PROPOSAL FOR A NEW COURSE

Date of proposal: 4/10/06

Title: Social and Professional Issues

Department and Course Number: CSCI 281

Crosslisted?   Yes   No X     If yes, crosslisting department and number:

Credit: 1/4   Hours/week: 4 in one module

One-time:     or    Permanent Offering: X

Instructor: Steven Huss-Lederman

How will this course be taught, given present staffing, without creating a course overload?

This course proposal is part of a comprehensive change to the computer science curriculum. The course load under this proposal will not create an overload.

Are there any course fees? If so, specify what the course fees are intended to cover.

None

Prerequisite(s):

Computer Science 123 and 201 or consent of instructor.

Catalog description (50-150 words, please):

If applicable, include the following language at the end:  “May be repeated for credit if topic is different.”

This course addresses risks, liabilities, economic and ethical considerations in CS. It is designed as a junior year capstone experience to unify the topics covered in several core computer science courses as well as prepare students for the senior capstone experience.

Additional course content description (aims, purposes, etc.) beyond the catalog description:

Ethical judgments are no different in the area of computing from those in any other area. Computers raise problems of privacy, ownership, theft, and power, to name but a few. This course covers fundamental concepts such as: What are computer ethics? What are the philosophical foundations of computer ethics? How do computer ethics relate to professional ethics? Topics covered may include: privacy; intellectual property rights; accountability; defensive architecture & software; offensive issues; the use of information; the human element of employer and employee ethics; the social context of computing; methods of ethical analysis; professional responsibility and codes of ethics; computer security, risks, and liabilities; computer crime, viruses, and hacking; global ethics and the Internet.

The lettered/numbered lines below come from CC2001. Underlined items are considered essential to a basic curriculum in computer science. Numbers in () indicate minimum number of hours to cover in a lecture style according to CC2001.
Items with a * indicate we plan to cover them in multiple courses.
Other lines include additional topics we plan to cover or clarification of topics we will cover within a CC2001 topic.

• *SP3. Methods and tools of analysis (2)
• *SP4. Professional and ethical responsibilities (3)
• *SP5. Risks & liabilities of computer-based systems (2)
• SP6. Intellectual property (3)
• SP9. Economic issues in computing
• SP8. Computer crime
• SP10. Philosophical frameworks

Course goals/objectives/outcomes: 

• To understand the philosophical foundations of computer ethics, including the relationships with ethics in other spheres of human interaction.
• To be able to debate the pros and cons of various issues of current significance in technology.
• To appreciate the ways in which what is best for individuals is not necessarily the ethically correct decision.
• To learn the interactions between computer ethics and a socially responsible career in technology.

Course structure. Check all that apply:

 Lecture/Discussion  X      Studio     Lab/Workshop     Other (Specify)

If current library or equipment holdings are inadequate, estimate the cost of additional holdings required.

$300-$600

Please attach names of a proposed text and/or core readings.

• Computer Ethics, 3rd ed., Deborah G. Johnson
• CyberEthics, by Terry Halbert & Elaine Ingulli
• Computer Ethics and Professional Responsibility, ed. by T. Bynum & S. Rogerson
• Computer and Information Ethics, by Marsha Woodbury
• Computers, Ethics, and Society, 3rd ed., by M. D. Ermann & M. Shauf
• The "Computer Risks" columns of Peter Neumann et. al., online and in the Communications of the ACM (Assoc. of Computing Machinery)

Form revised 11/04