CS 301: Social Implications of Computer Technology

Course Syllabus

Spring, 2025

Section 1001: 1-1:50am Mon; TBE B-176

Section 1002: 1-1:50pm Wed; TBE B-176

Section 1003: 10-10:50am Tues; TBE B-176

Prof. Hal Berghel; office: TBE B-378A; phone: 702-895-2441;

pick one: {hal.berghel \\unlvdomain, hlb \ \acm/ /org, hlb \ \computer/ /org }

office hours: Monday-Friday - 8:30 am to 9:50 am and by appointment

Teaching Assistant: Bao Phung, phungb2 \\unlv.nevada // edu

 

 


Course Description:

Examination of ethical and social issues relating to the use of computing and networking technology. Discussion of social trends and their possible effects. Review and discussion of the ACM Code of Ethics for computing professionals.

General notes:

  1. the Syllabus for this course will be maintained on the instructor's website at www.berghel.net/sat
  2. You will be responsible for 84 pages of assigned readings during the semester. These assigned readings will be provided in the form of an ONLINE TEXT. come from online resources, many if not most of which were written by the instructor - think of them collectively as the course textbook. There may be an occasional external resource as well.  In either case, URLs for the readings will be clearly identified as such in this syllabus. Time permitting, I will discuss all reading assignments in the lectures. However, you will be responsible for all reading assignments whether or not they are discussed in the lectures.
  3. Test questions covering the reading assinments are available in the class STUDY GUIDE . All exam questions will come from this study guide. If an assigned reading is not covered in the study guide, there will be no questions on that reading on an exam. (Note that I use this study guide for several classes, so not all study guide content relates to CS301).
  4. UNLV POLICIES AND RESOURCES
    1. The current UNLV policies that govern instruction are posted on the website of the The Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost at https://www.unlv.edu/policies/students.
    2. In addition, these resources may be of interest::
      1. Writing Center Statement
      2. Tutoring Availability
      3. UNLV Annual Security Report
      4. UNLV campus police crime log
      5. UNLV Institutional Metrics
    3. Additional University Policies: https://www.unlv.edu/policies/additional
    4. Supplementary course references (f.y.i.):
      1. Jaron Lanier, Ten Arguments for Deleting your Social Media Accounts Right Now, Picador reprint, 2019.
      2. Richard Spinello, Cyberethics: Morality and Law in Cyberspace, 7th ed., Jones and Bartlett, 2021.
      3. 2023 ACLU Report on School Surveillance
    5. FORMATS for written work. Provide references for all non-original material. Quotation according to the principles of "fair use" under the U.S. Copyright laws apply. i.e., quoting and identifying a source is acceptable, but plagiarizing a source is not. Any student found to have plagiarized will receive an "F" for the assignment. If you have any questions about this policy, consult with the instructor.
  5. GRADING SCALE : Grading will be on a standard "university scale," i.e., 90-100=A; 80-89=B; etc. The contribution of exams, homework, projects, etc. will vary but will be explained in the syllabus at the time of assignment.
  6. Your FINAL GRADE will be determined by two components, in equal measure::

    - or, in the case of exceptional circumstances (e.g., audio or visual impairment) - and with the permission of the instructor-

What you will need for your presentation:

  1. A small USB memory stick formatted in either NTFS or FAT32 (preferred) for your presentation slides. I recommend against accessing your slides from a cloud service because of the delays involved. If you choose to download your slides from a network resource, understand that the time spent accessing your slides will be deducted from the 10 minutes provided for your talk.
  2. You will need access to a computer that can be used to prepare your presentation slides. The UNLV Office of IT has Windows labs for students on campus. Alternative formats such as PDF are acceptable so long as OIT can confirm that they can be rendered by the classroom computer.
  3. Only hardcopy will be accepted (these documents will be retained for ABET accreditation purposes). To minimize the amount of paper used, you must submit the slides "handout style" 4 or 6 to a page, double sided. Failure to use handout style will result in a 25% grade penalty. The course TA will provide advice on how to print handout style should you need help.

ABET Course Outcomes:

Syllabus

(reminder: When UNLV closes during the classweek, students are advised to attend other sections. You are still responsible for the material covered.)

General Overview of Course

Lectures by date and topics: (see the CS301 online text for links to reading assignments.)

Week of January 20: Technology, Information, and Innovation

Week of January 27: Disinformatics (note: UNLV is closed for Labor Day on September 2)

Week of February 3: Information Technology and Democracy

Week of February 10: Computing Crime, Education and Professional Ethics

Week of February 17: study week: office hours held during classtime

Week of February 24 - Mid-Term Exam -Exam is "closed everything": e.g., "closed book," "closed notes," PDAs and computers turned off, cell phones off, etc. The detection of any mobile device in use will result in an exam grade of F. Make sure to confirm that you have the latest revision of the study guide.

Student Presentations Begin (Speakers: provide slides in handout form to instructor on your way to the lectern. USB port available on lectern computer. Attendance will be taken!)

Week of March 3- Student Presentations / written reports due

  1. section 1001 (Monday)
    1. Chad Alberto
    2. Katya Alimov
    3. Adrian Arcenas
    4. Jacob Chanhthavong
  2. section 1003 (Tuesday)
    1. Zavier Bodager
    2. Hareign Casaclang
    3. Alex Cheda
    4. Thomas Feng
  3. section 1002 (Wednesday)
    1. Lucas Beers
    2. Michael Bellantoni
    3. Kosuke Carlson
    4. Kwasi Clouden

Week of March 10-- Student Presentations

  1. section 1001 (Monday)
  2. section 1003 (Tuesday)
  3. section 1002 (Wednesday)

Week of March 17-- No Class - Spring Break

Week of March 24 - Student Presentations

  1. section 1001 (Monday)
  2. section 1003 (Tuesday)
  3. section 1002 (Wednesday)

Week of March 31 - Student Presentations

  1. section 1001 (Monday)
  2. section 1003 (Tuesday)
  3. section 1002 (Wednesday)

Week of April 7- Student Presentations

  1. section 1001 (Monday)
  2. section 1003 (Tuesday)
  3. section 1002 (Wednesday)

Week of April 14- - Student Presentations

  1. section 1001 (Monday)
  2. section 1003 (Tuesday) -
  3. section 1002 (Wednesday)

Week of April 21- - Student Presentations

  1. section 1001 (Monday)
  2. section 1003 (Tuesday)
  3. section 1002 (Wednesday)

Week of April 28- - Student Presentations

  1. section 1001 (Monday)
  2. section 1003 (Tuesday)
  3. section 1002 (Wednesday)

Week of May 5 - (all sections) Student Outcome Assessment, review of ACM Code of Ethics, and course review (Re: ABET Student Learning Outcome 4, above). Attendance in this Class is Mandatory!