Social Implications of Computer Technology

CS 195, Fall 2021


Topics, Readings, and Assignments

Date Lecture Topic or Assignment Links
08/25 Free Speech () Slides
09/01 Privacy () Survey; Slides
09/08 Government Censorship and Surveillance () Survey; Slides
09/15 Jobs and Technology () Survey; Slides
09/22 Education () Survey; Slides
09/26 Essay 1 Proposal Due at 11:59pm Proposal Form
09/29 Copyright & Patents () Survey; Slides
09/29 Essay 1 Due at 11:59 PM Submission Link
10/06 Memes () Survey; Slides
10/06 Essay 1 Peer Reviews Due at 11:59 PM Review Link
10/13 Politics and Media () Survey; Slides
10/20 Software Risks and Algorithmic Bias () Survey; Slides
10/27 Fireside Chat () Survey
10/31 Essay 2 Proposal Due at 11:59pm Proposal Form
11/03 Labor () No Survey!
11/03 Essay 2 Due at 11:59 PM Submission Link
11/10 Megan Phelps-Roper () Survey; Slides
11/10 Essay 2 Peer Reviews Due at 11:59 PM Review Link
11/17 Wealth and Finance () Survey; Slides
12/01 The Distant Future Survey; Slides

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

More information about the assignments, including the essays, can be found on the assignments page.

12/01 Lecture 14: The Distant Future (Slides)

Please complete this short Lecture 14 survey by Tuesday 11/30 @ 11:59 PM!

11/17 Lecture 13: Wealth and Finance (Slides)

Please complete this short Lecture 13 survey by Tuesday 11/16 @ 11:59 PM!

11/10 Lecture 12: Megan Phelps-Roper (Slides)

Please complete this short Lecture 12 survey by Tuesday 11/9 @ 11:59 PM!

Required: Without Fail (Alex Blumberg), "How Megan Phelps-Roper Left the Westboro Baptist Church"

11/03 Lecture 11: Labor (Guest Lecture by Ari Edmundson)

10/27 Lecture 10: Fireside Chat

Please complete this short Lecture 10 survey by Tuesday 10/26 @ 11:59 PM!

10/20 Lecture 9: Software Risks and Algorithmic Bias (Slides)

Please complete this short Lecture 9 survey by Tuesday 10/19 @ 11:59 PM!

Software Risks:

Algorithmic Bias:

10/13 Lecture 8: Politics and Media (Slides)

Please complete this short Lecture 8 survey by Tuesday 10/12 @ 11:59pm.

10/06 Lecture 7: Memes (Slides)

Please complete this short Lecture 7 survey by Tuesday 10/05 @ 11:59pm.

Please complete this short Lecture 6 survey by Tuesday 9/28 @ 11:59pm.

09/22 Lecture 5: Education (Slides)

Please complete this survey by 11:59 PM on Monday 9/20.

09/15 Lecture 4: Jobs and Technology (Slides)

Please complete this short Lecture 4 survey by Tuesday 9/14 @ 11:59pm.

09/08 Lecture 3: Government Censorship and Surveillance (Slides)

Please complete this short Lecture 3 survey by Monday 9/6 @ 11:59pm. If you're late that's OK, but earlier responses make it easier for me to tailor the lecture to your interests.

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

Historical Censorship and Surveillance in the U.S.:

09/01 Lecture 2: Privacy (Slides)

Please complete this short Lecture 2 survey by Tuesday 8/31 @ 11:59pm.

08/25 Lecture 1: Free Speech (Slides)

No readings.