Final paper
Your paper is to be based on either a book or a topic. Here is a list of possible books . Please note that this list is not meant to be exhaustive: you are free to pick another book that you like, as long as it is related to ethics and technology. I will not give a list of suggested topics so that you can decide what you want to talk about. Again, topics only need to be related to ethics and technology. Be careful not to pick a topic that is too broad. I suggest that you discuss your topic with me early on.
You can use one of two possible paper styles for your final paper:
- Book analysis. Read one of the suggested books or a book of your choosing and write an in depth analysis.
- Topic analysis. Pick a topic of interest, and analyze 5-10 academic papers on the topic. Greely's paper is a good example of what I'm expecting here.
The paper should be no less than 2000 words (about 8-pages). The paper should be written with an intended audience of me and your classmates. Write something that you yourself would want to be given to read.
Your paper should be carefully written: it will be graded for writing quality. Make sure to give full references in the bibliography (eg., author, title, journal, publisher, pages, date; a URL alone is rarely a reference by itself). Include all necessary citations and footnotes. Please number all pages. Follow standard stylistic conventions (any fixed set of conventions you select). I like left-and-right justified text, but this is not an obligation. Use a pleasant-to-read font (not Arial or any other sans serif font).
The paper is a research paper—research in the sense of learning some of the scholarship for some particular area, not research in the sense of doing creative scholarship of your own. Make sure your sources represent actual scholarship, not random web pages, blogs, or the like. Please also take a position. This position should be short and it must be well marked, but I would also like to hear your conclusion of the topic.
I will provide a LaTeX template for any students who are interested. It provides great support for bibilographies and produces high-quality documents.
We will spend time in class discussing how to write an appropriate paper. Think, organize, think, and organize. Write and rewrite. Please check the appropriate lecture notes for more details on this.
A team project
You will work in a team of two on your project (term paper + oral presentation). Larger or smaller teams will not be permitted unless you make a good case for it. Each team will submit one paper and do one presentation. All team members get the same grade.
Organization
There are two required milestones:
- Milestone 1: The paper proposal. In it you will identify the book or topic you want to cover, and with whom you will work. Submit Milestone 1 via email to me. Feedback will be minimal: either I like your book/topic, or I don't. If I don't like your proposal, you will have to find another topic. The most common reasons for my rejecting a proposal: (a) the book or topic is already taken; (b) the topic is unclear or too broad; and (c) the topic or book is not related to ethics and technology.
- Milestone 2: A complete draft of your introduction, plus an outline for the rest of your paper. Your outline should be at least a paragraph-level summary of what you plan to talk about. You should have picked your references and know most of the arguments you're going to make. Please submit Milestone 2 via Canvas. Include a word count at the top of your Milestone 2.
Due dates
| Item | Due date |
|---|---|
| Milestone 1 | 1/22/2018 |
| Milestone 2 | 2/16/2018 |
| Final paper | 3/7/2018 |