| Semester: | Spring 2009 |
| Time: | Monday and Wednesday, 5:20PM - 6:40 PM |
| Location: | CS1310 |
| Text: |
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| Instructor: | Dr. Robert Kelly |
| E-mail: | Robert.Kelly@stonybrook.edu |
| Office hours: | Tuesdays, 1:30PM-3:00PM |
| Office location: | Computer Science 2427, 2nd floor. |
This course deals with the impact of computers on us as individuals and on our society. Rapid changes in computing technology and in our use of that technology has changed the way we work, play and interact with other people. These changes have created a flood of new social and legal issues that demand critical examination. For example, technologies such as gmail, FaceBook, MySpace, along with music sharing sites and wikis create new social, ethical, and legal issues.
Here are a few examples of the issues we will be talking about:
There are (at least) two sides to almost all of the questions we will consider in this course. We will spend much of our class time discussing the issues and exploring different points of view.
Upper division status is required to enroll in this course.
After successfully completing this course, you will:
We will be following the syllabus closely. The assigned reading for the class is primarily contained in the textbook. However, you will be expected to prepare for certain class discussions by reading additional material, usually found in documents (articles, standards, etc.) available on the Internet. The readings are included in the class notes and in a page on the class Web site.
Click on the lecture topic below to download a PDF file containing the class notes.
| Date | Topics | Textbook | Assignment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/26 (M) | Introduction | Due 2/1, Due 1/28 | ||
| 1/28 (W) | Background | Chap. 1 | ||
| 2/2 (M) | Privacy | Sec. 2.1 - 2.2 | ||
| 2/4 (W) | Privacy (continued) | Sec. 2.3 - 2.4 | ||
| 2/9 (M) | Quiz and Privacy (continued) | Sec. 2.5 | ||
| 2/11 (W) | Privacy (continued) | |||
| 2/16 (M) | Freedom of Speech | Sec. 3.1-3.2 | ||
| 2/18 (W) | Quiz and Freedom of Speech (continued) | Sec. 3.3-3.4 | ||
| 2/23 (M) | Freedom of Speech (continued) | Sec 3.5-3.6 | ||
| 2/25 (W) | Freedom of Speech (continued) | |||
| 3/2 (M) | University Snow Day | Ch. 4 | ||
| 3/4 (W) | Mid-term exam | |||
| 3/9 (M) | Project discussion and patents | USPTO General Info & Sec. 4.7 | ||
| 3/11 (W) | Copyrights | Sec. 4.1 - 4.6 | ||
| 3/16 (M) | Computer Crime | Chap. 5-6 | ||
| 3/18 (W) | Quiz and Internet Gambling | |||
| 3/23 (M) | Work | |||
| 3/25 (W) | Quiz and Evaluating and Controlling Technology | Chap. 7 | ||
| 3/30 (M) | Evaluating and Controlling Technology | |||
| 4/1 (W) | Errors, Failures, and Risks | Chap. 8 | ||
| 4/13 (M) | Professional Ethics | Chap. 9 | ||
| 4/15 (W) | Quiz and Professional Ethics | |||
| 4/20 (M) | Case study (Guest) | |||
| 4/22 (W) | Case study (Microsoft Anti-trust case) | Read Wikipedia page "United States v. Microsoft" | ||
| 4/27 (M) | Project Presentations (1-Vincent) | |||
| 4/29 (W) | Project Presentations (1-Addisen/Boubacar; 2-Winter) |
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| 5/4 (M) |
Project Presentations (1-Gary/Dan; 2-Mike) |
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| 5/6 (W) |
Project Presentations (1-George, 2-Vaibhav/Bonpreet) |
Most class assignments will involve preparation for a class discussion. Typically, this preparation will involve reading material beyond the text book as it relates to a single assigned topic. For many class sessions, 2-3 students will be asked to prepare for a discussion on a particular topic. This preparation typically will involve reading references cited in the text, usually about 20-30 pages.
Your term project will be a detailed analysis of a computer-related patent of your choice. You will present your work in class, using PowerPoint slides. The presentation will be approximately 30 minutes including questions.
You will also submit some early material, related to your project (e.g., selection of a patent and a brief summary of that patent). You will receive approval if the project is appropriate to the class and if there are no other students analyzing the same patent. When you submit a component of the project, please include the following in the body of the e-mail.
This is a three credit graded course. Your final grade is based on a combination of quizzes, a mid-term exam, class presentations , oral communications, and final project. The weighting of the these components is 20/20/20/10/30.
The mid-term exam and the quizzes will be closed book, however most of the questions will be selected from among the review material in the textbook. Your total quiz grade is computed as the total of each quiz grade, with the lowest grade dropped.
Be sure to be there for the assigned examination time since there will be no make-up exams.
The Pass/No Credit (P/NC) option is not available for this course.
As a student at Stony Brook, you have agreed to follow the university's rules regarding academic honesty and appropriate conduct. You should read both the academic honesty information and procedures and the student code of conduct, which can be found in the student handbook.
Each student must pursue his or her academic goals honestly and be personally accountable for all submitted work. Representing another person's work as your own is always wrong. Any suspected instance of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Academic Judiciary. For more comprehensive information on academic integrity, including categories of academic dishonesty, please refer to the academic judiciary web site.
If you have a physical, psychological, medical or learning disability that may impact on your ability to carry out assigned course work, I would urge that you contact the staff in the Disabled Student Services office (DSS) in the ECC building (where the Computer Store used to be), 632-6748v/TDD. DSS will review your concerns and determine with you what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation of disability are confidential.
If you need general computer help, you can use the Computer Science Help Desk. Services offered include setting up an account on a department server, using Windows NT, using a browser, and connecting to the campus network. The Help Desk office is located in the SBCS Office - Room 2110.