Syllabus
| Meetings | 3pm-4:20pm on Monday and Wednesday |
| Room | CIT 241 |
| Prerequisites | Completed CS Intro Sequence (i.e., CSCI 0160, 0180, 0190, or 0200) |
| Instructor | Julia Netter (julia_netter@brown.edu) |
| Head TA | Julia McCauley |
| UTAs | Swetabh Changkakoti and Krishi Saripalli |
| Office Hours (Julia N.) | Mo, 4:40-6pm, Friday 3-4:30pm |
| Assignments | Weekly reflection papers, four (extensive) labs, one final project. |
| Late Policy | Three late days in total for labs and final project. |
| Grading | Weekly reflections: 15%; Participation: 10%; Discussion Leadership: 15%; Labs: 35%; Final Project: 25%. |
| Course Time | Students will spend approximately 3 hours per week in class (39 hours total) and 1 hour per week in lab sections (13 hours total). They will spend 2-3 hours per week preparing readings (26-39 hours total) and around 1h per week writing reflections on the readings (13 hours total). Labs and the final project will take on the order of 6-8 hours per week (105-120 hours total). Total estimated course time: 196-224 hours. |
Course Details
Learning objectives
In this course, you will learn
- how to analyze and critically engage with perspectives from ethics, social and political theory and other related disciplines which speak to the social impacts of computing;
- how to relate these perspectives to the practical process of building technology and the technical decisions faced by computer scientists; and
- how to apply them to technical decisions at various stages of the software development process, reorienting the practice of computer science to center the design and implementation of software and digital technology around a critical assessment of its social and political impacts.
Course structure
This is an advanced, interdisciplinary course. As such, it involves reading papers and other primary literature from philosophy and social and political theory, discussing them in class, applying them to problems in computing, and exploring new ideas. It is best suited for students who are interested in exploring interdisciplinary questions and comfortable with delving into unfamiliar literature.
Seminar sessions
In weekly seminar sessions, we will discuss how crucial ideas from ethics and social and political theory shed light on the social impacts of computing. The purpose of these sessions is to introduce you to key approaches and concepts of those disciplines, explore them in depth and to connect them to existing technologies and approaches in CS. We will read both key texts from ethics and social and political theory as well as interdisciplinary literature, and use them as a starting point for developing and critiquing normative arguments and positions about how digital technology shapes the lives of individuals and society. You will take turns presenting core ideas from the literature to kickstart the discussion.Weekly reflections
Every week, you will write a short critical reflection (around 500 words) on the readings assigned for the week. The prompt for each week's reflection will be released ahead of time. In addition to your reflection, you will also submit one question on the readings every week. The question can be based on your reflection, focus on a different aspect in the reading material or can be more generally related to the topic of the upcoming session. Reflections are graded for completion: you will get full credit as long as you submit all of them and they reflect a reasonable attempt to engage with the topic and texts. Reflections are due each Tuesday by 6pm.Labs
You will explore the choices and tradeoffs those perspectives require engineers to make from a technical perspective in four small, guided technical assignments and written reflections. In these lab assignments, you will engage with different aspects of technical development like specification, documentation, auditing, modeling, system design, writing code, code review, analysis, testing. You will apply non-technical ideas and concepts discussed in the seminar sessions to the technical case study presented in each lab assignment and reflect on how those ideas would affect technical decision making in that specific context.Lab sections
You will prepare and debrief your lab assignments in (approximately) bi-weekly lab sections with the TAs (the schedule and calendar will be updated with section dates).Final project
You will be able to propose your own project or choose from a selection of pre-defined project ideas which require you to seek out and integrate input and feedback from disciplinary experts from fields beyond CS. Over the course of the semester, you will simulate a process of social and political engagement informed by the ideas and concepts explored in the seminar sessions. To that end, you will adopt the roles of different stakeholders who critically assess each other’s projects: engineers and non-CS advisors, regulators, and critics in the wider public sphere (media, social movements, NGOs). You will be asked to critically reflect on your engagement with stakeholders and to make technical choices in light of the perspectives they provide (and document their reasoning in a project report).Discussion leadership
You will be responsible for leading and engaging others in parts of the discussion in one course session during the semester. (Session assignments will take place in week 1). You are expected to come prepared with a set of questions you’d like to discuss and help guide the discussion in class towards aspects of the topic you want your fellow students to engage with. (You must meet with Julia N. ahead of time to prepare for your discussion leadership session.) Please sign up for a discussion leadership slot here.Participation
This is a seminar course, so the discussion in class is an essential component. Your participation grade consists of two components: your presence in class: one unexcused absence is no problem, but beyond that, if you cannot attend class for legitimate personal reasons or due to sickness, please email me in advance; participation in class discussion: I expect you to contribute to the discussions we have in class. I think of class discussion primarily as a space for learning, which is why you will not be graded on the content of your contributions but only on whether you are an active participant.
A note on the culture of debate we would like to foster in this course: discussions in this class are not about winning an intellectual battle, but about engaging with others’ views on their merits. They are also about taking intellectual risks, putting forward a potentially controversial argument, as well as receiving and offering constructive criticism. This is only possible in a class environment in which we build trust. In class, I therefore expect us all to treat each other courteously, engage with each other’s arguments constructively and in good faith no matter the topic.
Policies
You can use a budget of three late days in total for the labs and the final project. The purpose of these late days is to provide you with some flexibility for unexpected situations in which you find yourself unable to complete an assignment on time (e.g., coinciding deadlines, extracurricular commitments, minor illness etc.). For those situations, we normally expect you to use your late days, rather than asking for an extension, so make sure to use them judiciously.
I expect you to attend every session, but let me know if you have any special requirements. For sickness and other issues of wellbeing, please obtain a Dean's note and I will accommodate them.
The course will involve substantial reading for each meeting, and you will need to stay on top of the assigned readings to keep up, as we quickly move between topics. However, the texts we read are relatively standalone, so finding one paper difficult to read will not disadvantage you going forward.
Reflections are due at 6pm (Eastern) on Tuesday, and owing to the small amount of credit they contribute individually, there will be no late submission. If you do encounter particular, unexpected hardships however, please send me an email.
Accommodations
Brown University is committed to full inclusion of all students. Please inform me if you have a disability or other condition that might require accommodations or modification of any of these course procedures. You may email me, come to office hours, or speak with me after class, and your confidentiality is respected. I will do whatever we can to support accommodations recommended by SEAS. For more information contact Student and Employee Accessibility Services (SEAS) at 401-863-9588 or SEAS@brown.edu.
Mental Health
Being a student can be very stressful. If you feel you are under too much pressure or there are psychological issues that are keeping you from performing well at Brown, I encourage you to contact Brown’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). They provide confidential counseling and can provide notes supporting extensions on assignments for health reasons.
Academic Integrity
From the Brown academic code: “Academic achievement is ordinarily evaluated on the basis of work that a student produces independently. Students who submit academic work that uses others’ ideas, words, research, or images without proper attribution and documentation are in violation of the academic code. Infringement of the academic code entails penalties ranging from reprimand to suspension, dismissal, or expulsion from the University.
“Brown students are expected to tell the truth. Misrepresentations of facts, significant omissions, or falsifications in any connection with the academic process (including change of course permits, the academic transcript, or applications for graduate training or employment) violate the code, and students are penalized accordingly. This policy also applies to Brown alums, insofar as it relates to Brown transcripts and other records of work at Brown.
“Misunderstanding the code is not an excuse for dishonest work. Students who are unsure about any point of Brown’s academic code should consult their courses instructors or an academic dean, who will be happy to explain the policy.”
Please review the Brown Academic Code here.