Welcome to Privacy and Trust in Cyberspace. Building upon the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 9th amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the Supreme Court has created and protected a concept of privacy in the physical world. Yet in Cyberspace (the world of interconnected computers) information about you and your loved ones is gathered, used, bought, and sold without your knowledge or permission. How is this possible? Why is undetected cyber-snooping relatively easy? What can you do to improve your information privacy? Who and what are you trusting whenever you communicate or transact business over the Internet?
This course is a Freshman seminar and a W course. Some seminar time will be devoted to exploring the concept and desirability of information privacy. A larger portion of the seminar will be devoted to the computer science topics needed to understand the nature of and risks to information in cyberspace: the design of digital computers, machine and assembly language programming, operating systems and high-level languages, computer networks, encryption, decryption, and software system vulnerabilities.
We will work through these topics in the context of the biography "Alan Turing: The Enigma" by Andrew Hodges and the novel "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson. The biography is currently out of print. There will be two copies of it on reserve in Cornell library from which we will read selections.
Pre-requisite: Four years of High School Mathematics
I am indebted to Nat Anderson of our English Literature Department for
some of the following.
An essential goal will be to learn to approach texts intelligently: to
read attentively, to work through technical material, and to
articulate insights both informally and formally. In our work towards
this goal, seminar discussions, conferences, and the advice of friends
will suggest ways of learning from each other; papers and class
activity will encourage self-reliance.
"Indeed, I am as interested in your contribution to group understanding as I am in your ability to shine alone - and for me, "contribution" implies tact even in disagreement, a conscientiousness both intellectual and personal. The course requirements thus include attendance and participation in discussion, and my evaluation of your work will reflect the graciousness as well as the frequency and incisiveness of your comments." [Anderson]
Cell phones are to be turned off for the duration of seminar. No vibrating! No text messaging!
The seminar will emphasize conceptual thinking. I hope it will take place in each student's preparation and be reinforced in seminar sessions.
Each week seminar participants will research, present, and discuss topics and issues. Work in a laboratory setting to master CS fundamentals will also be expected. Written work will be expected of all students every week. The seminar will meet on Wednesday afternoons. By Monday morning, students will write a 1-2 page paper synthesizing some of the preparatory material (usually selected by the instructor) and suggesting topics that need to be addressed in seminar. These student papers will be shared electronically with all seminar participants Monday afternoon. All students will be expected to have read the papers of other participants by the seminar meeting time. We will use a combination of instructor, WA, and/or peer review of these weekly papers. About the 5th week and 9th week, students will be required to write a 5-7 page paper discussing in more detail issues brought up in one of their previous weekly papers. These more detailed papers may use seminar discussions, further research, and improvements suggested by reviews of their previous papers. Students will be required to obtain WA review before turning these in. Finally there will be a 10-12 page paper that will require both instructor and WA review of a draft.
Required texts:
This web site is still under construction. If you see nay errors, please let me know. More information to come in the future.
Cornell Library CS15 Web Page by Meg Spencer
If a paper manifests marked problems with logic, complexity, or expression, I may require that you revise it; indeed, revision is so powerful an aid to leaning that I would like to urge you towards perpetual revision. For the first of your 5-7 page papers, any paper below an A may be revised for credit; however, if your revisions are cosmetic rather than substantive, your grade will remain the same. Revisions will be due one week after I return your graded essay. Always submit your original graded essay with your revision so that I may assess your efforts fairly.
Each week, the assignment for the next week will appear below.
Homework 1 (due W, Sept. 3)
Late homework will be penalized (severity will depend on lateness and what we have done in class). Even if you miss a deadline, you are strongly encouraged to complete the assignment anyway, since this really is the most effective way to learn the material.
Each week, readings and other work will be assigned. In seminar sessions, students will be expected to question, clarify, and discuss intelligently the material. Some work may be assigned to groups. For work that is not expressly assigned to groups, I do not object to your talking about the assignments or working together; but, the assumption is that each piece handed in is arrived at independently unless noted by the author.
The utmost level of academic integrity is expected of every student. Under no circumstances may you hand in work done with (or by) someone else under your own name without proper citation. If in doubt, credit the sources and person(s) with whom you worked or from whom you got help. Discussing ideas and approaches to problems with others on a general level is fine (in fact, encouraged) but you must credit collaborators and resources. Failure to abide by these rules constitutes academic dishonesty, and will be dealt with severely. Please do not put me or yourself in this unpleasant situation. Faculty are required to report academic dishonesty to the College Judiciary Committee. According to the Faculty Handbook: "Because plagiarism is considered to be so serious a transgression, it is the opinion of the faculty that for the first offense, failure in the course and, as appropriate, suspension for a semester or deprivation of the degree in that year is suitable; for a second offense, the penalty should normally be expulsion."