All the course materials will be distributed on Moodle.

Instructor Information

• Instructor: Dr. Jia Tao
• Email: taoj at lafayette dot edu
• Office: RISC 563
• Office Phone: (610) 330-3336
• Office Hours: see Moodle

Course Information

• Textbooks:
  • A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computing Technology (4th Edition)
    by Baase, S.
  • Computing: a concise history (2012, MIT press) by Ceruzzi, P. E.
  • #Republic : divided democracy in the age of social media (2018) by Sunstein ,C. R..
  • Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms (2018) by Fry, H.
  • Recoding Gender: Women’s Changing Participation in Computing (History of
    Computing) (2012) by Abbate, J.

• Prerequisite: None

Course Description

This course examines the computer’s cultural context: the managerial, political, legal, ethical, psychological, and philosophical implications of computing.

Course Goals and Outcomes

Course Goals:

After successfully completing this course, the student will be able to:

• Students will be able to communicate effectively through writing.
• Students will be able to discuss the professional, legal, and societal issues revolving around computers in terms of the ethical impact they present.
• Present materials on group projects.
• An ability to communicate effectively using oral presentations.

Course Outcomes:

At the conclusion of this course students will be able to do the following.

• ABET/CAC Outcome 3: Communicate effectively in a variety of professional contexts.
• ABET/CAC Outcome 4: Recognize professional responsibilities and make informed judgments in computing practice based on legal and ethical principles.

Important Dates:

• Normal Add/Drop deadline: February 7
• Spring break: March 17-21
• Midterm grades due: March 28
• Last day to Withdraw (WD): April 21
• Classes end: May 9
• Reading Days: May 10-11
• Final Exams: May 12-19

Grading Scale

Evaluation methods:

The course grade will be computed as a weighted average of different components listed below:

Attendance	Participation	Self-Assessment	Assignments	Group Project	Final Assessment
5%	15%	10%	40%	15%	15%

Grading Scale:
Typically, grades are assigned as follows from your final numerical grade:

	A:  >=93	B+: >=87 and <90	C+: >=77 and <80	D+: >=67 and <70	F:  <60
	A-: >=90 and <93	B: >=83 and <87	C: >=73 and <77	D: >=63 and <67
		B-: >=80 and <83	C-: >=70 and <73	D-: >=60 and <63

As per college policy, the course letter grade of “A” indicates excellent, “B” indicates good, “C” indicates satisfactory, and “D” indicates passing.

Course Policies 

Please see detailed course policies on Moodle.