CS3162 Professional Responsibility in CS and SE
Fall 2023
Instructor: John Cole
 Section 052 Monday/Wednesday from 10:00 AM to 11:15 PM
From August 21 through October 8, 2023
Section 092 Monday/Wednesday from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM from October 16 through November 29
Office and Hours  Room: ECSS 2.412

Teaching Assistant: None

 Last update: 7/26/2023
Syllabus is on Coursebook Schedule for Section 092
Textbook:A Gift of Fire, Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computing 62 Pearson Publishing by Sara Baase & Timothy M. Henry ISBN 13:978-0-13-461527-1

Course Description

Professional and ethical responsibilities of computer scientists and software engineers as influenced by growth in computer use and networks. Costs and benefits of computer technology. Risks and liabilities of safety-critical systems. Social implications of the Internet. Interaction
between human values and technical decisions involving computing. Intellectual Property. Global impact of computing. Dangers of AI and
Robots. The Singularity. Topics will vary by class and level of participation.

This course involves considerable reading, not just of the textbook but papers, as well.  Don't get behind in the reading, since we will have homeworks on each reading assignment, and late assignments lose credit quickly.  However, most of the reading is interesting and thought-provoking, so it isn't terribly difficult.  Grading will consider how well you explain and defend an opinion, not the opinion itself.  That is, I don't care which side of an argument you take as long as you then explain and defend that side well.  Please check your grammar and spelling, since while this is not directly graded, sloppiness that makes your writing difficult to understand can lose you a few points.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Ability to understand professional issues and responsibilities
  2. Ability to understand ethical issues and responsibilities
  3. Ability to understand legal issues and responsibilities
  4. Ability to understand security issues and responsibilities
  5. Ability to understand social issues and responsibilities
  6. Ability to analyze the local impact of computing
  7. Ability to analyze the global impact of computing
Link to The Twilight Zone video: The Lonely