CSE 390HB - 123 Honors Seminar
Instructor: Adrian Salguero (asalguer [at] cs [dot] washington [dot] edu)
Welcome to CSE 390HB, the Honors section for CSE 123!
Each week, we will discuss various topics related to computer science. Our sessions will mostly relate to the societal and cultural impacts of technology and CS, and some exploration of some technical concepts. This course is NOT an opportunity to learn more programming or add more "rigor" to CSE 123, nor is any background or familiarity with computer science required outside of what is necessary for CSE 123. This is an opportunity to think about computer science and other related topics in a broader context.
Required Book: The Ethical Algorithm
Author: Michael Kearns & Aaron Roth
Michael Kearns is Professor and the National Center Chair in the Computer and Information Science department of the University of Pennsylvania, where he has secondary appointments in Economics and the Wharton School. He is also the Founding Director of Penn's Warren Center for Network and Data Sciences. Kearns has published widely in machine learning, artificial intelligence, algorithmic game theory and quantitative finance. He has worked extensively in the finance and technology industries, and consulted on various legal and regulatory matters involving algorithms, data, and machine learning. Together with U.V. Vazirani, he is the author of An Introduction to Computational Learning Theory.
Aaron Roth is the class of 1940 Bicentennial Term Associate Professor in the Computer and Information Science department at the University of Pennsylvania, where he co-directs Penn's program in Networked and Social Systems Engineering. Roth has published widely in algorithms, machine learning, data privacy, and algorithmic game theory, and has consulted extensively about algorithmic privacy. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) awarded by President Obama in 2016. Together with Cynthia Dwork, he is the author of The Algorithmic Foundations of Differential Privacy.
Some Purchasing Options: Third Place Books, Powell's Books, Amazon (eBook cheaper). Also available online through UW Libraries.
Please contact Adrian if you are have concerns about getting a copy of this book.
Credit
This is a 1-credit, discussion-based course. To earn credit for this course, you need to "complete" 7 weeks of discussion activities and the culminating project.
To "complete" a weekly discussion activity , you need to complete all of the following 3 things that week:
- Do the assigned reading
- Complete the required post-reading reflection (requires some effort for completion)
- Attend the discussion for that week
If you finish all the tasks and attend for a week, it's "completed". There are 9 weeks that we will be meeting so that means you are able to miss 2 and still receive credit for the class!
The readings and activities for this class are not meant to take up a lot of time and you are not being tested on your understanding of the material. The exercises are there to get you thinking about computer science, how you can apply it to your own areas of interest, and how it impacts your day to day life.
Final Project
You must submit a final project as well, which involves you creating a video or writing a short research paper and performing a peer review. Details on the project can be found on this Google Doc. Your video or paper will be due on Thursday, June 11 at 11:59pm. Peer reviews will be due on Sunday, June 14 at 11:59pm. Please reach out to Adrian if you have any questions regarding the assignment.
Meetings
Our class meets on Tuesdays from 3:30 pm - 4:50 pm in LOW 118.
Discussion Norms
- Make room for everyone to participate; invite in those who haven't spoken for a while
- When someone describes a lived experience, believe them
- Acknowledge that identities are not monolithic
- Be comfortable not knowing, and be respectful when others don't know
- Critique ideas, not people
- Avoid posturing
- Anyone can step away at any time
Course Content
All reading assignments are due at 3:00pm PT on the day of class.
| Date | Info |
|---|---|
| 04/07 |
In this section, we will all meet and get to know each other and have a broad overview of what we want the discussion to look like this quarter. Due Today:
|
| 04/14 |
In this class, we will discuss some of the background context for The Ethical Algorithm. We will discuss what the authors meant by algorithms, models, and meta-algorithms (learning algorithms). Due Today @ 3:00 pm:
|
| 04/21 |
In this section, we will talk about privacy. We will discuss two notions of privacy the authors presented: k-anonymity and differential privacy. We will also talk about the implications of these privacy definitions and about the role of privacy in our society. Due Today @ 3:00 pm:
|
| 04/28 |
In this section, we will talk about algorithmic fairness and the implications of what world views we take. Due Today @ 3:00 pm:
|
| 05/05 |
This week we will talk about how to reason about systems where individuals might acting according to their self-interests. Due Today @ 3:00 pm:
|
| 05/12 |
This week we will talk about the problems, scientific and organizational, that leads to the "reproducibility crisis" in many scientific fields Due Today @ 3:00 pm:
|
| 05/19 |
We will be joined by three CS industry workers: Alejandro Posada (Sofware Development Engineer II at Amazon), Tony Tellez (Learning Experience Designer at AWS), and Max Lata (Software Engineer in Microsoft Purview). Please come prepared with questions! Questions DO NOT need to be related to the book, you are welcome to ask any question relating to CS or industry :) Due Today @ 3:00 pm:
|
| 05/26 |
We will discuss some of the next steps in one of the final chapters of the book, trying to think about what might happen with technology in the future. Due Today @ 3:00 pm:
|
| 06/02 |
This week we will discuss the conclusion of the book, which poses questions about the role of the ethical algorithm and how we will think about them moving forward. |