Class meets live on Google Meet on Monday from 4:00 pm - 4:50 pm and on Tuesday and Thursday from 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm unless otherwise indicated. Readings shown should be completed before class that day (since we'll discuss in class). 

Note that UMD defines 1 credit hour as being equal to 3 hours of work. This is a 4 credit hour class, so in total you should expect to spend about 12 hours a week on this class. 4 hours are devoted to attending class, leaving 8 hours per week for reading, writing, etc. Please let me know if you find that you are spending significantly more time on this class than that. 

Week 1

• Mon Aug 25 : First Day of Class. Introductions.

• Tue Aug 26 : What is Ethics? What is Justice? What is Virtue?

• Thu Aug 28 : Read Chapter 1 of Justice. Discuss. What is a Personal Essay?

  • Note that Chapter 1 is approximately 30 pages.

Week 2

• Mon Sept 1 : No Class, Labor Day.

• Tue Sept 2 : Read Chapter 2 of Justice. Discuss. 

• Wed Sept 3 : Personal Essay #1 due by 11:59 pm. 

  • Here is your prompt : Describe a scenario from your life that occurred during 2024 or 2025 where you faced an ethical dilemma that you had to resolve. Describe the scenario in some detail, when and where did this take place, and what options did you have? Make it clear why you considered this to be an ethical dilemma. How did you resolve this dilemma? What virtues did your resolution honor? In retrospect, do you feel like you did the right thing? Why or why not? Please do not use "I had a colleague in my work or group project who did nothing" or "I saw my friend cheat or steal". While these are reasonable dilemmas they tend to have a very predictable analysis and so aren't especially interesting. 

• Thur Sept 5 : Read Chapter 3 and 4 of Justice. Discuss. 

  • Note that Chapters 2, 3, and 4 total approximately 70 pages.

Week 3

• Mon Sept 8 : Read Chapter 5 of Justice. Discuss.

• Tue Sept 9 : Read Chapter 6 of Justice. Discuss.

• Thur Sept 11 : Read Chapter 7 of Justice. Discuss

  • Note that Chapters 5, 6, and 7 total approximately 80 pages.

• Sun Sept 14 : Personal Essay #2 due by 11:59 pm

  • Here is your prompt : Find a news article about a current event that is ongoing in 2025 that illustrates an ethical dilemma. Your article should come from the AP News and have a publication date in 2025. In your essay explain the ethical dilemma in your own words and what options exist to resolve it. Then reason about the right thing to do according to two of our foundations. One of your foundations should be Utilitarianism (Chapter 3) or Libertarianism (Chapter 4) and the other should be Kant (Chapter 5) or Rawls (Chapter 6). These foundations may lead to different conclusions or one you don't agree with - do not be concerned about that since these foundations are meant to be tools for analysis and may not reflect our own beliefs. Finally, your essay should conclude with your opinion regarding the most ethical solution to your selected dilemma, and why you believe that. Make sure you find a news article and not a blog post, book or movie review, opinion piece, editorial, etc. Insert a link to your AP News article URL at the bottom of your essay and make sure that link is working and points to your article. 

Week 4

• Mon Sept 15 : Read Chapter 8 of Justice. Discuss.

• Tue Sept 16 :  Read Chapter 9 of Justice. Discuss.

• Thur Sept 18 : Read Chapter 10 of Justice. Discuss.

  • Note that Chapters 8, 9, and 10 total approximately 80 pages.

• Sat Sept 20 : Midterm 1 (take home exam) has been posted on this page.

Week 5

• Mon Sept 22 : [no class] Work on Midterm 1.

• Tue Sept 23 : [no class] Work on Midterm 1.

• Wed Sept 24 : Midterm 1 is due by 11:59 pm today. 

• Thur Sept 25 : Read Introduction to Weapons of Math Destruction. Discuss. More on the Podcast assignment. Please read the Podcast Guidelines before class.

  • Note that the Introduction is 12 pages.

Week 6

• Mon Sept 29 : Read Ch 1 of WMD. Discuss.

• Tue Sept 30 :  Read Ch 2 of WMD. Discuss. 

• Thur Oct 2 : Read Ch 3 of WMD. Discuss.

  • • Note that Chapters 1, 2, and 3 total approximately 55 pages.

Week 7

• Mon Oct 6 : Read Ch 4 of WMD. Discuss.

• Tue Oct 7 : Read Ch 5 of WMD. Discuss. 

• Wed Oct 8 : Personal Essay #3 due by 11:59 pm.

  • • Here is your prompt : Describe a WMD that you have knowingly used. What was it (give the name), why did you use it, and what did it do for you (both good and bad)? What makes it a WMD? Describe the feedback loops and proxies that are a part of this WMD and the impact they had on you. What could be done to disarm this WMD while still keeping it operational in some way. Would it still be useful (once disarmed)? Base all of the above on your own personal experiences and provide very specific examples based on these experiences. Your personal essay should be a unique expression of your experience and should not be generic or apply to anyone who might be using the same WMD (eg. Do not say "a company" name the company). Rely on the definitions of WMD, feedback loops, and proxies as found in Cathy O'Neils book. 

    • Thur Oct 9 : Read Ch 6 of WMD. Discuss.

    • Note that Chapters 4, 5, and 6 total approximately 55 pages.

Week 8

• Mon Oct 13 : Read Chapter 7 of WMD. Discuss.

• Tue Oct 14 : Read Chapter 8 of WMD. Discuss.

• Thur Oct 16 : Read Chapter 9 of WMD. Discuss.

  • Note that Chapters 7, 8, and 9 total approximately 55 pages.

• Sun Oct 19 : Personal Essay #4 due by 11:59 pm. 

  • Here is your prompt : Find a news article from 2020 or later from the AP News that describes a Weapon of Math Destruction.Your WMD should not involve social media or AI. In your essay describe the WMD clearly enough in your own words so that someone who has not read the article can understand what it does. Then explain why you consider it to be a WMD using Cathy O'Neil's criteria. Determine if your selected WMD is ethical using Immanuel Kant's conception of freedom and both of his Categorical Imperatives as described in our text Justice. Describe all three of these ideas in your essay and then reason with all of them as to whether your selected WMD is ethical or not according to Kant. Finally, do you agree with Kant? Why or why not? Please include a link to your news article at the end of your essay. 

Week 9

• Mon Oct 20 : Read Ch 10 of WMD. Discuss.

• Tue Oct 22 :  Read Conclusion and Afterword of WMD. Discuss. 

  • • Note that Chapter 10, Conclusion, and Afterword total approximately 50 pages.

• Thur Oct 23 : [no class] Fall Break

• Sun Oct 26 : Midterm 2 questions are now posted. Take home exam, 4 questions, similar in style to Midterm 1 but focused on material since Midterm 1. Philosophical foundations will be included to some extent. Make certain to review and understand our revised guidelines for Personal Essays (especially regarding notes and outline) as that will apply to this exam.

Week 10

• Mon Oct 27 : [no class] Work on Midterm 2

• Tue Oct 28 : [no class] Work on Midterm 2

• Wed Oct 29 : Midterm 2 due by 11:59 pm

• Thur Oct 30 : General discussion on representation in CS. Make sure you have your copy of Brotopia by today.

Week 11

• Mon Nov 3 : Read Introduction (Not Just a Pretty Face : Tech's Original Sin, 15 pages) to Brotopia. Discuss.

• Tue Nov 4 : Read Chapter 1 (From Nerd to Bro : How Tech Bypassed Women, 26 pages) of Brotopia. Discuss.

• Thur Nov 6 : Read Chapter 2 (The Paypal Mafia and the Myth of the Meritocracy, 26 pages) of Brotopia. Discuss. 

  1. • Note that the Introduction and Chapter 1 and 2 total approximately 70 pages.

• Sun Nov 9 : Personal Essay #5 due by 11:59 pm. 

  1. • Here is your prompt : You should have read the Introduction, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 of Brotopia before working on this essay. In these chapters (Intro, Ch 1, Ch 2) author Emily Chang suggests various reasons why women are underrepresented in Computer Science (either as students or professionals). 

     • NOTES : Create notes based on these chapters that provide details on two possible reasons from each chapter (this means there should be six possible reasons discussed in your notes). Your notes should also describe your own experiences that either support (or don't) each of these reasons. These experiences can be from school or work but they should be your own unique experiences. Your notes should be sufficiently detailed where your essay can be written based on that content. 

     • OUTLINE : After you have finished your notes, make an outline by describing each element from the prompt below that you will need to address in your essay. Each item in your outline should be followed by the specific points you will make to address them. You should complete both your notes and outline before writing your essay. Please start  your essay after your notes and outline so that all are immediately visible in your submission. 

     • ESSAY : After you have finished both your notes and outline, start writing a Personal Essay that describes the three reasons from these chapters (Intro, Ch 1, Ch 2) that you think are most significant. Note that this is deliberately a subset of what you have in your notes. Your description should be detailed enough so that a person who has not read Brotopia could understand. Make sure to mention the chapter and section heading where each reason is discussed. Why do you think the reasons you selected are the most significant. Support your views with your own personal experiences from school, work, or from the experiences of family members or friends. Please be specific in describing these experiences so that they are clearly uniquely yours.

• • Please review the guidelines for Personal Essays but in brief remember that you may not use AI in any way and you should have a minimum of 500 words. Make sure that the Google Doc with your essay is shared so that anyone with the link is an editor. If you aren't sure how to  do that, please watch the following very worthwhile 2 minute video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q6h1fYuYM4

Week 12

• Mon Nov 10 : Midterm 2 post mortem or additional discussion of Brotopia (??)

• Tue Nov 11 : Read Chapter 3 of Brotopia (Google: When Good Intentions Aren't Enough, 38 pages). Discuss.

• Thur Nov 13 : Read Chapter 4 of Brotopia (The Tipping Point: Women Engineers Speak Out, 30 pages). Discuss.

  1. • Note that Chapter 3 and 4 total approximately 70 pages.

• Sun Nov 16 : Podcast due by 11:59 pm

Week 13

• Mon Nov 17 : Midterm 2 post mortem or additional discussion of Brotopia (??)

• Tue Nov 18 : 

• Thur Nov 20 : 

Week 14 

• Mon Nov 24 :

• Tue Nov 25 : 

• Thu Nov 27 : [no class] Thanksgiving Holiday

Week 15

• Mon Dec 1 : 

• Tue Dec 2 : 

• Thur Dec 4 : Last Day of Class. 

Final Exam