Integrating Social Responsibility into Core CS

I believe that social responsibility should be integrated in core technical CS curriculum, and not just relegated to standalone ethics courses. My work has focused on creating ethical reflection assignments that are tightly coupled with technical programming goals (in CS 1), and I’ve been fortunate to share these assignments with instructors in secondary ed and higher-ed classrooms across the country.

I also believe that there is a fundamental limit on the impact of modules without reorienting our entire CS curriculum - equipping students with the necessary cultural background to meaningfully engage with the sociotechnical nature of their products. We should pay closer attention Nicki Washington’s work on Cultural Competency in Computing, and consider how to reprioritize the role of social sciences and humanities within CS core curriculum. Below, see my activity in this space - both at Bucknell and beyond.