Date:
Location:
Speakers:
Jeff Behrends, Senior Research Scholar and Associate Senior Lecturer on Philosophy, and
Director of Ethics and Technology Initiatives, The Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics; Matthew Kopec, Program Director and Lecturer, Embedded EthiCS at Harvard University
Topic:
"What is the Point of Ethics Education in CS? The Origins, Obstacles, and Aspirations of Embedded EthiCS"
Event Details:
Talk will take place from approximately 3:00-4:00pm, followed by drinks and appetizers.
Abstract:
Over the past seven years, Computer Science and Philosophy have been working together to integrate custom-built ethics modules into CS classes. Why? Why build ethics instruction into computer science in particular? Why attempt it by using modules, rather than some other means? This talk will address these and related questions by explaining the initial motivations for the Embedded EthiCS @ Harvard program, the successes and challenges we have encountered since, the changes we're undertaking to refine and improve our teaching, and how we see the program's fit with wider educational aims.
Biographies:
Jeff Behrends joined the Philosophy Department at Harvard University in 2016, after completing his PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and then teaching for three years at Illinois State University. He has published in a diverse range of ethical subfields, including axiology, meta-ethics, normative ethics, applied ethics, and applied political philosophy. His current research interests concern the metaphysics of normative reasons, and ethical issues in designing and implementing machine learning regimes. He currently serves as co-Director of Embedded EthiCS @ Harvard University, and as the Director of Ethics and Technology Initiatives at the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics.
Mattew Kopec is the Program Director for Embedded EthiCS@Harvard, an educational program that embeds short modules on the ethical and social implications of computing technologies into courses across Harvard's CS curriculum. He holds an MA from Virginia Tech (supervised by Joe Pitt) and a PhD from University of Wisconsin-Madison (supervised by Elliott Sober), and he has previously taught at Northeastern, Australian National University, Northwestern, and University of Colorado-Boulder. His research is currently focused on topics related to the normative implications of computing like content moderation for online social media misinformation, self-fulfilling algorithmic predictions, big tech regulation, and assessment techniques for tech ethics educational programs.