The exam will take place on Saturday, Dec. 8 from 9-11 a.m.  The location will be announced shortly.  The exam covers material from throughout the term.

Material Covered

You are responsible for everything we have covered this term with the following exceptions:

Postman, Bush, Winner & Dyson

Questions will be based only on material covered during the lectures.  With that in mind, the following readings should be viewed as secondary material.  (This list may expand by the end of term.)

Roberts, Cowan, Kates, Tribe, Schiller & Wajcman

Part I: Short Answer Questions. Value = approx. 30%.

- approx. 5 questions
- you'll have some choice as to which questions you do (e.g., answer 5 of 7)
- all questions will be answerable in three or four sentences

E.g., Explain the difference between positive and negative rights.

See Sept. quiz for more examples of question type.

Part II: Explanatory Question. Value = approx. 30%

- answer 1 of (at least) 2 choices
- these questions will ask you to explain but not discuss some significant point from the course material
- I expect a typical answer to be 1-2 single-spaced pages long.

E.g., Explain Hardin's idea of the 'Tragedy of the Commons'.  What implications does Hardin think it has for how we should deal with the environment?

Part III: Essay Question. Value = approx. 40%

- answer 1 of (at least) 2 choices
- these questions will ask to you to explain and discuss some significant point from the course material
- I expect a typical answer to be several pages long
- Essay questions will not repeat paper topics, provided that a reasonable number of students wrote on the topic.  After the second set of essays is handed in, I will let you know which topics this was true of.

E.g., Moravec suggests that by 2040 robots will exist that literally are conscious.  Use this idea to present and defend your own claim about what it is to be a conscious being.