Power dynamics in scientific communities

Objectives:

• Learn about historical links between computing research and human rights atrocities during World War II.
• Analyze contemporary cases of professional challenges confronting individual computing researchers.
• Explore the value of collective action and collaboration vs individual responses to managing the personal and professional challenges of a career in computer science.
• Understand that research questions are a reflection of the values of a research community at a specific point in history, and that they may therefore not necessarily be of independent value/importance.

Pre-class work

Pick two articles from the set below and be prepared to discuss your “favorite” article with others in class:

1. IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America’s Most Powerful Corporation
2. The Punch-Card Conspiracy
3. How human-centered tech can beat COVID-19 through contact tracing
4. Funding Black and Latinx community institutions is the key to vaccine equity
5. We Need More, Not Fewer, Collaborations With Tech Companies
6. The Promise of the Sharing Economy among Disadvantaged Communities

Answer:

• Which articles did you read?
• Each of the above readings raises questions about the obligations that come with a career in computer science and engineering. What questions does the first article you read raise about the biggest personal and professional challenges you may have to navigate as a researcher?
• What about the second article?

Tip: We assign articles such that each got an equal number of readers.

In class

1. [10min] Students socialize
2. [25min] In small groups: Students who have the same “favorite” article, discuss:
   • Your shared “favorite” article raises questions about the obligations that come with a career in computer science and engineering. What are the biggest personal and professional challenges raised by these readings, for you?
3. [30min] We will come back to together and a spokesperson for each group will present the ‘headline’ and ‘take-away’ from their shared article (individuals may also share their personal and professional challenges that came out of their small group discussion in a class google doc while groups are presenting).
4. [25min] Students who read different articles will meet in small groups to discuss the following:
   • What is an important personal and professional challenge posed to computer science and engineering reflected in the reading that you feel needs further discussion?
   • Now that you’ve reflected on specific challenges, what are some strategies that could help individuals navigate the challenges that you discussed?
   • What are some strategies or questions that you wish the discipline—rather than individuals—spotlighted before technical systems are built or deployed? How about after systems are built and deployed?
5. [25min] Students take the first 5 minutes to write down thoughts on the following and we will spend 10 minutes discussing the following together:
   • Reflect on a time when you have felt conflicted about your sense of the ‘right thing to do’ and what you felt someone expected you to do to ‘make it’ through a situation (e.g., a school assignment, a job interview, a date)?
   • What lessons did you learn about how to handle those conflicts of interest (your moral compass and your sense that you needed to do something that didn’t feel right to answer to someone else’s expectations to get something done)?
   • How could you apply those lessons to CS + engineering decisions discussed today?
6. [5min] In-class survey: What did you take away from class today?