Course Syllabus

Ethical and Professional Issues – CSE 40175 / CDT 40630

Spring Semester 2019 DeBartolo Hall 102 (T, R - 15:30 - 16:45)

Instructor: Nathaniel Kremer-Herman (nkremerh@nd.edu).

Teaching Assistant: Mark Horeni (mhoreni@nd.edu).

Office Hours: 308 Cushing Hall of Engineering (W, F 13:30-15:30).

Appointments Outside of Office Hours: Email at least 24 hours beforehand.

Communication Expectations: The instructor can be expected to reply to emails sent during the work day (09:00-17:00) within 24 hours. Emails sent outside of these hours or during the weekend may not receive a reply until the next work day.

Course Description: This course seeks to develop a solid foundation for reasoning about ethical, professional, and social issues that arise in the context of computer science and engineering. Emphasis is placed on identifying appropriate legal, professional, and ethical contexts and on applying sound critical thinking skills to a problem. Topics covered include professional codes of ethics, safety-critical systems, whistleblowing, privacy and surveillance, freedom of speech, intellectual property, and cross-cultural issues. This course relies heavily on case studies of real-world incidents.

Student Learning Outcomes:

  1. Communicate effectively about a wide range of ethical, professional, and social issues regarding computer science and engineering in a variety of mediums and platforms
  2. Analyze complex ethical and technical issues by identifying stakeholders, exploring opposing positions, and considering short-term and long-term consequences.
  3. Discuss the impact of computing and technology in the past, the issues and obstacles facing society in the present, and opportunities for ethical technology considerations in the future.
  4. Evaluate different ethical, professional, and social issues in the context of computer science and engineering.

Readings and Online Materials: Required readings are all available free of charge on the course website.

Assignments and Course Requirements:

Writings (7 blog-style posts in a GitHub Pages website, 6 one-page personal responses) – 60%

Participation (1 in-class presentation, 12 in-class policy proposals) – 30%

Final Exam (take home exam, due at the end of the final exam period) – 10%

Grading Policy: No late assignments will be accepted except under extenuating circumstances which must be made known 24 hours in advance of the deadline. No credit will be given for missed participation except under extenuating circumstances. If you are not in class to participate in discussion, you do not receive points. Specific details of assignments and their due dates are found on the course website. Each assignment will be graded and returned within two weeks following its due date. This course uses the standard University of Notre Dame grade scale.

Course Policies:

  1. Attendance is important to this discussion-based class. Short reading quizzes will be given periodically to keep track of attendance and will go toward the participation grade.
  2. Teamwork in your ethical framework group will be important to everyone’s grade for website posts and in-class policy proposals. The grade is shared across all group members for these assignments.
  3. Consideration that this discussion-based class may present topics which some will be very passionate about. There will be disagreements. Remember to voice your opinions respectfully.
  4. Awareness that we are each representing a specific ethical framework, and opinions shared may not match the beliefs of the person sharing them including the instructor, TA, and guest lecturers.

Course Storyboard: Throughout this course, we will act as a fictional professional organization, the Ethical Computing Institute, which has as much clout in the computer technology field as titans like ACM and IEEE. Much of the detail about this fake organization is left vague because we will create that narrative together throughout this course. In the first week of class, we will divide into separate groups each according to a specific ethical framework (a guide to making ethical decisions). These groups will represent the various interest groups in the organization.

Each Thursday, we will hold a mock executive board meeting in which a scenario and related question will be posed to the class. Each ethical framework interest group will have time to discuss among themselves and present their response to the question as well as a final policy proposal regarding the scenario choosing from one of these three actions: censure an actor in the scenario (someone made the wrong choice), commend an actor in the scenario (someone made the right choice), or present a proposal to change the code of ethics of our organization in response to the scenario (our frame of reference is wrong).

You may not agree with the viewpoint of the interest group you are assigned at the beginning of the semester, and that is okay. Do it justice. On the ninth week of the semester (during Spring Break), we will have a “midterm shuffle” in which you will move to a group you agree with or one you disagree with but find interesting. Either way, you will be representing a different ethical framework for the second half of the semester. One of the goals of this course is to effectively voice the perspectives and concerns of multiple points of view. We will do this shuffle twice more after the Spring Break. By the end of this course, you will become an expert in applying four different ethical frameworks to ethical and professional issues in computer technology.

Schedule Changes: Any changes made to the course schedule will be noted on the course website at least one week in advance. An email will be sent to the class when schedule changes are made.

Students with Disabilities: Any student who has a documented disability and is registered with Disability Services should speak with the instructor as soon as possible regarding accommodations. Students who are not registered should contact: sarabeadisabilityservices.nd.edu.

Mental Health: Diminished mental health can interfere with optimal academic performance. The University Counseling Center (UCC) provides cost-free and confidential mental health services to help you manage personal challenges that threaten your emotional or academic well-being. Remember, getting help is a smart and courageous thing to do — for yourself and for those who care about you. For more resources please see: ucc.nd.edu.

Inclusiveness: The University of Notre Dame is committed to social justice. I share that commitment and strive to maintain a positive learning environment based on open communication, mutual respect, and non-discrimination. In this class we will not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, economic class, disability, veteran status, religion, sexual orientation, color, or national origin. Any suggestions as to how to further such a positive and open environment will be appreciated and given serious consideration.

Honor Code: All work that you submit must be your own. Collaboration is encouraged but must be disclosed by all parties. Print or online resources are allowed, but must be disclosed. However, you may not look at solutions from other current or past students, or any other source. Entering Notre Dame you were required to study the on-line edition of the Academic Code of Honor, to pass a quiz on it, and to sign a pledge to abide by it. The full Code and a Student Guide to the Academic code of Honor are available at: honorcode.nd.edu.

University Student Grievance Policy: The University Student Complaint Policy can be found at: sarabeadisabilityservices.nd.edu/policies/student-grievance-policy/

University Grade Appeal Policy: The University Grade Appeal Policy can be found at: registrar.nd.edu/faculty/gradechanges.php