ECS 188 – Fall 2019 – Phillip Rogaway

The on-line reader has links to most of the readings.
The Spring 2019 schedule serves as an example for where we might head.
Q1, Q2, Q3, ... are quizzes; #A, #B, #C, ... are written assignments.

(3)Buy and start reading Ishmael (D. Quinn, 1992) (a novel, 263 pages)

ECS 188 – Ethics in an Age of Technology – Spring 2019 – Phillip Rogaway

Class How we spent the class: For today you need to: Comments:

01 W 9/25 Week 1. Questionaire on views of technology. Meet Jacob and me. Watch Dekalog I (Kieslowśki, 1988). Surprise! Nothing due on our first day of class. See Friday’s slot for assignments due on Wednesday, etc.

02 F 9/27 Q1. Discussed the Kieslowśki film. (a) Read the Course Information sheet, A Brief Note to the Student, and the Active reading guide. (b) Writing assignment #A in response to this prompt. Upload your pdf response to Gradescope. (c) Today, 9/27, is another day of climate strikes around the world. Read The Uninhabitable Earth (web, web.annotated, mobi) (D. Wallace-Wells, 2017 ). Then spend some time to read the webpages of at least one climate-change organization. Come prepared to talk about that they are doing. More by Kieslowśki (all recommended): The Double Life of Veronique (1991), Blue (1993), White (1994), Red (1994). .

03 M 9/30 Week 2. Q2. We discussed The Uninhabitable Earth. (1) Read three sections from The End of Ice (pdf) (D. Jamail, 2018): your assigned chapter; a chapter of your choice; and the Conclusion. Your assigned chapter is the number I gave you, 1–8, except that number-1 includes the Introduction and Chapter 1. I would prefer you to buy the book. (2) Assignment #B. Write a one-paragraph summary or fill out an active-reading grid for each of the three chapters you read. For extra credit, you can read additional chapters and do grids or summaries for them. Upload to Gradescope. Due 10 mins before class, same as all writing assignments. .

04 W 10/02 Q3. We discussed The End of Ice. (1) Read Deep Adaptation (J. Bendell, 2018). (2) Watch a film on climate change: Chasing Coral (2017) or Chasing Ice (2012) or This Changes Everything (2015). Come prepared to write about or discuss it. .

05 F 10/04 Q4. Zane Rubaii came to our class today and discussed activism, climate change, and the Sunrise Movement. (1) Listen to an interview with Ralph Nader (2019). (2) Read this speech by Greta Thunberg (2019). (3) Read Could a Green New Deal Make Us Happier People? (K. Arnoff, 2019) (2019). (4) Spend some time browsing the website of the Sunrise Movement or Extinction Rebellion (or both). Section-1: In response to a comment that we live lives of too much comfort, I challenged students to only take cold showers between now and Friday. Climate change data visualizations; Text of the Green New Deal

06 M 10/07 Week 3. Q5. We discussed Zane's visit and the two films. (1) Watch This Changes Everything (2015). If you already watched that film, choose another climate-change film of your choice. (2) Watch Requiem for the American Dream (2016) #C: Write a brief essay (about 500 words minimum) responsive to the following prompt: While documentry (2) is not ostensibly on the climate crisis, are there insights from Chomsky that clarify it? Do aspects of Klein’s analysis, as reflected in (1), seem informed by the picture Chomsky paints? Q6. Watch an interview with Naomi Klein on DN! (9/17/2019) (start 13:00). Watch the coverage of the NYC climate protest last Friday (9/23/2019) (start: 13:35). Read Hello from the Year 2050 (9/12/2019).

07 W 10/09 Q6. We discussed the Berman reading. Read Why America Failed (M. Berman, 2011). If you forgot the password, see the Canvas announcement. #D: Upload an active-reading grid for this reading. Photographing or scanning what you write by hand is fine. .

08 F 10/11 Q7. We discussed the film. (1) Finish watching The Corporation. (2) As per Berman: find 10 mins, minimum, to sit undisturbed in some silent place and think. .

09 M 10/14 Week 4. Q8 (done in groups). We discussed the Harari reading. Read Sapiens (Y. Harari, 2014). #E: Upload an active-reading grid for this reading. .

10 W 10/16 Q9. Small-group then whole-class discussion of questions on Ishmael. Complete reading Ishmael (D. Quinn, 1992). Email your project proposal (milestone 1) to ecs188@mm.st and ecs188ta@mm.st by end of day. .

11 F 10/18 Q10. We discussed Barbour, making a chart of views associated to technological optimism and pessimism. (a) Read Views of Technology (I. Barbour, 1993). (b) #M: You need a milestone 1 approved by end of day. Barbour obituary

12 M 10/21 Week 5. Q11. We discussed the Winner reading and analyzed a can of coke. (a) #F: Write an essay on Ishmael responsive to this prompt. (b) Read Do Artifacts have Politics? (L. Winner, 1984) An answer to Winner: Do Politics have Artefacts (B. Joerges, 1999)

13 W 10/23 Q12. We discussed the McLuhan reading. In Section 1 we watched a short video. Read an Interview with Marshal McLuhan (1994). #G: Upload an active-reading grid for it. Include plenty of interesting quotes. Some vocabulary for McLuhan

14 F 10/25 Q13. Class activity involving taking on McLuhan and Chomsky points of view. Watch Manufacturing Consent (N. Chomsky, 1992, 2.75 hours) Chomsky/Foucalut debate (offset 3:35) (subtitled)
15 M 10/28 Week 6. Jacob explained Haraway. (a) Read Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective (D. Haraway, 1998); (b) Read You Are Cyborg (H. Kunzru, 1997); (c) #H: Upload a grid for each of these readings. More materials: A Cyborg Manifesto (D. Haraway, short book, 2016, based on well-known 1985 paper); Pilgrim’s progress: Male tales told during a life in physics; Feminist STS and the Sciences of the Artificial (L. Suchman, 2008); Feminist theories of technology (J. Wajcman, 2009)

16 W 10/30 Jacob led a discussion on Haraway. Q14. We critiqued the Friedman reading. (a) Return to either text assigned for Monday and identify one concept, idea, or phrase that was clarified for you by Jacob’s lecture. Come prepared to explain (to a student or to your instructor) this concept, idea, or phrase. (b) Read The Lexus and the Olive Tree (T. Friedman, 1999). Come prepared to give a thoughtful critique. Flathead: The Peculiar Genius of Thomas Friedman (Brad DeLong, 2009); The Lexus and the Olive Tree Revisited (Ha-Joon Chang, 2007)

17 F 11/01 Q15. We discussed the Kaczynski’s manifesto. Read Industrial Society and Its Future (T. Kaczynski, 1995) Harvard and the Making of the Unabomber (A. Chase, 2000); Manhunt (8×42 mins, 2019); Children of Ted (J. Richardson, 2018)

18 11/04 Week 7. We discussed ethical relativism and started discussing utilitarianism. Read Philosophical Ethics (D. Johnson, 2001). .

19 W 11/06 Q16. Utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics. Briefly discussed Jonas reading. Read The Altered Nature of Human Action (H. Jonas, 1984) (helpful vocabulary) and #I upload a grid for it. .

20 F 11/08 We spent most of our time on Jonas (particularly in Section 1), and a bit of time on Leopold. (1) Read The Land Ethic (A. Leopold, 1949); (2) Read Oldest Living Tree Tells All (M. Cohen, 1998); (3) Find a really nice tree. Spend at least 10 minutes in its company. .

xx M 11/11 Week 8. No class Veteran’s day — no class Veteran’s day — no class

21 W 11/13 We caught up with all the readings and films assigned to date. Q17. (1) Watch Dirty Money: S1:E1:Hard NOx (Netflix, 2018); (2) Read Pinto Fires and Personal Ethics (D. Gioia, 1992); (3) Do assignment #J .

22 F 11/15 Q18. We discussed the day’s reading by Schmidt. Read Disciplined Minds (J. Schmidt, 2000) .

23 11/18 Week 9. Q19a (ungraded). We discussed cell phones (Jacob leading). Please start an ethical journal today. Milestone 2 due for Groups ?1?. Topic: Cell phones. (1) Read Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? (J. Twenge, 2017); (2) Read How Technology is Hijacking Your Mind (T. Harris, 2016); (3) Listen to a podcast with Adam Greenfield (J. Glei, 2018). .

24 W 11/20 Film Screening: KIFARU. 6:10 pm in 1065 Kemper. Milestone 2 due for groups ?2?. 6:10 pm (both sections). (1) Watch a first film about food. Choose from among the following: Food, Inc. (2009); Vegucated (2011); Fed Up (2014); Cowspiracy (2014). (2) Start an ethical journal and make sure it contains an entry about your thoughts and reaction to the film you saw. Wait to digitize and upload your journal until the last day of class. .

25 F 11/22 Q19. Discussion concerning food. Milestone 2 due for groups ?3?. Watch a second film about food: Earthlings (2005). You must watch this in a group of two or more people, and discuss it afterwards with them. Seriously. I do not want people watching this film alone. (2) Make an entry in your ethical journal concerning the film. Student support resources include SHCS

26 11/25 Week 10. A gave a talk about giving talks. Students asked me questions on the day’s reading. Topic: Cryptography and surveillance. (1) Please watch video1 and video2 of Edward Snowden (L Poitras and G. Greenwald, 2013). (2) Read The Moral Character of Cryptographic Work (P. Rogaway, 2015). Feel free to skim the more technical part of Part 4. (3) Please bring to class, as typeset hardcopy, a single-sentence question on the reading. .

xx W 11/27 No class Class cancelled. A film will be assigned in its place. Go have fun. But drive carefully and don’t eat tortured animals. .

xx F 11/29 Thanksgiving Thanksgiving — no class Thanksgiving — no class

27 M 12/02 Week 11. Q20. We discussed the films and then the codes and pledges. (0) Papers due for groups ?1? before class.Topic: Behaving well. (1) Read and think about the IEEE Code of Ethics and the ACM Code of Ethics and the neveragain.tech pledge and a few more pledges. (2) Watch a film about a person in science/technology who might be considered an ethical exemplar: Rachel Carson or Aaron Swartz or Edward Snowden. .

28 W 12/04 Presentations ?1?. (0) Papers due for groups ?2? before class. (1) Read papers X1? where X is your section number. (5 papers for Section 1 and 6 papers for Section 2). (2) C28: Provide provide your assessment—a typeset a paragraph of at least a few sentences—for each of the papers you just read. Clearly indicate the group number (the 3-digit code) as the title for that assessment. Print one-sided with one-assessment-per-page. Arrange them in numerical order. Don’t do an assessment of your own paper. Put your name on the top-right corner, in pencil or pen, of the first page. .

29 F 12/06 Presentations ?2?. (0) Papers due for groups ?3? before class. (1) Read papers X2? where X is your section number. (2) C29: Provide your assessments just as you did on Wednesday. Bring them to class. (3) #K: Upload your ethical journal to Canvas (not Gradescope). (4) #L: Also upload to Canvas a one-sentence statement—but only if it is true, of course—that you have submitted well-considered evaluations for our ECS 188 class and for all other classes you took this term, too. This must be done before 11:59 pm. Thanks in advance: I very much value your comments. You are on the “honor system” for this. This assignment will count like most others (10 points, like a quiz), but turning it in gets you full credit. .

aa T 12/10 Section 1 final at 8:30 pm. Final exam (about 35 mins). Presentations 13?. Final comments from Jacob and me. Read papers 13?. Assessments are optional. If you do them, I will make them available, today, to the group. .

bb W 12/11 Section 2 final at 1 pm. Final exam (about 35 mins). Presentations 23?. Final comments from Jacob and me. Read papers 23?. Assessments are optional. If you do them, I will make them available, today, to the group.

ECS 188 – Ethics in an Age of Technology – Spring 2019 – Phillip Rogaway
Class	How we spent the class:	For today you need to:	Comments:
01 W 9/25	Week 1. Questionaire on views of technology. Meet Jacob and me. Watch Dekalog I (Kieslowśki, 1988).	Surprise! Nothing due on our first day of class.	See Friday’s slot for assignments due on Wednesday, etc.
02 F 9/27	Q1. Discussed the Kieslowśki film.	(a) Read the Course Information sheet, A Brief Note to the Student, and the Active reading guide. (b) Writing assignment #A in response to this prompt. Upload your pdf response to Gradescope. (c) Today, 9/27, is another day of climate strikes around the world. Read The Uninhabitable Earth (web, web.annotated, mobi) (D. Wallace-Wells, 2017 ). Then spend some time to read the webpages of at least one climate-change organization. Come prepared to talk about that they are doing.	More by Kieslowśki (all recommended): The Double Life of Veronique (1991), Blue (1993), White (1994), Red (1994).	.
03 M 9/30	Week 2. Q2. We discussed The Uninhabitable Earth.	(1) Read three sections from The End of Ice (pdf) (D. Jamail, 2018): your assigned chapter; a chapter of your choice; and the Conclusion. Your assigned chapter is the number I gave you, 1–8, except that number-1 includes the Introduction and Chapter 1. I would prefer you to buy the book. (2) Assignment #B. Write a one-paragraph summary or fill out an active-reading grid for each of the three chapters you read. For extra credit, you can read additional chapters and do grids or summaries for them. Upload to Gradescope. Due 10 mins before class, same as all writing assignments.	.
04 W 10/02	Q3. We discussed The End of Ice.	(1) Read Deep Adaptation (J. Bendell, 2018). (2) Watch a film on climate change: Chasing Coral (2017) or Chasing Ice (2012) or This Changes Everything (2015). Come prepared to write about or discuss it.	.
05 F 10/04	Q4. Zane Rubaii came to our class today and discussed activism, climate change, and the Sunrise Movement.	(1) Listen to an interview with Ralph Nader (2019). (2) Read this speech by Greta Thunberg (2019). (3) Read Could a Green New Deal Make Us Happier People? (K. Arnoff, 2019) (2019). (4) Spend some time browsing the website of the Sunrise Movement or Extinction Rebellion (or both). Section-1: In response to a comment that we live lives of too much comfort, I challenged students to only take cold showers between now and Friday.	Climate change data visualizations; Text of the Green New Deal
06 M 10/07	Week 3. Q5. We discussed Zane's visit and the two films.	(1) Watch This Changes Everything (2015). If you already watched that film, choose another climate-change film of your choice. (2) Watch Requiem for the American Dream (2016) #C: Write a brief essay (about 500 words minimum) responsive to the following prompt: While documentry (2) is not ostensibly on the climate crisis, are there insights from Chomsky that clarify it? Do aspects of Klein’s analysis, as reflected in (1), seem informed by the picture Chomsky paints?	Q6. Watch an interview with Naomi Klein on DN! (9/17/2019) (start 13:00). Watch the coverage of the NYC climate protest last Friday (9/23/2019) (start: 13:35). Read Hello from the Year 2050 (9/12/2019).
07 W 10/09	Q6. We discussed the Berman reading.	Read Why America Failed (M. Berman, 2011). If you forgot the password, see the Canvas announcement. #D: Upload an active-reading grid for this reading. Photographing or scanning what you write by hand is fine.	.
08 F 10/11	Q7. We discussed the film.	(1) Finish watching The Corporation. (2) As per Berman: find 10 mins, minimum, to sit undisturbed in some silent place and think.	.
09 M 10/14	Week 4. Q8 (done in groups). We discussed the Harari reading.	Read Sapiens (Y. Harari, 2014). #E: Upload an active-reading grid for this reading.	.
10 W 10/16	Q9. Small-group then whole-class discussion of questions on Ishmael.	Complete reading Ishmael (D. Quinn, 1992). Email your project proposal (milestone 1) to `ecs188@mm.st` and `ecs188ta@mm.st` by end of day.	.
11 F 10/18	Q10. We discussed Barbour, making a chart of views associated to technological optimism and pessimism.	(a) Read Views of Technology (I. Barbour, 1993). (b) #M: You need a milestone 1 approved by end of day.	Barbour obituary
12 M 10/21	Week 5. Q11. We discussed the Winner reading and analyzed a can of coke.	(a) #F: Write an essay on Ishmael responsive to this prompt. (b) Read Do Artifacts have Politics? (L. Winner, 1984)	An answer to Winner: Do Politics have Artefacts (B. Joerges, 1999)
13 W 10/23	Q12. We discussed the McLuhan reading. In Section 1 we watched a short video.	Read an Interview with Marshal McLuhan (1994). #G: Upload an active-reading grid for it. Include plenty of interesting quotes.	Some vocabulary for McLuhan
14 F 10/25	Q13. Class activity involving taking on McLuhan and Chomsky points of view.	Watch Manufacturing Consent (N. Chomsky, 1992, 2.75 hours)	Chomsky/Foucalut debate (offset 3:35) (subtitled)
15 M 10/28	Week 6. Jacob explained Haraway.	(a) Read Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective (D. Haraway, 1998); (b) Read You Are Cyborg (H. Kunzru, 1997); (c) #H: Upload a grid for each of these readings.	More materials: A Cyborg Manifesto (D. Haraway, short book, 2016, based on well-known 1985 paper); Pilgrim’s progress: Male tales told during a life in physics; Feminist STS and the Sciences of the Artificial (L. Suchman, 2008); Feminist theories of technology (J. Wajcman, 2009)
16 W 10/30	Jacob led a discussion on Haraway. Q14. We critiqued the Friedman reading.	(a) Return to either text assigned for Monday and identify one concept, idea, or phrase that was clarified for you by Jacob’s lecture. Come prepared to explain (to a student or to your instructor) this concept, idea, or phrase. (b) Read The Lexus and the Olive Tree (T. Friedman, 1999). Come prepared to give a thoughtful critique.	Flathead: The Peculiar Genius of Thomas Friedman (Brad DeLong, 2009); The Lexus and the Olive Tree Revisited (Ha-Joon Chang, 2007)
17 F 11/01	Q15. We discussed the Kaczynski’s manifesto.	Read Industrial Society and Its Future (T. Kaczynski, 1995)	Harvard and the Making of the Unabomber (A. Chase, 2000); Manhunt (8×42 mins, 2019); Children of Ted (J. Richardson, 2018)
18 11/04	Week 7. We discussed ethical relativism and started discussing utilitarianism.	Read Philosophical Ethics (D. Johnson, 2001).	.
19 W 11/06	Q16. Utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics. Briefly discussed Jonas reading.	Read The Altered Nature of Human Action (H. Jonas, 1984) (helpful vocabulary) and #I upload a grid for it.	.
20 F 11/08	We spent most of our time on Jonas (particularly in Section 1), and a bit of time on Leopold.	(1) Read The Land Ethic (A. Leopold, 1949); (2) Read Oldest Living Tree Tells All (M. Cohen, 1998); (3) Find a really nice tree. Spend at least 10 minutes in its company.	.
xx M 11/11	Week 8. No class	Veteran’s day — no class	Veteran’s day — no class
21 W 11/13	We caught up with all the readings and films assigned to date. Q17.	(1) Watch Dirty Money: S1:E1:Hard NOx (Netflix, 2018); (2) Read Pinto Fires and Personal Ethics (D. Gioia, 1992); (3) Do assignment #J	.
22 F 11/15	Q18. We discussed the day’s reading by Schmidt.	Read Disciplined Minds (J. Schmidt, 2000)	.
23 11/18	Week 9. Q19a (ungraded). We discussed cell phones (Jacob leading). Please start an ethical journal today.	Milestone 2 due for Groups ?1?. Topic: Cell phones. (1) Read Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? (J. Twenge, 2017); (2) Read How Technology is Hijacking Your Mind (T. Harris, 2016); (3) Listen to a podcast with Adam Greenfield (J. Glei, 2018).	.
24 W 11/20	Film Screening: KIFARU. 6:10 pm in 1065 Kemper.	Milestone 2 due for groups ?2?. 6:10 pm (both sections). (1) Watch a first film about food. Choose from among the following: Food, Inc. (2009); Vegucated (2011); Fed Up (2014); Cowspiracy (2014). (2) Start an ethical journal and make sure it contains an entry about your thoughts and reaction to the film you saw. Wait to digitize and upload your journal until the last day of class.	.
25 F 11/22	Q19. Discussion concerning food.	Milestone 2 due for groups ?3?. Watch a second film about food: Earthlings (2005). You must watch this in a group of two or more people, and discuss it afterwards with them. Seriously. I do not want people watching this film alone. (2) Make an entry in your ethical journal concerning the film.	Student support resources include SHCS
26 11/25	Week 10. A gave a talk about giving talks. Students asked me questions on the day’s reading.	Topic: Cryptography and surveillance. (1) Please watch video1 and video2 of Edward Snowden (L Poitras and G. Greenwald, 2013). (2) Read The Moral Character of Cryptographic Work (P. Rogaway, 2015). Feel free to skim the more technical part of Part 4. (3) Please bring to class, as typeset hardcopy, a single-sentence question on the reading.	.
xx W 11/27	No class	Class cancelled. A film will be assigned in its place. Go have fun. But drive carefully and don’t eat tortured animals.	.
xx F 11/29	Thanksgiving	Thanksgiving — no class	Thanksgiving — no class
27 M 12/02	Week 11. Q20. We discussed the films and then the codes and pledges.	(0) Papers due for groups ?1? before class.Topic: Behaving well. (1) Read and think about the IEEE Code of Ethics and the ACM Code of Ethics and the neveragain.tech pledge and a few more pledges. (2) Watch a film about a person in science/technology who might be considered an ethical exemplar: Rachel Carson or Aaron Swartz or Edward Snowden.	.
28 W 12/04	Presentations ?1?.	(0) Papers due for groups ?2? before class. (1) Read papers X1? where X is your section number. (5 papers for Section 1 and 6 papers for Section 2). (2) C28: Provide provide your assessment—a typeset a paragraph of at least a few sentences—for each of the papers you just read. Clearly indicate the group number (the 3-digit code) as the title for that assessment. Print one-sided with one-assessment-per-page. Arrange them in numerical order. Don’t do an assessment of your own paper. Put your name on the top-right corner, in pencil or pen, of the first page.	.
29 F 12/06	Presentations ?2?.	(0) Papers due for groups ?3? before class. (1) Read papers X2? where X is your section number. (2) C29: Provide your assessments just as you did on Wednesday. Bring them to class. (3) #K: Upload your ethical journal to Canvas (not Gradescope). (4) #L: Also upload to Canvas a one-sentence statement—but only if it is true, of course—that you have submitted well-considered evaluations for our ECS 188 class and for all other classes you took this term, too. This must be done before 11:59 pm. Thanks in advance: I very much value your comments. You are on the “honor system” for this. This assignment will count like most others (10 points, like a quiz), but turning it in gets you full credit.	.
aa T 12/10	Section 1 final at 8:30 pm. Final exam (about 35 mins). Presentations 13?. Final comments from Jacob and me.	Read papers 13?. Assessments are optional. If you do them, I will make them available, today, to the group.	.
bb W 12/11	Section 2 final at 1 pm. Final exam (about 35 mins). Presentations 23?. Final comments from Jacob and me.	Read papers 23?. Assessments are optional. If you do them, I will make them available, today, to the group.