Responsible Computing Challenge

Allegheny College | Meadville, PA | Oliver Bonham-Carter

While studying fields like artificial intelligence and data analytics, students will investigate potential ethical and societal challenges. For example: They might interrogate how medical data is analyzed, used, or secured. Lessons will include relevant readings, hands-on activities, and talks from experts in the field.

Bemidji State University | Bemidji, MN | Marty J. Wolf, Colleen Greer

The university will lead workshops that guide faculty at other institutions in developing and implementing responsible computer science teaching modules. The workshops will convene not just computer science faculty, but also social science and humanities faculty.

Bowdoin College | Brunswick, ME | Allison Cooper

Computer science students will participate in “ethical narratives laboratories,” where they experiment with and test the impact of technology on society. These laboratories will include transformative engagement with real and fictional narratives including case studies, science fiction readings, films, shows, and personal interviews.

Columbia University | New York, NY | Augustin Chaintreau

This approach integrates ethics directly into the computer science curriculum, rather than making it a stand-alone course. Students will consult and engage with an “ethical companion” that supplements a typical course textbook, allowing ethics to be addressed immediately alongside key concepts. The companion provides examples, case studies, and problem sets that connect ethics with topics like computer vision and algorithm design.

Georgetown University | Washington, DC | Nitin Vaidya

Georgetown’s computer science department will collaborate with the school’s Ethics Lab to create interactive experiences that illuminate how ethics and computer science interact. The goal is to introduce a series of active-learning engagements across a semester-long arc into selected courses in the computer science curriculum.

Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA | Ellen Zegura

This approach embeds social responsibility into the computer science curriculum, starting with the introductory courses. Students will engage in role-playing games (RPGs) to examine how a new technology might impact the public. For example: How facial recognition or self-driving cars might affect a community.

Harvard University | Cambridge, MA | Barbara Grosz

Harvard will expand the open-access resources of its Embedded EthiCS program which pairs computer science faculty with philosophy PhD students to develop ethical reasoning modules that are incorporated into courses throughout the computer science curriculum. Computer science postdocs will augment module development through design of activities relevant to students' future technology careers.

Miami Dade College | Miami, FL | Antonio Delgado

The college will integrate social impact projects and collaborations with local nonprofits and government agencies into the computer science curriculum. Computer science syllabi will also be updated to include ethics exercises and assignments.

Northeastern University | Boston, MA | Christo Wilson

This initiative will embed an ethics component into the university’s computer science, cybersecurity, and data science programs. The ethics component will include lectures, discussion prompts, case studies, exercises, and more. Students will also have access to a philosophy faculty advisor with expertise in information and data ethics.

Santa Clara University | Santa Clara, CA | Sukanya Manna, Shiva Houshmand, Subramaniam Vincent

This initiative will help CS students develop a deliberative ethical analysis framework that complements their technical learning. It will develop software engineering ethics, cybersecurity ethics, and data ethics modules, with integration of case studies and projects. These modules will also be adapted into free MOOC materials, so other institutions worldwide can benefit from the curriculum.

University of California, Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | James Demmel, Cathryn Carson

This initiative integrates a “Human Contexts and Ethics Toolkit” into the computer science/data science curriculum. The toolkit helps students discover when and how their work intersects with social power structures. For example: bias in data collection, privacy impacts, and algorithmic decision making.

University at Buffalo | Buffalo, NY | Atri Rudra

In this initiative, freshmen studying computer science will discuss ethics in the first-year seminar “How the internet works.” Sophomores will study responsible algorithmic development for real-­world problems. Juniors will study the ethical implications of machine learning. And seniors will incorporate ethical thinking into their capstone course.

University of California, Davis | Davis, CA | Annamaria (Nina) Amenta, Gerardo Con Díaz, and Xin Liu

Computer science students will be exposed to social science and humanities while pursuing their major, culminating in a "conscientious" senior project. The project will entail developing technology while assessing its impact on inclusion, privacy, and other factors, and there will be opportunities for projects with local nonprofits or government agencies

University of Colorado, Boulder | Boulder, CO | Casey Fiesler

This initiative integrates an ethics component into introductory programming classes, and features an “ethics fellows program” that embeds students with an interest in ethics into upper division computer science and technical classes.

University of Maryland, Baltimore County | Baltimore, MD | Helena Mentis

This initiative uses three avenues to integrate ethics into the computer science curriculum: peer discussions on how technologies might affect different populations; negative implications evaluations, i.e. “red teams” that probe the potential negative societal impacts of students’ projects; and a training program to equip teaching assistants with ethics and equality literacy.

University of Utah | Salt Lake City, UT | Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Sorelle A. Friedler (Haverford College), Seny Kamara (Brown University)

Computer science students will be encouraged to apply problem solving and critical thinking not just to design algorithms, but also the social issues that their algorithms intersect with. For example: When studying bitcoin mining algorithms, students will focus on energy usage and environmental impact. The curriculum will be developed with the help of domain experts who have expertise in sustainability, surveillance, criminal justice, and other issue areas.

University of Utah | Salt Lake City, UT | Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Sorelle A. Friedler (Haverford College), Seny Kamara (Brown University)

Computer science students will be encouraged to apply problem solving and critical thinking not just to design algorithms, but also the social issues that their algorithms intersect with. For example: When studying bitcoin mining algorithms, students will focus on energy usage and environmental impact. The curriculum will be developed with the help of domain experts who have expertise in sustainability, surveillance, criminal justice, and other issue areas.

Washington University | St. Louis, MO | Ron Cytron

Computer science students will participate in “studio sessions,” or group discussions that unpack how their technical education and skills intersect with issues like individual privacy, data security, and biased algorithms.

Ashoka University | Sonipat, Haryana | Debayan Gupta

Exploring the interface between society and technology through field trips and expert speaker events focused on the geographical sustainability and the tech industry.

CHRIST (Deemed to be University) | Bengaluru, Karnataka | Surya Kiran

An immersive approach to reimagining language pedagogy in curriculum and teaching methods of Skill Enhancement and Ability Enhancement courses offered to Computer Science students by the School of Humanities.

Digital University Kerala | Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala | Anoop V. S.

Integrating modules on "Responsible NLP" into an existing Natural Language Processing (NLP) course for CS students using flipped classroom strategies by incorporating outreach components to promote engagement and diverse perspectives.

Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati | Guwahati, Assam | Priyankoo Sarmah

Utilizing soundscapes from multiple urban and non-urban environments in Northeast India to create teaching resources for undergraduate education across several disciplines: humanities, design, computer science, and engineering.

Indian Institute of Technology, Indore| Indore, Madhya Pradesh| Gourinath Banda

Preparing undergraduate students to understand inclusiveness, develop computational models and runtime that use minimal energy, promote open-source software as a responsible culture, and understand appropriate computing systems for different application-user target domains.

Indian Institute of Information Technology, Kottayam | Kottayam, Kerala | Ebin Deni Raj

Focusing on case studies, field assignments, class exercises, and activities that integrate Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency principles.

Marian College Kuttikkanam Autonomous | Kuttikkanam, Kerala | Nisha Jose T

Developing a comprehensive curriculum for a certificate program in Equitable Digital Access targeted at undergraduate computer science students.

National Institute of Technology Warangal, India | Hanamkonda, Telangana | B. Spoorthi

Cultivating socially responsible engineering minds and empowering students to comprehend complex concepts for real-world challenges by integrating CLIL methodology into Computer Science and Engineering curricula.

Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal’s Dwarkadas J. Sanghvi College of Engineering | Vile Parle (West) Mumbai | Pranit Bari

A series of workshop-based training sessions to pursue coursework-adjacent responsible computing research projects, including open-source research tools built by student teams that focus on responsible AI, multilingual, and multimodal machine learning.

Dedan Kimathi University of Technology | Nyeri | George Musumba

This approach integrates ethics and responsible computing in the teaching of Object Oriented Programming among second-year computing students, with students implementing the ethical principles in an end-of-course project.

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology | Juja | Eunice Njeri

This initiative will implement responsible computing using design thinking and architecture skills in the building of robots among fourth-year students.

Kirinyaga University | Kerugoya | Kennedy Malanga

This project will design and use animation videos to teach responsible computing among first-year students.

Kisii University | Kisii | Fredrick Awuor

The college will redesign an undergraduate AI course by integrating ethics principles and implementing it through a co-teaching approach with industry practitioners.

Meru University of Science and Technology | Meru | Mary Mwadulo

The college will design a responsible computing framework for creating effective teams within the research methodology class.

Riara University | Nairobi | Felix Musau

This initiative will use a multi-disciplinary approach to implement Responsibility, Accountability, Professionalism, Integrity, Diversity & Inclusivity in the teaching of introduction to computer systems to first-year students.

University of Embu | Embu | Victoria Mukami

This project uses design thinking approaches to incorporate ethics in system analysis and design courses among second-year students.

University of Nairobi | Nairobi | Elisha Abade

This project infuses real-life societal effects of technology into two courses, introduction to Computers and data structures and algorithms, in collaborative teaching between the Department of Computing and the Department of Philosophy.

Adelphi University | Garden City, NY | Suraj Uttamchandani | Matt Curinga | John Drew

The awardee will create a bridge toward responsible computing in a first-year seminar and a communications course by centering on data, maps, and spatial justice.

Bucknell University | Lewisburg, PA | Darakhshan J. Mir | Vanessa Massaro, Evan Peck | Nathan Ryan | Anne Ross | Sara Stoudt

The awardee will pilot, evaluate, and share processes that integrate co-curricular interventions, centering marginalized groups, into existing Geography, CS and Information Science courses.

Howard University | Washington, DC | Yong Jin (Lance) Park | Chunmei Liu

The awardee will develop pedagogical tools to detect and correct bias imbued in how AI programmers read data.

Michigan State University | East Lansing, MI | Susan Wyche | Jonathan Choti

The awardee will redesign MSU’s Information Communication Technology and Development (ICTD) course/curriculum to center African perspectives.

Northeastern University | Boston, MA | Vance Ricks | Meica Magnani

The awardee will rapidly spread responsible computing education expertise to diverse institutions and disciplines via an in-person summer workshop.

Prairie View A&M University | Prairie View, TX | Marco Robinson | Sherri Frizell

The awardee will train students in interdisciplinary methodologies centered in computing to address social issues affecting rural communities.

San José State University | San Jose, CA | Darra Hofman | Nada Attar | Saugher Nojan | Michele Villagran | Souvick Ghosh

The awardee will create an interdisciplinary working group to develop "responsible datasets in context" and revised courses in humanistic critical computing and data studies.

Stillman College | Tuscaloosa, AL | Fallon Wilson | Kevin Harris | Isaac McCoy

The awardee will launch a Black Public Interest Technology course for social science & humanity faculty at nine Historically Black College & Universities.

University at Buffalo | Buffalo, NY | Dalia Antonia Caraballo Muller | Jamie Barber | Kenneth Joseph | Matt Kenyon | Christopher Proctor | Camilo Trumper

The awardee will create student-driven, cross-disciplinary learning modules on social justice and computing that link discrete university classes.

University of California, Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | Lisa Yan | Ari Edmundson | Cathryn Carson

The awardee will coordinate development of human contexts and justice curriculum with teaching assistant training across a Data Science course ecosystem.

University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI | Remi Yergeau | David Adelman

The awardee will engage new and diverse perspectives on accessible computing by introducing students to digital disability cultures and their intersections with race, gender, sexuality, and class.

University of Notre Dame | Notre Dame, IN | Katherine Walden | Karla Badillo-Urquiola

This awardee will build an interdisciplinary, intersectional community of practice to teach responsible computing across the undergraduate curriculum.

University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, PA | Miguel Willis | Claudia Johnson

The awardee will empower students to become responsible technologists through interdisciplinary curriculum, community partnerships, and critical service-learning.

University of Washington | Seattle, WA | Melanie Walsh | Sylvia Fernández | Miriam Posner | Anna Preus | Amardeep Singh

The awardee will create an interdisciplinary working group to develop "responsible datasets in context" and revised courses in humanistic critical computing and data studies

Winston-Salem State University | Winston-Salem, NC | Debzani Deb | Greg Taylor

The awardee will integrate AI Ethics using a social justice context into six interdisciplinary courses to broaden the participation in Responsible AI.