Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/56537
Technology cal advancement, we tend not to think about implications. We don't want to worry about what's going to happen in the future," says Artz. "But students need to think about what the likely outcomes are and whether there's a potential down- side to technology." "Writing Stories" is open to any business student, but students from other schools also take it because they find the idea of technological eth- ics intriguing, Artz says. Interest has been high—this year, he expanded the size of the course to 30 students, up from 25. During the first half of the The Ethics of Technology A new writing course encourages students to explore the ethical implications of advances in IT. Most information systems students are probably more comfortable manag- ing databases than writing meta- phors. And John Artz, an associate professor of information systems at The George Washington University School of Business, might seem an unlikely person to teach fiction writing. But fiction, he says, is the perfect vehicle when it comes to teaching IT students to explore the possible long-term outcomes of technological innovation. Artz developed "Writing Stories to Explore the Ethics of Technol- ogy" as part of "Writing in the Disciplines," a series of courses that 60 BizEd MAY/JUNE 2009 crosses the curriculum at GW's campus in Washington, D.C. "The university developed the program because it feared that students had lost the ability to write effectively," explains Artz. "There was a push for courses that taught students to write within their own disciplines, rather than just through the English department." Artz began teaching the course two years ago. Throughout the semester, students tackle ethical issues and outcomes surrounding topics as diverse as software piracy, genetic manipulation, and medical advances. "When it comes to technologi- course, Artz teaches students how to construct a story and walks them through the stages of crafting characters and plotlines. For prac- tice, he asks students to think of a counterargument to the premise of the science fiction novel Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Students must grapple with the novel's argument that unregulated scientific research—in this case, the cloning of dinosaurs—conducted solely for commercial gain will lead to catastrophe. In the second half of the course, students write stories on the ethical issues of their choice. What happens, for example, if scientists find a way to achieve immortality? One student's main character lives so long that he has done everything there is to do and is trapped in an endless cycle of boredom. Another student wrote a story about a couple who clone their dead child. In their grief, they spoil the clone so much that he becomes a completely different person. The couple had not realized that person- ality relies on a child's experiences as much as on his DNA. Through such fictional scenarios,