CSci 300: Social Responsibility in Computer Science
Fall Semester 1996
Revised Syllabus

Locations

The fall semester 1996 class meets in Weir Hall 351 at 11:00 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday.

The class is taught by Prof. Conrad Cunningham, whose office is 312 Weir Hall. Prof. Cunningham's official office hours for this semester are 9:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Monday & Wednesday, 1:15 p.m.to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday & Thursday, or by appointment.

Course Description from the Catalog

Study of the nature of and need for social responsibility and ethical behavior in computing and the computer professions. (1 hour)

Prerequisite

Junior Standing in Computer and Information Science

School of Engineering Honor Code Statement

"The Honor Code shall apply to all students, both undergraduate and graduate, registered in and/or seeking degrees through the School of Engineering. The Honor Code shall be understood to apply to all academic areas of the School such as examinations, quizzes, laboratory reports, themes, computer programs, homework, and other possible assignments. Only that work explicitly identified by the class instructor not to be under the Honor Code is excluded. The intent of the Honor Code is to recognize professional conduct and, thus, it shall be deemed a violation of the Honor Code to knowingly deceive, copy, paraphrase, or otherwise misrepresent your work in a manner inconsistent with professional conduct."

Source Materials

Textbook:

Peter G. Neumann. Computer Related Risks, Addison Wesley, 1995.

Readings:

Various journal, conference, or WWW materials as appropriate.

Course Topics

See the discussion topics page for a more detailed listing and schedule.

1. Computing as a profession. Professional responsibility and ethics.
2. Software as intellectual property.
3. Privacy and civil liberties.
4. Risks and reliability.

Assignments

• All students are expected to study the relevant portions of the textbook and handouts in conjunction with our class discussions.
• Assignments will involve reading, thinking, discussion, writing, and oral presentation.
• A significant portion of the final grade will be based on class attendance and meaningful participation.
• No programming assignments are planned.
• All students are expected to do their own work on assignments unless an assignment is explicitly designated as a group assignment.
• All students are expected to complete their homework assignments by their due dates.
• See the assignments page for more detailed information.

Examinations

• No examinations.

Grading

My grading scale is A [90..100], B [80..0), C [70..0), D [60..0), and F [0..60).

See the assignments page for the percentages of the semestger grade allocated to each assignment.

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