Social Implications of Computer Technology

CS 195, Fall 2020


Topics, Readings, and Assignments

Essay Essay Assigned Essay Due Peer Reviews Due
1 9/16 10/6 10/10
2 10/19 11/2 11/8
3 11/22 12/9 12/14

Readings are "required", "recommended", or "extra". Required readings must be done before class for the discussion to make sense. Recommended readings will be used as major sources in lecture, but I won't assume you've read them.

12/2 The Entwined Futures of Humans and Machines

Please complete this survey by Tuesday 12/1 at 11:59 PM. As usual, late surveys will be accepted.

11/18 Free Time and Attention

Please complete this survey by Tuesday 11/17 at 11:59 PM. As usual, late surveys will be accepted.

11/4 The 2020 U.S. Elections

Please complete this survey by 11:59 PM on Tuesday night, but preferably way before Tuesday so you can put in your predictions before the answer is maybe known.

There are no readings this week. Attendance is optional. Everyone will receive credit for attendance.

10/28 Politics and Media

Please complete this survey by 11:59 PM on Tuesday night!

10/20 Memes

Please complete this survey by 11:59 PM on Tuesday night!

10/14 Software Risks & Algorithmic Bias (Slides)

Please complete this survey by 11:59 PM on Tuesday night!

Software Risks

Algorithmic Bias

10/07 Jobs and Automation (Slides)

Please complete this survey ASAP!

09/30 Education (Slides)

Please complete this survey by 11:59 PM on Tuesday night!

09/23 Government Censorship and Surveillance (Slides)

Please complete this survey by 11:59 PM on Tuesday night!

U.S. Tech Companies and Chinese Censorship and Surveillance:

The U.S. ban on TikTok and WeChat:

Historical Censorship and Surveillance in the U.S.:

09/16 Megan Phelps-Roper (Slides)

Please complete this survey by 11:59 PM on Tuesday night.

09/09 Privacy (Slides)

Please complete this survey by 11:59 PM on Tuesday night.

09/02 Free Speech (Slides)

Please complete this survey by 11:59 PM on Tuesday night.

Recommended: Siripurapu, Anshu, "Trump’s Executive Order: What to Know About Section 230"

Recommended: Roose, Kevin, "Why Banning 8chan Was So Hard for Cloudflare: ‘No One Should Have That Power’"

Extra: Romano, Aja, "A new law intended to curb sex trafficking threatens the future of the internet as we know it"

Extra: Morrison, Sara, "Sen. Ron Wyden helped create the Big Tech industry. Now he wants to hold it accountable"

Extra: Wong, Solon, "Does the banning of Alex Jones signal a new era of big tech responsibility?"

08/26 SARS-CoV-2 (Slides)

In future weeks, readings will be required and there will also be a survey to fill out.

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