Social Implications of Computing

Catalog description

3 Lecture Hour(s) 0 Lab Hour(s) This course examines the increasingly complex interaction between computer systems, our social fabric and ethics. Software and microprocessors control automobiles, banks, brokerage trading, aircraft, medical equipment, and just about every other device used in industrialized nations. Impacts of computerized systems upon personal privacy and citizen involvement in governance are examined in relation to the public policy questions of the day. The role and opportunity for historically under-represented groups will be explored. Interdisciplinary readings are stressed, along with required written and oral presentations and class debates.