CSCI 494: Book Review

You are to prepare a review/response to a book about social issues in computing. The book should be controversial, in the sense that it takes a position on one or more issues.

A few examples of suitable books are:

Rodney Brooks, Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us
Simson Garfinkel, Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century
Lawrence Lessig, Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace
Avi Rubin, Brave New Ballot
Stephen Talbott, The Future Does Not Compute
Sherry Turkle, Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet
Joseph Weizenbaum, Computer Power and Human Reason

You must request approval of your book selection;and approval is not guaranteed. I will allow at most two members of the class to select the same book. (I'd like to see all of the above selected—but that would be difficult given the size of this class!)

A longer list of suggested books and authors will be available on the class web page; feel free to suggest others. I will update the list as class members make their selections. Please move quickly to select a book; if you have not selected one in time, I will assign one.

Form and contents

Your review should be 4–8 typed pages, not including bibliography. It should begin with bibliographic information for the book you are reviewing. Your paper should

summarize the arguments/conclusions of the book, giving background as appropriate
evaluate and respond to those arguments

Be sure that you address the arguments from a specifically Christian perspective when appropriate, but be careful to address the same issues in a manner that would make sense to a non-Christian audience, too.

Citations should use a standard (e.g., MLA) style. You may cite the works listed there using the keys that appear on the readings page without having to include bibliographic information. Be sure to include among your citations any of your own papers (from this or another class) on which you draw.

The library databases can lead you to some reviews in their holdings, which may be helpful as you think about your book.

Timeline

Unless otherwise noted, the “due” time is the scheduled start of class.

Feb. 4 (4:00 p.m.): Book selection approved. If I have not received an acceptable book request from you on time, I will assign you a book. Obtaining a copy of the assigned book is your problem.
Mar. 25 (1:00 p.m.): Review turned in. This should be paper-clipped (not stapled), so that it can be easily copied. This is not a rough draft.
Mar. 27: Copies of papers will be distributed to the class.
Apr. 3: In-class discussion and comment on the reviews.
Apr. 17: Final (revised) review due. Turn in the previous version and peer comment forms along with the revision.

This document was translated from L^AT_EX by H^EV^EA.