CSCE 390 Spring 2011: Syllabus (subject to change)

Reference materials:

  • Robert N. Barger. Computer Ethics: A Case-based Approach. Cambridge University Press, 2008 (required text, referred to as [B]). Supplementary materials from the publisher are available online.
  • The last day to withdraw without failure is Monday, February 28, 2011. The final exam for the course will take place on Thursday, April 28, 2011, at 0900 in the classroom (SWGN 2A27). This is the regularly scheduled time for courses taught from 1530 to 1620 on Thursdays. ( See the university exam schedule.) The syllabus is subject to change: this is especially true of homework.

    DayTopic Homework
    (1) January 13Philosophical inventory; Introduction; The Computer as a humanizing agent (Chs.1-2 [B]) TBD
    (2) January 20 Philosophic Belief Systems: Idealism and Realism (Ch 3 [B]) TBD
    (4) January 27 Talk on careers by Ms. Helen Fields of the USC Career Center: The Value of Experiential Learning (Confirmed) TBD
    (3) February 3 Philosophic Belief Systems: Pragmatism and Existentialism (Ch 3 [B]) The possibility of a unifying ethical theory. (Ch. 5 [B]) TBD
    (5) February 10 The ethical decision-making process (Ch. 6 [B]). TBD
    (6) February 17 The ethical decision-making process, ctd. Psychology and computer ethics (Ch.7 [B]) TBD
    (7) February 24 The computing field as a profession (Ch.8 [B]) TBD
    (8) March 3 Colloquium talk by Dr. Csilla Farkas on Computer Security and Information Assurance TBD
    March 10 Spring Break NA
    (9) March 17 Presentation by Prof. Homayoun Valafar on Bioinformatics (TBC) TBD
    (10) March 24 Colloquium talk by Professor Duncan Buell on Electronic Voting Machines (TBC) TBD
    (11) March 31 Three case studies for the Joint Software Engineer's Code TBD
    (12) April 7 TBD TBD
    (13) April 14 TBD TBD
    (14) April 20 TBD TBD