Embedded Ethics

Our interdisciplinary program introduces modules focused on cultivating aptitude for seriously engaging the normative aspects of the technological universe in computer science and computer engineering courses at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) School of Computing. We aim to raise ethics literacy for Computer Science and Engineering (CS/E) students and faculty, provide valuable interdisciplinary teaching experiences, and establish crucial interdisciplinary relationships at UNL and abroad. 

We based the design of our embedded ethics program on Harvard University’s successful model. On that model, a team of graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) guided by post-doctoral students and a few faculty members develop and deliver the modules. We started smaller given our unique institutional constraints. Funding from UNL Center for Transformative Teaching, Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, UNL School of Computing, and the Department of Philosophy allowed us to hire GTAs to develop and implement the program with guidance from Dr. Adam R. Thompson and other Department of Philosophy faculty.

Recognizing the importance of building an embedded ethics community, we have set up this webpage and attended conferences/ workshops to share our experiences and learn from the experience of others. It is our hope that this engagement and proliferation will support our effort to develop more effective approaches, systems, and modules. Explore our work, learn from us, and reach out with thoughts or suggestions about how we might make the program stronger.