Catalog Course Description:
Introduces social issues involved in information systems design and use, e.g., personal computing, telecommuting, computers in education, the privacy and security of stored and transmitted information and information ownership.  Explores the interaction of high technology, employment and class structure.

Pre-requisites and Co-requisites:
No specific prerequisite

Curriculum Role:
This course is required for students in the BSIS and BSIT programs.  Typically, the course is taken in the pre-junior year, but the year in the program can vary.  The course sensitizes students to the social effects information systems and evolving technology have on people.

Course Rationale:
The purpose of this course is for students to understand the social, cultural, political and ethical concerns involved in information system design and use.  In designing and using information systems, students need to be aware that these systems are part of a larger social and cultural environment with inherent concerns about changes and advances in technology.

Course Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, a student will be able to:
• Examine the concepts of the information society, the information industry, and the information profession, as a context for becoming familiar with a broad range of social, economic, political, and legal issues affecting information systems
• Acquire and use analytic skills in recognizing and interpreting these social, economic, political, and legal aspects of information systems
• Analyze and discuss the societal context in which the information professional works
• Analyze and discuss the impact emerging technology has on social systems.

Course Content:
Principal topics and the approximate number of weeks devoted to each are:
• Information and the transformation of society (1)
• The information industry and the information profession (1)
• Information standards and regulation (1)
• Intellectual property rights (1)
• Privacy and the security of information (1)
• Access to information (1)
• Literacy and illiteracy (1)
• Censorship and freedom of expression (1)
• Information and the homeplace (1)
• Information and the workplace (1)

Presentation:
Note: Presentation method may vary somewhat from section to section.
Teaching method is lecture and class discussion and debate. 

Assessment:
Note: Assessment method may vary somewhat from section to section.
Grade is based on critical-analytic papers and on presentations/debates of course topics.  Class participation is an important component of the grade.