[liberationtech] [cpsr-activists] CPSR Curriculum?

[Daniel Bosk]

On Thu 31 Jan 2019 21:28:53 GMT, Doug Schuler wrote:
> I had been talking to Dick Sclove about this recently and he said that
> adding ethics or social responsibility as a class that graduates had to
> take was essentially a bad idea. Louis Bucciarelli  apparently was using
> this in the engineering department at MIT.
> 
> I wonder if this approach is being taken in any other CS departments.
 
Not as a class. But it's definitely part of the courses in a programme. 
For instance, I start my Computer Security course with a seminar on such 
a topic. Instruction here:

  https://github.com/OpenSecEd/ethics/releases/download/v1.1/security-society-seminar.pdf

This is actually motivated by the Swedish Qualifications Ordinance [1], 
which regulates requirements for academic degrees in Sweden. Already at 
Bachelor level we have:

  For a Degree of Bachelor the student shall

  - demonstrate the ability to make assessments in the main field of 
    study informed by relevant disciplinary, social and ethical issues

  - demonstrate insight into the role of knowledge in society and the 
    responsibility of the individual for how it is used

  [...]

  For a Degree of Bachelor of Science in Engineering the student shall

  - demonstrate the ability to make assessments informed by relevant 
    disciplinary, social and ethical aspects

  - demonstrate insight into the possibilities and limitations of 
    technology, its role in society and the responsibility of the 
    individual for how it is used, including social and economic aspects 
    as well as environmental and occupational health and safety aspects,

And then it increases the requirements for Masters and PhDs.

[1]: https://www.uhr.se/en/start/laws-and-regulations/Laws-and-regulations/The-Higher-Education-Ordinance/Annex-2/

> On Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 8:55 PM Paul (via cpsr-activists list)
> <cpsr-activists+tallpaul=gmail.com at lists.cpsr.org> wrote:
> 
> > speaking of curriculum:
> > Harvard works to embed ethics in computer science curriculum – Harvard
> > Gazette
> >
> > https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/01/harvard-works-to-embed-ethics-in-computer-science-curriculum/
> >
> > On Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 8:01 PM Yosem Companys (via cpsr-activists list)
> > <cpsr-activists+ycompanys=gmail.com at lists.cpsr.org> wrote:
> >
> >> Wow, I'd love to see that, even if for historical reasons...
> >>
> >> On Wed, Jan 30, 2019 at 6:33 PM Jeff Johnson (via cpsr-activists list)
> >> <cpsr-activists+jjohnson=uiwizards.com at lists.cpsr.org> wrote:
> >>
> >>> CPSR Folks,
> >>>
> >>> I seem to recall that educators in CPSR developed a “Socially
> >>> Responsible Computing” curriculum for college courses.  Am I remembering
> >>> correctly?  If so, please refresh my memory, or point me to anything online
> >>> about it.  Of course, it probably is decades old.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks,
> >>> Jeff Johnson
> >>> ____________________________________________________________