Formal education can rarely improve the character of a scoundrel.
- Derek Bok, President, Harvard University, 1982

but we're willing to try

A futurologist saw it another way:

but then:

This course studies the social impact, implications and effects of computers on society, and the responsibilities of computer professionals in directing the emerging technology. Includes studies of reliable, risk-free technologies, systems which provide user friendly processes. Specific topics include an overview of the history of computing, computer applications and their impact, the computing profession, career choices and challenges, and the legal and ethical responsibilities of professionals.

Table of Contents

• Announcements and New Information. Announcements about the course such as changes to the schedule, modifications to the assignments, and the installation of new pages will be posted to the course LISTSERV. All participants should ensure that they are on the distribution list.

• Syllabus

• Course Outline

• Calendar. This is where you will find out what is happening in each class, together with a listing of the reading you should be doing in advance of each class. Through this page you will also have access to the course notes and overheads used in class.

• Assignments

• Department and Class Policies

• Site Map of this collection of course materials. If you forget where something is in the hierarchy of WWW pages, look here.

WARNING

Just in case you did not know, CS 3604 cannot be used in a CS minor as the required 3XXX course and cannot be used for potential internal transfer applicants as a "higher level" course as a substitute for CS 1044/1344 and 1104 in the transfer requirements.

Among the tasks that you will be undertaking will be the need to search the web for information. The following sites may be helpful:

• All In One Search Page (access to a multitude of search engines)
• LEXIS®-NEXIS® Academic Universe provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information
• Or the one that I find to be an excellent source of materials "Ask Jeeves"

Ethics, Computers, Technology - A Listing of Textbook Resources in association with Amazon.com and chapters.ca.

"Should IT Professionals Be in the Ethics Business?", by Marsha Heller, CIO Magazine, 15 July 2000.

Similar courses are taught in several other institutions. You may want to visit their home pages to get a different viewpoint on the topics covered herein.

(These links tend to change from semester to semester and from instructor to instructor. Please tell us about bad links, and if possible give the replacement URL.)

• COMPUTER ETHICS, by Robert N. Barger, University of Notre Dame
• Bibliography of Computing, Ethics, and Social Responsibility, Herman Tavani, Rivier College, Southern Illinois University.
• University of South Florida (CIS 4250, Ethics & Computing, Kevin Bowyer)
• Washington State University has an excellent collection of directories of articles which users will find very useful.
• Internet privacy: Legal and technical dilemmas (MIT 6.805/6.806/STS085: Ethics and Law on the Electronic Frontier ).
• Computers, Security, and Ethics, University of Illinois
• University of Pennsylvania
• Ethics in Computing, North Carolina State University
• California State University, Long Beach
• University of Michigan
• University of Delaware
• Boise State University
• Duke University
• Stanford University, CS 201, Computers, Ethics, And Social Responsibility.
• Engineering Ethics at Texas A&M.
• Wayne State University Law School
• George Washington University
• University of Western Ontario: Cyber-communications: Communications and Learning Technologies In Contemporary Society Information Studies 244F/G
• Computers, Ethics, and Society (U. of Pennsylvania course CIS590, David Farber). Here is the list of pointers to the course readings, many of which deal with cryptography, Clipper, etc.
• Computers and Society (Washington University EP/CS142, Lorrie Cranor).
• Social and Ethical Issues in Computer Science (Oregon State University CS391, Tim Budd).
• RMIT CS292 Professional Development Home Page, Latrobe University, Australia.
• Computers, Crimes, and Privacy, School of Law, Santa Clara University, by D. Friedman
• The School of Communications at California State University, Fullerton - ETHICS ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB.

Corporate Ethical Concerns are Important Too:

• Office of Ethics and Business Conduct, Lockheed Martin Corporation: Corporate Ethics, April 1999.

There are also several organizations that support the concepts of professional ethics in computing:

• The Cyberspace Policy Institute, George Washington University.
• National Institute for Engineering Ethics (USA). See also http://homepages.infoseek.com/~eng_ethics/index.html.
• U.S. Office of Government Ethics
• CPSR - Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility.
• The Electronic Frontier Foundation. Their archives contain an extremely useful set of links.
• ACM Special Interest Group on Computers and Society (SIGCAS).
• The IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology.
• Joint IEEE Computer Society and ACM Steering Committee for the Establishment of Software Engineering as a Profession
• Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility, De Montford University, UK.
• Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University.
• American Civil Liberties Union.
• The Poynter Center at Indiana University-Bloomington.
• The Joseph & Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics
• The National Institute for Engineering Ethics.
• Web Clearinghouse for Engineering and Computing Ethics
• Ethics Center for Engineering and Science.

Reference: Bok, Derek, Beyond the Ivory Tower: Social Responsibilities of the Modern University, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., p. 123, 1982.

Comments on errors, suggested updates, changes, and evaluations should be sent by e-mail to J.A.N. Lee

Last Updated: 2002/10/15
© J.A.N. Lee, 1995-2002.