This course is about Web Technologies and the Social Implications of the Web.
CS115 is for students who want a broad exposure to the fundamental concepts of computer programming, but also for those that may want to major in Media Arts and Sciences (cross-listed as MAS115). Students get hands-on programming experience building and manipulating web pages using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Given the almost ubiquitous reach of web-based platforms (Google, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, Wikipedia, etc.), and the way they have transformed how we communicate, learn, and experience society, the technical topics are explored alongside the implications of this web-based mediation for society. We study the structure of the socio-techno web, and focus on a variety of cyberspace issues such as quality of online information and pollution of the information ecosystem, personal and group privacy in the context of surveillance capitalism, and networked creativity. No prior knowledge of computing is assumed.