8/20/2014

 

SYLLABUS

STS 2500: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, ETHICS, AND POLICY

Fall, 2014

 

INSTRUCTOR:

Professor: Deborah G. Johnson

Phone: 924 -7751

Office Hours: Tuesdays 1:30-3:00 or by appointment

Office: Thornton Hall A223

email: dgj7p@virginia.edu

 

MEETING TIMES AND PLACES:

Lecture: 11:00-12:15 Tuesdays - Thornton Hall D222

Discussion Sections:

            9:30-10:45 Thursdays - Thornton Hall D222

            11:00-12:15 Thursdays - Thornton Hall D222

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

In the last several decades, many domains of human activity have been reconfigured around computers and information technology (IT).  The reconfiguration has affected social values and norms, social organization, and the character of human relationships, and this has given rise to a myriad of ethical issues.  This course seeks to examine the ethical issues with an eye to new policies.  The challenge is to understand precisely how computers and information technology affect social relationships, institutional arrangements, human behavior, and in particular social values and norms.  However, it is not enough just to examine what is happening (descriptive and empirical analysis), normative analysis is also essential.  Normative analysis involves identifying key ethical issues, evaluating alternative strategies or approaches, and recommending policies.

 

This course introduces and builds on two bodies of knowledge: (1) theoretical and empirical understanding of how information technology shapes and is shaped by society; and, (2) concepts and theories in moral philosophy (ethics).  These foundational theories and concepts will be used to identify and analyze ethical and value issues. This semester the focus will be primarily (though not exclusively) on big data, privacy and surveillance, social media, and digital order.

 

GOALS OF THE COURSE:

This is first and foremost an ideas course.  The aim is to expose students to a variety of powerful ideas for thinking about the implications of computers and information technology, the ethical issues arising around the technology, and the kinds of policies needed to harness this technology for the good of humanity.  In introducing these ideas and using them to analyze a set of issues, the aim is that students will learn to use these ideas on their own to understand, critique, and ultimately shape policies and the future development of information technology.  This is not a course in which memorization of facts or figures is nearly as important as: using theory; articulating arguments; seeing connections; making distinctions; identifying implications; and thinking critically.  These skills are intimately connected to being able to write and speak clearly.

 

Through the course, students will:

1) Develop a fuller, richer, deeper understanding of the social, ethical, and policy issues in societies configured around information technology;

2) Enhance their analytical skills; that is, enhance their ability to think critically, understand and think in terms of arguments, analyze cases, use theory, and connect themes to arguments and theories;

3) Improve their oral and written communication skills.

 

GRADES

 

Grades will be calculated as follows:

• Four 500 word papers, each worth 6 points (4 x 6 = 24)
• Midterm 1000 word essay, 13 points
• Final 1000 word essay, 13 points
• Quiz on Ethical Theory, 6 points
• Two Current News Items, 3 points each (3 x 2 = 6)
• Starting/Leading Class Discussion (or another in class contribution), 4 points
• Class Participation 34 points (13 of these points are attendance, .5 for each class meeting after the first day)

 

            TOTAL number of possible points = 100

 

READING ASSIGNMENTS:

The only textbook for the course is D. G. Johnson’s Computer Ethics 4^th Ed (hereafter CE) (Pearson, 2009).  This textbook will be used to introduce topics and sketch the ‘lay of the land’ for each general topic.

 

Because the topic of the course is timely, textbooks tend to become outdated and need to be supplemented.  In order to keep current, the bulk of reading for the course will be articles taken from journals or online venues.  These readings will be provided on the course Collab site under ‘Resources’ or you will be given a link to an online resource. 

 

Reading assignments for the semester are specified tentatively in the table at the end of this syllabus. Because this is a tentative plan it is important for you to check the Collab site each week.  Each week, the next week’s assignment will be posted on the front page of the Collab site.

 

The amount of reading you will have to do each week will vary but approximately 20 pages of reading will be assigned for each class meeting (a total of approximately 40 pages per week).  The reading should be done before the class meeting.  Although the quantity of reading is relatively light, you will be expected to read carefully and be prepared to discuss what you read.

 

CLASS PARTICIPATION

Class participation grades will be calculated based on a combination of attendance and quality of participation.  You will have an opportunity to self-evaluate your class participation.  Quality of participation involves contributing in a way that shows that you are engaged with the ideas in the readings and that you have thought about the reading or ideas carefully and critically.  Good quality contributions show that you understand the material and that you have heard what others have said.  However, good quality contributions can also take the form of asking questions about parts of the reading that you don’t understand or stating what has already been said in a clear and useful way.  Good quality contributions aren’t necessarily creative or original.

 

No laptops are allowed in class except when it will help class discussion to look something up.  Your class participation grade will be affected by use of laptops in class (staring at a computer screen is not consistent with engagement in class discussion).

 

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

As described above, the course requires four 500-word essays and two 1000-word essays (midterm and final).  Unless otherwise specified, each of the papers is due before midnight on the Sunday of the week in which it is due.  Papers should be submitted electronically through the course Collab site. 

 

Word count for writing assignments must be within 10% of the assigned number, e.g., 1000 words means 1000 +/- 100; 500 words means 500 +/- 50; etc.

 

CURRENT NEWS ITEM

Twice during the semester, you must present a report on a current news issue that is relevant to the course material. Think of these as brief oral reports though in order to receive credit, you must write and hand in a one-paragraph summary.  The reports can be based on newspaper articles or online venues describing a new legal, policy, or ethical issue relating to information technology that has come up recently.

 

These reports will be presented at the beginning of each discussion class meeting.  The presentation should take no more than 5 minutes and should: (1) describe the issue discussed in the news piece; and (2) explain how it connects to a topic or reading or idea that has been or will be taken up in the class.  You must do one of these before October 19 (the Thursday of Week 8) and one before the end of classes.  You can bring in a report on Tuesday or Thursday.

 

STARTING/LEADING CLASS DISCUSSION

At least once during the semester, each student will be expected to start class discussion by reviewing the reading assignment for that day and then posing questions that will generate a high level of class discussion. The questions should NOT be a survey of what the class thinks about the topic but should ask about the reading or theme relevant to the reading, e.g., an idea that needs to be vetted – examined in more detail or challenged. The assignment is designed to develop your skill at identifying the key ideas in a reading, presenting orally, and thinking critically about what you read.  Thinking critically doesn’t necessarily mean finding fault with an idea; it can include exploring how the idea might apply to particular situations, drawing out the implications of the idea; using it in different ways to see if it holds up when used, as well as identifying faulty reasoning or false assumptions.

 

HONOR AND ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Student-teacher relationships are based on trust.  For example, students must trust that teachers have made responsible decisions about the structure and content of the courses they teach, and teachers must trust that the assignments students turn in are theirs.  Acts that violate this trust undermine the educational process.  UVA’s Honor System helps maintain a community of trust.

 

You must sign and date all written assignments for this course, and your signature will be taken as your pledge that the work is yours and that you have neither given nor received inappropriate aid on that assignment.  Generally you are encouraged to talk to other students about the issues being addressed in the course and you are encouraged to read material other than that assigned in class.  However, when it comes to written or oral assignments, the words and ideas must be your own.  If you turn in work electronically, the pressing of the button of submission will be interpreted as your pledge.

 

SEMESTER AT A GLANCE WITH READING AND WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

Here is a tentative schedule for the first half of the semester.  The dates for the writing assignments are not likely to change but, as mentioned earlier, the weekly reading assignments may.

 

 

	Tuesday/Lecture	Thursday/Discussion
Week 1	August 26: Introduction and Overview	August 28:  CURRENT CONTROVERSY – Research on Facebook Read: Blog entries (the link is provided in Collab with instructions on what to read)
Week 2 500 word paper due	September 2:  CURRENT CONTROVERSY – A Right to be Forgotten? Read:  Websites (links provided in Collab) and Rosen, “The Right to be Forgotten” (in Collab)	September 4:  CURRENT CONTROVERSY – Robot Caregivers Read: Sharkey and Sharkey, “Granny and the robots” (in Collab)
Week 3	September 9:  COMPUTER ETHICS/STS Read: CE, Chapter 1	September 11: ETHICAL THEORY Read: CE, Chapter 2 [Video in class]
Week 4	September 16:  ETHICAL THEORY in Use Read: No new reading	September 18:  ETHICAL THEORY in Use Read: Waddington, Ultra-violent Video Games (in Collab)
Week 5 Quiz	September 23:  FROM OLD TO NEW Read: CE, Chapter 3 (28 pages) Quiz on Ethical Theory	September 25: FROM OLD TO NEW Hindman & Thomas, When old and new media collide
Week 6 500 word paper due	September 30: PRIVACY/SURVEILLANCE Read: CE, Chapter 4 (27 pages)	October 2:  PRIVACY/SURVEILLANCE Read: Richards, The Dangers of Surveillance [Show privacy video]
Week 7	October 7: PRIVACY/SURVEILLANCE Read: Cottrill, Location Privacy: Who Protects?	October 9: PRIVACY/SURVEILLANCE Read: Ohm, Broken Promises (excerpts)
Week 8 1000 wrd midterm due	October 14:  READING DAY – NO CLASS Read: No New Reading	October 16: PRIVACY/SURVEILLANCE Read: Macnish, Unblinking eyes