, An Analogy and an Ideal), pp. 1-50; Greenfield, Section 3 (What's driving the emergence of everyware?), pp. 89-120. Quiz 2. In class: Sunstein reading and Is There an Echo in Here, by D Weinberger.
07 - R 4/19 Read the Marshall McLuhan interview.
04 08 - T 4/24 Read a short speech by Neil Postman and a reading from Ian Barbour (Views of Technology) In class we discussed the latter.
09 - R 4/26 Read Collins and Pinch, Chapters 3-4 (Crash! nuclear fuel flasks and anti-misting kerosene on trial; The world according to Gold: disputes about the origins of oil). In class we had Quiz 3, discussed the CP reading, and briefly discussed the Postman reading.
05 10 - T 5/1 Read Johnson, Chapter 2 (Philosophical Ethics); and Greenfield, Section 4 (What are the issues we need to be aware of?), pp. 121-158. Quiz 4. In class we discussed the Johnson reading on philosophical ethics.
11 - R 5/03 Read the article by Hans Jonas (handed out in class) (Chapt 1 from The Imperative of Responsibility). (vocabulary list.) In class: Quiz 5 and discussed the Jonas reading.
06 12 - T 5/08 Read Bill Joy's Why the Future Doesn't Need Us In class we discussed deontology, responsibility, and the Bill Joy reading.
13 - R 5/10 Bring three copies of a technology-related news article. We discussed these, as well as the Bill Joy reading.
07 14 - T 5/15 (Canceled Sunstein). Read Computers, ethics, and collective violence by Summers and Markusen and Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, War. In class: Why We Fight.
15 - R 5/17 Catch up on prior reading if you are not caught up. Quiz 6.
08 16 - T 5/22 Read Johnson, Chapter 4 (Ethics and the Internet I); and Greenfield, Section 5 (Who gets to determine the shape of everyware?), pp. 159-174.
17 - R 5/24 Read Collins and Pinch, Chapters 6-7 (The science of the lambs: Chernobyl and the Cumbrian sheepfarmmers; ACTing UP: AIDS cures and lay expertise), and the Conclusion. In class we worked individually and then in groups on Quiz 7, about the prior three readings.
09 18 - T 5/29 Read The ACM Code of Ethics and Chapts 1 (Timid Professionals), 9 (The Primacy of Attitude), and 13 (Subordination) from Disciplined Minds. In class we discussed the latter.
19 - R 5/31 Ning (Great Firewall of China); Alan/Eric (social networking sites); Albert (voting machines). Disciplined Minds (2: Ideological Discipline). Johnson, Chapter 5 (Privacy).
10 20 - T 6/05 Presentations: Maithreyi (Moral Minds), Pouyan (RFIDs). Discussed the final. Handed out some pledges for your consideration.
xx - F 6/08 Final - 4-6 pm in 117 Olson