Plato Royalty Lecture Series Spring 2001-2

Classic Problems in Computer Science

Tuesdays; 3:30 - 5 in LH1

Kate Cunningham, John Cushing, Judy Cushing, Sherri Shulman

In the "high tech computing" world, change seems constant – new and faster hardware, new web sites, new operating systems, new applications, new programming languages. It is sometimes said that a programmer needs to relearn "everything" every five years. This lecture series aims to dispell this myth, pointing out that a "real" education in computer science involves learning principles in which to ground « technology du jour » such as technical training in "programming" or "system administration" or "web development" (which do evaporate and must be relearned). Some problems (often the most interesting ones) are universal, appearing again and again but often manifesting themselves differently as the context changes.

The lecture series will examine classic and universal problems of computer science in light of current technology and of the historical context in which they have appeared. We aim to investigate how to recognize these problems as they surface, and how to initiate appropriate solutions. In addition to enriching the computer science program curriculum (Student Originated Software and Data to Information), the colloquium aims to build community across levels (from introductory to advanced) and across "colleges" (from the full time to part time.)

The series is sponsored by Evergreen’s PLATO Royalty Fund – a fund established with royalties from computer assisted instruction software written by Evergreen faculty John Cushing and students in the early 1980’s, for the Control Data PLATO system.

The series is open to the public.