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CSLV 4660 Sec. 001 -- Minds, Machines & Society
Spring, 2008
Final Exam outline:
For the final exam, you will be asked to choose one topic from each
of two lists. Each list will contain three topics,
one list from my lecture topics in the first half of the semester, and
one list from student presentation topics in the second half of the
semester.
In order not to give any student an unfair advantage, each student will
receive a customized list of topics, with the student's own
presentation topic omitted.
For each topic, you will be expected to write a short essay (about 300
words) analyzing one or two of the main social and/or ethical issues
raised by the topic. In your essay, I will be less interested
in your demonstrating your knowledge of the detailed subject matter and
more interested in the analytical depth of your discussion.
For instance, if you chose the topic of urban CCTV surveillance for
national security, I would not care if you know the number of CCTV
cameras installed in the UK, but I would expect to see an analysis of
how the desire for increased security should be balanced against the
need for privacy to prevent excessive government interference in
people's daily lives. Another issue that could be examined is
the impact that knowing this surveillance is going on would have on the
behavior of citizens.