Classroom
Ethics for Engineers
Engineers turn from math to books to tackle knotty problems.
Instructor Laura Grossenbacher jokingly describes a new course in the College of Engineering as “a book club for engineers.” It’s a class where students put aside their engineering texts to sample works that include Richard Rhodes’s Pulitzer Prizewinning historical tome, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, essays on science such as Douglas Adams’s The Salmon of Doubt, and fiction such as Alan Lightman’s Einstein’s Dreams.
However, for the engineers enrolled in The Social and Ethical Impacts of Technology, their book club isn’t a diversion. Nor is it merely a means to polish rusty communication skills. Instead, these students use the course readings to launch discussions of such weighty issues as scientific ambiguity, the social responsibility of scientists, and the pitfalls of technology — topics they believe they’ll confront again and again as tomorrow’s working scientists and engineers.
“For better or worse, a lot of times scientists and engineers are the people we want to listen to, especially on technological issues,” says David Doncheck x’08, a geological engineering and geology major. “So, if we just know as engineers how something works technically, but we don’t know how it works in society or some of its consequences, how are we ever going to make any kind of informed statement on these issues?”
Finding opportunities to grapple with philosophical matters can be difficult in engineering. The curriculum is so packed with technical content, students often can only shoehorn in a handful of humanities credits. That’s one major reason why the College of Engineering Technical Communication Program, which Grossenbacher directs, has chosen to offer this special topics course.
Instructor Laura Grossenbacher jokingly describes a new course in the College of Engineering as “a book club for engineers.” It’s a class where students put aside their engineering texts to sample works that include Richard Rhodes’s Pulitzer Prizewinning historical tome, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, essays on science such as Douglas Adams’s The Salmon of Doubt, and fiction such as Alan Lightman’s Einstein’s Dreams.
However, for the engineers enrolled in The Social and Ethical Impacts of Technology, their book club isn’t a diversion. Nor is it merely a means to polish rusty communication skills. Instead, these students use the course readings to launch discussions of such weighty issues as scientific ambiguity, the social responsibility of scientists, and the pitfalls of technology — topics they believe they’ll confront again and again as tomorrow’s working scientists and engineers.
“For better or worse, a lot of times scientists and engineers are the people we want to listen to, especially on technological issues,” says David Doncheck x’08, a geological engineering and geology major. “So, if we just know as engineers how something works technically, but we don’t know how it works in society or some of its consequences, how are we ever going to make any kind of informed statement on these issues?”
Finding opportunities to grapple with philosophical matters can be difficult in engineering. The curriculum is so packed with technical content, students often can only shoehorn in a handful of humanities credits. That’s one major reason why the College of Engineering Technical Communication Program, which Grossenbacher directs, has chosen to offer this special topics course.
“In the Technical Communication Program, we’re trying to integrate ethics as much as possible,” says Traci Kelly, who led the team-taught course this spring. “Why? Because we like it. We think it’s really important. And because we hear from students that they aren’t getting a lot of ethics in their other classes.”
The course also plunges engineers into a learning environment where problems can’t be solved with calculators. “The students do a certain type of processing in all of their other engineering classes, and it’s difficult and complicated. We wanted this class to be a different type of complicated,” says Kelly. “And we wanted it to be challenging and fun and disturbing — all of those things at the same time.”
Every week, students read an average of thirty to forty pages on topics from the grave and momentous (nuclear weaponry and artificial intelligence) to the amusing and trendy (blogging and online networking). They also frequently take up the non-technological, such as Darwin’s theory of evolution, sustainability, and “green” design.
To help structure discussions, instructors and students post their reactions to each week’s set of readings on an online forum before class meets. Often they answer provocative questions posed by the instructors, such as, “Is it ever ethical to develop weaponry for use against civilians?” or “Should the engineering community participate in debates over sustainability and attempt to influence public policy?”
But the students are also encouraged to develop their own questions, ideas, and arguments independent of the suggested themes. For many, it’s one of their first experiences voicing their opinions in a classroom setting.
The course also plunges engineers into a learning environment where problems can’t be solved with calculators. “The students do a certain type of processing in all of their other engineering classes, and it’s difficult and complicated. We wanted this class to be a different type of complicated,” says Kelly. “And we wanted it to be challenging and fun and disturbing — all of those things at the same time.”
Every week, students read an average of thirty to forty pages on topics from the grave and momentous (nuclear weaponry and artificial intelligence) to the amusing and trendy (blogging and online networking). They also frequently take up the non-technological, such as Darwin’s theory of evolution, sustainability, and “green” design.
To help structure discussions, instructors and students post their reactions to each week’s set of readings on an online forum before class meets. Often they answer provocative questions posed by the instructors, such as, “Is it ever ethical to develop weaponry for use against civilians?” or “Should the engineering community participate in debates over sustainability and attempt to influence public policy?”
But the students are also encouraged to develop their own questions, ideas, and arguments independent of the suggested themes. For many, it’s one of their first experiences voicing their opinions in a classroom setting.
“I’m shy, so one reason I went into engineering is you don’t really have to talk,” says LaShunda Manly, a continuing education student and an electrical engineer by training. “I mean, you do have to talk in the workforce, but I would rather just do the math and not have to say what I feel about things. But you can’t do that [in this course].”
A frequent theme in class is the social responsibility of scientists and engineers — and the uncertainty that often surrounds the “right thing” to do. No work illustrates this more powerfully than The Making of the Atomic Bomb. In it, author Rhodes details how the world’s most brilliant physicists came together to create a weapon that ended World War II, but also killed thousands of Japanese civilians and launched the nuclear arms race.
Given the risks of newer innovations, such as nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and cybernetics, the students know they’ll likely face similar quandaries as tomorrow’s engineers. “It’s thought-provoking to take on issues like these and say there’s more to this than just ‘Can it be done?’” says Doncheck.
The course is “a breath of fresh air,” adds Megan Sharrow x’08, a nuclear engineering major. “We know engineering isn’t all about the numbers, and now we’re getting a chance to be exposed to that.”
A frequent theme in class is the social responsibility of scientists and engineers — and the uncertainty that often surrounds the “right thing” to do. No work illustrates this more powerfully than The Making of the Atomic Bomb. In it, author Rhodes details how the world’s most brilliant physicists came together to create a weapon that ended World War II, but also killed thousands of Japanese civilians and launched the nuclear arms race.
Given the risks of newer innovations, such as nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and cybernetics, the students know they’ll likely face similar quandaries as tomorrow’s engineers. “It’s thought-provoking to take on issues like these and say there’s more to this than just ‘Can it be done?’” says Doncheck.
The course is “a breath of fresh air,” adds Megan Sharrow x’08, a nuclear engineering major. “We know engineering isn’t all about the numbers, and now we’re getting a chance to be exposed to that.”
For this opportunity, Sharrow and her classmates have engineering physics student Kyle Oliver x’08 to thank. An avid reader and writer himself, Oliver was already an admirer of Niels Bohr, a great scientist who could write, and Douglas Adams, a great writer who could tackle science. And after taking a history of science course, Oliver wanted to continue reading classic works on science and technology, but a heavy course load left him little time. So, with three or four reading ideas in hand, he approached Grossenbacher in fall 2004.
“I basically asked, ‘Hey, can I get a credit for reading these books and talking with you about them?’” Oliver says. Seizing opportunity, Grossenbacher immediately suggested they open the sessions to other students, too — it would give engineering students an opportunity to broaden their education beyond problem sets.
Five other students eventually joined the pair in the first Social and Ethical Impacts of Technology course in spring 2005. This year, the class grew to sixteen — eleven engineers, two English majors, and three special students — with Oliver on board as a student instructor. With no dedicated budget or staff at the moment, the course’s future is uncertain. Grossenbacher hopes to see it continue, possibly with help from departments such as philosophy or history of science.
In the meantime, the instructors are dedicated to giving the students the best experience possible, which for Kelly means seeing students arguing on the steps outside after class.
“I want them to have that intense energy of ‘This is the most important topic in the entire world and we must discuss it to its death right now!’” she says.
“I basically asked, ‘Hey, can I get a credit for reading these books and talking with you about them?’” Oliver says. Seizing opportunity, Grossenbacher immediately suggested they open the sessions to other students, too — it would give engineering students an opportunity to broaden their education beyond problem sets.
Five other students eventually joined the pair in the first Social and Ethical Impacts of Technology course in spring 2005. This year, the class grew to sixteen — eleven engineers, two English majors, and three special students — with Oliver on board as a student instructor. With no dedicated budget or staff at the moment, the course’s future is uncertain. Grossenbacher hopes to see it continue, possibly with help from departments such as philosophy or history of science.
In the meantime, the instructors are dedicated to giving the students the best experience possible, which for Kelly means seeing students arguing on the steps outside after class.
“I want them to have that intense energy of ‘This is the most important topic in the entire world and we must discuss it to its death right now!’” she says.
Although she hasn’t yet witnessed any extracurricular debates, Kelly says the students are showing signs of deep involvement with the material. She relates one student’s vow to buy copies of Rhodes’s book for everyone in his family. (When the price of the 886-page book proved prohibitive, he bought them used copies of Einstein’s Dreams instead.) Another student says she thinks about her classmates’ perspectives at night, in bed.
“We have students coming to us after class, in between classes, or on e-mail saying, ‘Did you see this?’ and ‘Oh, and I also saw that,’” Kelly adds. “So, it’s clicking for them. They’re seeing all these great connections, and so I think they spend a lot more time mulling over these ideas than they anticipated.”
— Madeline Fisher PhD’98
“We have students coming to us after class, in between classes, or on e-mail saying, ‘Did you see this?’ and ‘Oh, and I also saw that,’” Kelly adds. “So, it’s clicking for them. They’re seeing all these great connections, and so I think they spend a lot more time mulling over these ideas than they anticipated.”
— Madeline Fisher PhD’98
CLASS NOTE: Foiled Again (and Sabered, Too)
Kinesiology 157: Topics in Fencing
In the panoply of official UW titles, you won’t find the term swordmaster. But perhaps that should be obvious. On a campus famous for its peace demonstrations, precious few students and faculty resort to dueling to settle their affairs of honor. Nevertheless, the university does keep a swordmaster on its faculty, albeit with the unassuming title of associate lecturer. David Glaeser ‘78 is pleased to keep Wisconsin students prepared to defend themselves with the long blade.
Glaeser teaches the UW’s only fencing course, a class that combines exercise and martial artistry with lessons in history. Students learn not only how to thrust and parry, but also what those terms — and a host of others — mean. The course is divided into three distinct sections: foil (the lightest sword, which relies on the thrust), saber (which is heavier and combines thrusting and cutting), and archaic weapons, which combines study of a variety of skills, from fighting with rapier and dagger to wielding a four-foot-long medieval sword. “Along with each weapon,” Glaeser says, “I try to teach a little history of the society that used it.”
Glaeser has his own lengthy history with the UW fencing course — he first became acquainted with it when he took the class as a freshman in 1971. He continued to pursue fencing as an avocation while teaching high-school German, but returned to the UW as an instructor in 1998.
Topics in Fencing is offered each semester and meets on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, with the foil section meeting first, followed by saber and then archaic weapons. Though the number of sword-wielders at the UW is relatively small, Glaeser’s classes generally fill up. “I get a lot of repeaters,” he says. “Because this is a topics course, students can take it again and again.”
— John Allen
In the panoply of official UW titles, you won’t find the term swordmaster. But perhaps that should be obvious. On a campus famous for its peace demonstrations, precious few students and faculty resort to dueling to settle their affairs of honor. Nevertheless, the university does keep a swordmaster on its faculty, albeit with the unassuming title of associate lecturer. David Glaeser ‘78 is pleased to keep Wisconsin students prepared to defend themselves with the long blade.
Glaeser teaches the UW’s only fencing course, a class that combines exercise and martial artistry with lessons in history. Students learn not only how to thrust and parry, but also what those terms — and a host of others — mean. The course is divided into three distinct sections: foil (the lightest sword, which relies on the thrust), saber (which is heavier and combines thrusting and cutting), and archaic weapons, which combines study of a variety of skills, from fighting with rapier and dagger to wielding a four-foot-long medieval sword. “Along with each weapon,” Glaeser says, “I try to teach a little history of the society that used it.”
Glaeser has his own lengthy history with the UW fencing course — he first became acquainted with it when he took the class as a freshman in 1971. He continued to pursue fencing as an avocation while teaching high-school German, but returned to the UW as an instructor in 1998.
Topics in Fencing is offered each semester and meets on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, with the foil section meeting first, followed by saber and then archaic weapons. Though the number of sword-wielders at the UW is relatively small, Glaeser’s classes generally fill up. “I get a lot of repeaters,” he says. “Because this is a topics course, students can take it again and again.”
— John Allen
EXTRA CREDIT
What’s it like to work post-globalization? Students who take part in the International Academic Internships Initiative will find out. The eight-week program, created by the Division of International Studies, the College of Engineering, the School of Business, and the Institute for Cross-College Biology Education, gives undergrads an opportunity to work in Europe, Asia, or Africa.
Assistant Professor Mark Harrower of the geography department and his students received a “best in category” award for map design from the American Congress on Mapping and Surveying. Harrower’s Visitor Map and Guide — a map of campus — took the top honor in the reference map category.
It’s the end of an era when it comes to class registration, as the university announced in spring that it won’t produce a paper timetable for fall semester’s classes. As students register, they’ll have to look up their class times online. This marks the first time in the university’s history that it has only produced an electronic timetable. The UW has put its timetable on the Web since 1994, but it also printed a paper version for each term through summer 2006.
Christopher Ochoa JD’06 has seen many different sides of the American justice system. Freed after a wrongful conviction through the efforts of the Wisconsin Innocence Project, Ochoa entered the UW Law School and graduated in May.
Music from the age of Cervantes, Columbus, and the conquistadors will be the topic of study during this summer’s Madison Early Music Festival. This will be the seventh annual celebration of medieval and Renaissance music, and it will take place from July 8 to 15.
Assistant Professor Mark Harrower of the geography department and his students received a “best in category” award for map design from the American Congress on Mapping and Surveying. Harrower’s Visitor Map and Guide — a map of campus — took the top honor in the reference map category.
It’s the end of an era when it comes to class registration, as the university announced in spring that it won’t produce a paper timetable for fall semester’s classes. As students register, they’ll have to look up their class times online. This marks the first time in the university’s history that it has only produced an electronic timetable. The UW has put its timetable on the Web since 1994, but it also printed a paper version for each term through summer 2006.
Christopher Ochoa JD’06 has seen many different sides of the American justice system. Freed after a wrongful conviction through the efforts of the Wisconsin Innocence Project, Ochoa entered the UW Law School and graduated in May.
Music from the age of Cervantes, Columbus, and the conquistadors will be the topic of study during this summer’s Madison Early Music Festival. This will be the seventh annual celebration of medieval and Renaissance music, and it will take place from July 8 to 15.
