Ethics and the Internet
2.0:
Pervasive Computing in the Digital
Age
www.duke.edu/~wgrobin/ethics
Click
Here for Summer 2002
REL 185.03
» Spring
2002
Department of Religion » Duke
University
|
Time:
Wed,
7-9:30 pm
|
Place:
220
Gray Building
|
Instructor:
Wendy Robinson
|
|
Office:
02CC Perkins
(through iMac
Lab)
|
Voice:
(919)
681-1702
|
Fax:
(919)
660-3530
|
|
Office
Hours:
(add'l times by
appt) |
Tues:
5-7 pm, The Perk |
Wed:
in office
before class |
Q&A
- 1.
Why Ethics and the Internet
2.0?
- Ethics and the Internet
(E&I) is six years old. What's changed since
1996?
- 2.
Why "pervasive
computing"?
- As a culture we are
"mobilizing." Computing is moving beyond the desktop to
something we do "on the fly," 24/7. Some pundits claim that
computing is becoming ubiquitous or pervasive, meaning
online is merging with offline, networked computing taking
place around us nearly constantly.
- 3.
What is a cyborg and what does it have to do
with E&I 2.0?
- A cyborg is a human being who
relies on cybernetic mechanisms for his or her survival and
has at least somewhat merged, or bonded, with the interface
or artifice. As a concept, the cyborg has become a way of
reflecting on the "posthuman" computer-mediated condition or
augmented humanity.
- 4.
How will handhelds be used in- and outside of
the classroom?
- With the support of an
instructional technology grant for 2001-02 from the Center
for Instructional Technology (CIT), we have handheld devices
for use for in- and outside the classroom. You are
encouraged to use the Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) as
often in as many aspects of your life as possible over the
semester.
- 5.
What will determine my grade in the
class?
- Overall evaluation depends on
the quality of your four essays and your ability to
articulate how the Internet, digital media and/or wearable
or handheld devices . . . are affecting society and our
values.
Assignments:
Three
short essays:
Due these Weds: Feb 6, March 6
& April 3
(4-6 pages) |
20% each
60% total |
Final, longer essay on chosen topic and course
subject matter:
Due Wed, May 1, 8
pm
(8-10 pages) |
30% |
Attendance, class & device participation, pop
quizzes (TBA) and abstract:
Abstract due
Thurs, April 11
(one paragraph description
abstract on email)
Note that absolutely no student
work may be submitted as attached files — failure to
honor this request counts against
participation. |
10% |
Texts:
Purchase class texts at
the Regulator Bookshop
on Ninth Street.
The reading load is 50-75 pages or
a third of a typical textbook per week. To make the
below a bit easier to scan, the book references are
underlined. In cases where the authors are notable or
important for the history of cyber thought (particularly early
in the semester), their home pages or biographies have been
provided as links for optional reading.
As noted, some readings may be
skimmed or surfed: With
these articles and sites, the intent is for you to comprehend
the gist and be able to discuss what they represent in class
and in your essays without necessarily having to read
closely. Getting a sense of the issues in advance may be
necessary for class activities. Therefore, skim means
skim, not skip over.
We only have time to discuss
portions of the course texts in class. For your final
essay, however, read all the articles and sections within the
books that are appropriate for your topic. You'll find
additional resources on Backflip.
- » Halbert, Terry & Elaine Ingulli
(H&I):
- CyberEthics
(2002)
- » Hester, D. Micah & Paul J. Ford, eds
(H&F):
- Computers and Ethics
in the Cyberage (2001)
- »
Johnson, Deborah (J):
- Computer Ethics, 3rd ed (2000)
- » Myerson, George
(M):
- Heidegger, Habermas and the
Mobile Phone (2001)
- » Trend, David (T):
- Reading Digital Culture
(2001)
. . . plus selected online
readings and handouts TBA
- Be
sure to see and use the online coursepak on
Backflip
Schedule:
Weeks and Section
of Course |
Date, Topic and
Class
Activities |
Readings and Assignments |
1
-
2
-
3 |
Introduction:
Real, virtual, mobility &
other class terminology, Luddism, mechanization &
cyborgization, and the history of the
future |
Jan 16 » |
Fill
out the intro
form — we'll take photos in class |
The below are
four articles from the New York Times (free
password required):
Gleick: "Inescapably
Connected: Life in the Wireless Age" (April
2001)
Pogue: "Gadgets
for a More Sober World" (Sept 20, 2001)
Romero: "The
Simple BlackBerry Allowed Contact When Phones
Failed" (Sept 20,
2001)
Romero: "What
Now for Wireless?" (Oct 8, 2001)
Also:
Pastore: "Spending
Carefully or All Teched Out?" (Oct 2001)
Skim
Consumer Electronics
Association: Vision
Magazine (Jan 2002) |
| Jan 23 » |
Digitization, Virtual Community and
Cyberculture
See Why the Digital Age?
Listen to an
excerpt of
Negroponte:
Being
Digital (1995)
Kurzweil:
The
Age of Spiritual Machines (1999)
Distribute PDAs
|
- Negroponte: "Bits
and Atoms" (1995)
-
- Rheingold: "Introduction
to the Virtual Community" (1993)
- (also in H&F, chap 3)
-
- Rheingold: "Mobile
Virtual Communities" (2001)
-
- Silver: "Looking
Backwards, Looking Forward: Cyberculture Studies
1990-2000" (2000)
|
| Jan 30 » |
Past and Future Technologies, Progressive and
Reactionary
Watch excerpts
of
Lang: Metropolis
(1926)
PBS: The 1900
House (2000)
Group
discussion |
- Salkever: "The
Future According to Ray Kurzweil" (2000)
-
- Joy:
"Why
the Future Doesn't Need Us" (2000)
- Rheingold: "Look
Who's Talking" (1999)
H&F, chap
3,
- Dorbolo: "Social
Strategies for Software" (1999)
Robinson: "Technological
Futures and Determinisms" (2001)
Skim
H&F, chap 1,
Mumford:
"Assimilation of the Machine" (1934)
Barbour: "Views of
Technology" (1992) |
4
-
5
-
6 |
Context:
Cyber life, ethical framework,
social computing and democracy |
Feb 6 » |
Virtuality, Cyberspace, Networked
Information
See models of
telepresence
Robinson: Mediated
Bubble (2001)
Steuer: Vividness
and Interactivity (1995)
Listen to an
excerpt of
Gibson:
Neuromancer
(1984)
First essay due |
H&F, chap
3,
Barlow: "Is There
a There in Cyberspace?" (1995)
T: parts I, III &
IV
Aronowitz:
"Technology and the Future of Work" (1994)
Bush:
"As
We May Think" (1945)
Castells:
"The Information Economy" (1993)
Turkle: "Who
Am We?" (1996)
Zuboff: "Dilemmas of
Transformation" (1988)
|
| Feb 13 » |
Ethical
Theory and Is Digital Media "Different"?
Watch excerpts
of
Cringely: Nerds
2.0.1 (1998) |
- J, Preface, chaps
1 & 2: Intro
& Philo Ethics
- (thru
p 53)
|
| Feb 20 » |
Social
Computing and Democracy
Catch-up
Group discussion
|
J, chap
8: E&I II
H&F, chaps 2, 4, 7
& 12,
Dertouzos: "Creating the People's
Computer" (1997)
Gore:
"Remarks on the Internet and Information Technologies"
(1994-99)
Ogden: "Electronic Power to
the People" (1996)
Skim
Plant:
"On
the Mobile" |
7
-
8
-
9 |
Norms
I:
Politics, digital divide, cyber
civil liberties, legal issues
|
Feb 27 » |
Regulation and
Demographics — Also Crime, including Hacking &
Viruses, Identity Theft & Passwords
Lecture on Internet
policy & usage trends |
Barlow: "Declaration
of the Independence of
Cyberspace" (1996)
J, chap
4: E&I
I
H&F, chap
9: Hacking &
Viruses (all)
Skim
WhiteHouse.gov
Falling
through the Net (summary, 2000), 4th installment of
the Dept of Commerce's Digital Divide
reports
Bridges.org:
"Spanning the International Digital Divide"
- Web sites of the FCC, FTC, EFF, CDT & EPIC
- Including
FCC: Parents,
Kids & Communications
- FTC: Kidz
Privacy
|
Mar 6
& 13 » |
Second essay
due |
Spring Break |
| Mar 20 » |
Intellectual
Property, including Copyright, Patents, Trademarks &
Trade Secrets
Group discussion on Net
economics
|
Barlow: "Economy"
(1994) & "Next
Economy" (2000)
H&I, chap 1:
IP
Note: This is the larger-size legal book
J, chap
6:
IP
Skim
U.S. Copyright Office's Copyright
Basics & Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (summary,
1998) |
| Mar 27 » |
First Amendment,
including Minors Online, Hate Speech, Decency &
Obscenity (Pornography) and Censorship — Also Online
Dating and Sexuality
Group
discussion |
Brown: "The
Internet's Public Enema No. 1" (2001)
Chaudhry: "Who
Owns the N-Word Dot Com?" (1999)
H&F, chap 7,
Ogden: "Electronic
Power to the People" (1996)
H&I, chap 3:
Cyberspeech
Note: This is the larger-size legal book
Also
H&F, chap 12,
Dibbell: "A
Rape in Cyberspace" (1993)
Gilbert: "On Space, Sex, and
Being Stalked" (1996)
Skim
EFF's
Blue Ribbon
Campaign
Net Decency & Sexuality links on Backflip |
10
-
11 |
Transitions — Norms II and Cyber
Theory:
Legal issues continued,
postmodernism (simulation & Panopticon), pervasive
computing & 24/7 access
|
Apr 3 » |
Privacy,
Confidentiality, Surveillance & Related
Issues
Watch excerpts
of
TLC tape on
privacy, security & political freedom
You may be interested
in
Ridley Scott's celebrated television
commercial that launched the Macintosh
in 1984 and that aired only once nationally at the
Super Bowl |
J, chap
5: Privacy
H&I, chap 2:
Privacy
Note: This is the larger-size legal book
Skim
H&F, chap 7,
Markey: "Remarks
at CFP Conf" (1999)
Elgesem: "Privacy, Respect
for Persons, and Risk" (1996) |
12
-
13
-
14
-
Final |
Cyber
Frontier:
AI, VR & virtual environments,
cyborgs, robots and other machine
intelligences |
Apr 10 » |
Pervasive
Computing, Wireless & Wearables and the Dystopian
Backlash
Overview of postmodernism
& related theory
Watch excerpts
of
TLC tape on
virtual
environments
Third essay due
|
All of
M
Rheingold: "Disinformacy"
(1993)
The files below are
all PDAs
Chambers: "The
Aural Walk" (1994)
du Gay & Hall: "Regulating
the Walkman" (1997)
Note: large file size
Tristam: "Handhelds
of Tomorrow" (2002)
See
Apple's "digital
lifestyle" ad
|
| Apr 17 » |
Posthumanization and Cyberspace
Watch excerpts
of
PBS: Beyond
Human (2001)
Abstract due by lunchtime on Thurs, April 18,
via email |
All of T: Part
VI:
Readings 30-35, Markley-Ross
Tan: "Robotic
Toys Stir Unease" (2001) — will be distributed on
email
H&F, chaps 4, 10 &
12,
Kellner &
Groothuis:
"Losing Our Souls in Cyberspace"
(1997)
Maguire &
McGee:
"Implantable Brain Chips?" (1999)
Turkle: "What
Are We Thinking About?" (2000) |
| April 24 » |
Catch-Up, Review &
Assessment
Student
volunteers present
Farewell
party
Evaluations and return
PDAs |
Catch-up, including
discussion of advanced readings and essay topics
Duke Computer Policies (1996-99)
Skim
J,
chap 7: Accountability |
| Wed, May 1, 8 pm » Final essays
due |
|