Our Mission

Viterbi Conversations in Ethics is an educational forum for reasoned, informed, and relevant discussion of engineering ethics. Written, edited, and published by USC Viterbi School of Engineering students, Viterbi Conversations in Ethics will publish exceptional student work and responses, counter-points, and new perspectives from both peers and professionals.

History

In 2013, Viterbi Conversations in Ethics was conceived at the USC School of Engineering as a way to showcase undergraduate student writing about ethics in the engineering professions and to highlight the important role of ethics in engineering. We in the Engineering Writing Program believe that our students must begin to see themselves as professionals within a larger community of thinkers and writers, and this is an opportunity for these students to enter into the larger professional conversation about ethics and to invite comment from other students and professionals.

Viterbi Conversations in Ethics is funded by the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Office of the Dean. Seed money was also provided by the USC Fund for Innovative Undergraduate Teaching.

Core Team

Viterbi Conversation in Ethics’ core team is composed of student editors. Our staff also includes web developers and faculty advisors.

Current Editor-in-Chief

Teagan Ampe

Class of 2021

Teagan is an undergraduate majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Web Technologies and Applications. Outside of class, she enjoys planning events for Women in Computing and the Society of Women Engineers, reading urban fantasy books, and petting cats.

Current Editors

Tyler Amano-Smerling

Class of 2021

Tyler is an undergraduate studying Computer Science: Games, and her favorite game titles include Breath of the Wild and League of Legends. She loves photography, traveling, and percussion–– she is also a bass drum in the Trojan Marching Band!

Isabel Brieler

Class of 2022

Isabel is an undergraduate studying Astronautical Engineering. She loves anything space-related and loves to read, work with children, and make music in her free time.

Michael Delucia

Class of 2022

Michael DeLucia is an undergraduate studying Computer Science. In the future, he hopes to work at the intersection of Finance and Technology. Outside of class, he enjoys sports, video games, and trading stocks.

Sabrina Sy

Class of 2023

Sabrina is a second-year biomedical engineering student with a minor in gender and sexuality studies. Outside of class, she is a member of the Associated Students of Biomedical Engineering, where she serves as a member of their Makeathon planning committee. She is also involved in research in the Cardiorespiratory Sleep Lab and serves as a Virtual Peer Mentor (VPM) for McCarthy Honors College. In her free time, she enjoys playing online trivia games, surfing at Sunset Beach, and dramatically lip-syncing in her room.

Web Developers

Justin Wilford

Class of 2021

Justin is an undergraduate seeking a BS in computer engineering and computer science and an MS in computer engineering. After school, he plans on pursuing a career in computer architecture. In his free time, he enjoys playing video games, browsing cat memes, and watching anime.

Founding Editors

Naajia Jami, Civil Engineering

Julia Levy, Astronautical Engineering

Former Editors-in-Chief

Isabel Yarwood-Perez, Mechanical Engineering

Brandon Chew, Chemical Engineering

Rachel Longjohn, Computational and Applied Mathematics

Rebecca Thoss, Chemical Engineering

Former Editors

Meera Gorjala, Public Policy and Environmental Studies

Laura Cook, Chemical Engineering

Ayman Siraj, Chemical Engineering

Tsung-Han Stephen Sher, Computer Science

Sharada Rayan, Computer Science and Business Administration

Krishnan Raman, Industrial and Systems Engineering

Anush Kadoyan, Computer Science

Nicole Pay, Mechanical Engineering

Tiarnan McCaffrey, Mechanical Engineering

Huaning “Wendy” Wang, Mechanical Engineering

Georgia Babikian, Biomedical Engineering

Connor Buckley, Computer Science

Former Web Developers

Tuling Zhao, Computer Science and Business Administration

Faculty Advisors

Martha J. Townsend teaches in the Engineering Writing Program at USC and serves as the founding and current Faculty Advisor to Viterbi Conversations in Ethics.

Featured Spring 2021 Volume 5 Issue 1

Environmental Racism and the Role of Engineers in Providing Justice

June Moon April 27, 2021

Environmental racism, which encapsulates the disproportionate number of minorities living near and negatively impacted by environmental hazards, greatly burdens communities of color both physically and economically. In an effort to attain environmental justice for these communities, engineers have a duty to leverage their knowledge and resources in order to empower and mobilize alongside community organizers and put pressure on opposing stakeholders. This paper reviews the direct correlation between race and environmental hazards, as well as analyzes two cases in which engineers can either harm or help marginalized communities.

Featured Spring 2021 Volume 5 Issue 1

Ethics of Geoengineering

Sarah Cigas April 27, 2021

Until recently, the concept of geoengineering has widely been dismissed as a far-fetched and unethical idea to manipulate the environment. Geoengineering proposals intend to reduce the effects of global warming by manipulating the environment through extracting carbon dioxide from the air or reflecting sunlight to reduce global temperatures. However, as the context of climate change has shifted in urgency, geoengineering has emerged as a potential last-ditch effort to save humanity from climate-induced destruction. Despite its many unknowns and risks, geoengineering might provide a temporary solution to delay the detrimental effects of climate change and prevent the irreversible damage projected by current global warming trends.

Featured Spring 2021 Volume 5 Issue 1

Autonomous Weapon Systems: Our New Soldiers, or a Disaster Waiting to Happen?

Sameeksha Agrawal April 27, 2021

Morality in the process of war, or “jus in bello,” is one of the two principles of the Just War Theory doctrine, created by ethicists in an attempt to reduce the immorality of war. Autonomous weapons, which function without human control and have been used by the United States military since the Obama administration, may thus be unable to fulfill the requirements of jus in bello. So, is it possible for fully autonomous weaponry to ethically take human life in the context of war? As autonomous weapons cannot be held liable for their actions, lack the capacity to make crucial decisions on their own, and would have a profoundly negative effect on the civilian population, this paper argues that they are therefore unable to be used ethically and should not be participants in war.

Featured Spring 2021 Volume 5 Issue 1

The Ethics of Digital Voice Assistants

Beatriz Suarez April 27, 2021

In 2019, there were a staggering 3.25 billion digital voice assistants in use across the globe, a figure that is predicted to rise to 8 billion by 2023. These assistants, which include Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and more, are not just computers; they have voices and personalities, and we develop social relationships with them just like we do with real people. However, the way they are currently designed, voice assistants enable and even encourage certain stereotypes and social behaviors in their users. This paper explores the ethicality of digital voice assistants and their effects on those who use them and suggests ways designers can approach their development to make sure such socially detrimental effects are mitigated.

Featured Spring 2021 Volume 5 Issue 1

Pay to Play: The Ethics of Video Game Economics

Tyler Amano-Smerling April 27, 2021

Video games provide endless hours of fun for people of all ages, races, and genders. Gamers may not realize, however, that certain elements of their favorite form of entertainment may pose a serious threat to their wallets—and even their mental health. Game developers employ various techniques to manipulate users into purchasing items in the in-game store, including lockouts, reward removal, and loot boxes; considering virtue ethics and computer scientists’ ethical code emphasizes the need to remedy this exploitation.

Featured Spring 2021 Weekly News Profile

A Responsible Rollout of the COVID-19 Vaccines

Isabel Brieler April 26, 2021

The CDC and FDA have recommended a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine over concerns about rare blood-clotting side effects, but given its wide-reaching consequences, was this an ethical decision?

Spring 2021 Weekly News Profile

The Ethics of Vaccine Passports

Sabrina Sy April 19, 2021

The idea of vaccine “passports” is being considered by a number of countries (including the U.S.) to regulate travel, recreational gatherings, and more, but is the concept ethically permissible when the general population doesn’t have equal access to the COVID-19 vaccine?

Spring 2021 Weekly News Profile

Facebook Finally Takes Responsibility, But Is It Enough?

Tyler Amano-Smerling April 12, 2021

Facebook’s oversight board wants to begin examining the company’s ad algorithm, but with the board’s lack of technical knowledge and absence of significant regulatory power, are they ethically qualified to do so?

Spring 2021 Weekly News Profile

Southern California Import Woes

Michael DeLucia April 5, 2021

Though all eyes have been on the Suez Canal situation lately, Los Angeles is in the midst of its own slightly-less-flashy shipping crisis—so, what should we do?

Spring 2021 Weekly News Profile

The Implications of the Suez Canal Crisis

Isabel Brieler March 29, 2021

A single ship has blocked a canal that handles 30% of the globe’s shipping traffic for days (and at the time of writing, is still stuck there). Does this have larger implications for the way the world currently approaches manufacturing and globalization?