First Year Seminar 191MCS14 - FYS-Ethics/Computing Star Trek

This first year seminar will explore questions related to ethical issues in a current computing context using scenarios and responses as enacted in three Star Trek series: Star Trek (the original series), Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Picard. Star Trek has impacted generations of viewers, inspiring technological development, and demonstrating leadership in the capacity for science fiction to offer meaningful social commentary. While sometimes imperfect, the computing ethical conundrums raised in these three series both reflect the techno-optimism of their time and provide useful imagined realities for considering some of today's most pressing computing social challenges. In addition to helping support first-year students in acclimating to their new UMass context, this first year seminar will engage students in thoughtful and fun explorations of ethical considerations in computing, including those related to identity, class, nationality, accessibility, and environmental impact.

Open to COMPSCI or INFORM students only. First year (Fr or Soph)