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Values Embodied in Computer and Information Systems
(E59.1200-002) Integrating Liberal Arts: Communication Department of Culture and Communication Instructor: Helen Nissenbaum Meeting Time: M 4:55PM-7:35PM Virtually no parts of our lives are untouched by computing and information technology, which now mediates much private and public communication, interaction, and transaction, and forms the infrastructure of critical social and institutional functions including commerce, banking and finance, utilities, national defense, education, entertainment, and more. Given the ubiquity of these systems and the confidence we have invested in them, it is important to take stock of their social implications. Our course will undertake this mission, focusing on the dimension of moral and political values. We investigate how computers and information systems may promote or obscure the values to which we, individually and as societies are committed, values such as freedom, privacy, justice and autonomy. We will be particularly interested in one mechanism by which information systems may affect values, namely, by "embodying" values in their design. The course divides into roughly two parts. In the first, we study a varied tradition of work in the humanities and social sciences that looks at the social, political and moral dimensions of technology generally - the rich and sometimes troubling relationship of humanity to technology. We will ask whether technology is a neutral force and what this question even means. We will ask whether and to what extent technology is determined by internal forces of science and engineering or broader social, moral and political forces. In the second part of the course, we turn attention to information and communications technology, carrying with us themes and principles learned in the first part. Our central focus, here, is both on the idea that values may be "embodied" in computer and information systems and what this means for those of us who are committed to a set of moral and political values. The course, throughout, combines attention to theory as well as application. Students will be expected to gain competency in theory as well as familiarity with key cases. They will be given opportunity to demonstrate this competency in classroom discussion and written assignments. We will give particular attention to the cases of the Internet and World Wide Web. Readings:
Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon (1996) Where Wizards Stay up Late: The Origins of the Internet. New York: Touchstone Books Lawrence Lessig (1999) Code and Other Laws of Cybersapce. New York: Basic Books Donald Norman (1989) The Design of Everyday Things. New York: Basic Books Course Reader: A course reader is available for purchase at the MacDougal Copy Center, 127 MacDougal Street (between W 3rd and 4th). Course requirements and grading Grades will be assigned on the basis of written assignments and classroom participation. In order to pass the course, students must fully meet both requirements.
Class Schedule:
9/10 Introduction 9/24 Designing Technology for People Donald Norman advocates "usability" as a feature that designers ought to consider as they create artifacts. Through Norman's work we begin the journey of exploration that prepares us to perceive in technical artifacts more than simply function and technical features. From usability we will move ahead to consider moral and political values. Readings:
10/1 Technology: Utopia or Dystopia Perspectives on technology vary greatly. Some are wildly optimistic, believing that technology holds the key to solving difficult social problems. Others hold darker views of the fate of humanity as we rush blindly to adopt technical "fixes." Our readings, representing a range of perspectives, contain general thoughts as well as descriptions of specific cases. Readings:
10/8 Technological Determinism Must we accept the course of technology as inevitable? Technological determinists accept that technology is driven purely by the internal forces of science and engineering, and that though it has the capacity to affect people and society in radical ways, it is not affected by social forces. One seldom finds expressed in writing the simplest and most extreme version of technological determinism, but here, through the voice of commentators and critics we consider a number of variations on the central themes. Readings:
10/15 Is Technology Neutral? Some people argue that technology is neutral. Its good and bad consequences are the result not of technology itself, but of the uses to which it is put: "Guns don't kill, people do." In this segment we evaluate this claim as well as views that dispute it. Readings:
10/22 Values What are the values that technology may promote or suppress? Whose values? Is there a difference between individual values, or collective value? What values does and should technology embody? Readings:
10/29 Social Construction of Technology Among the challengers of technological determinism are those who argue that technical artifacts and systems are socially constructed, shaped by social, political and cultural forces. What do they mean? Is their stance any more defensible than the ones they challenge? Readings:
11/5 The Internet and the World Wide Web The history of the Internet, short as it is, illustrates the way technical and social themes are woven together to form significant technological systems. Readings:
11/12 Information Technology and Values One interpretation of the idea that computer system embody values is that, through their structure, computer systems acts as a regulating force in society. The result of this "regulation" is the promotion and suppression of various values. Readings:
11/19 Information Technology and Values Readings:
11/26 Value Sensitive Design Recognizing that values may be embodied in the design of computer and information systems is a first step. We continue to engage in this type of analysis with some of the readings assigned for this week. Some researchers and practitioners, however, are advocating a method of design that would, from the start, anticipate these issues. Readings:
12/3 Is Value Sensitive Design Possible? A commitment to values is usually not enough as there are a myriad forces with which even the most conscientious designers and developers must contend. What are these forces? What can we do to help well-intentioned producers of technology? Readings:
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