Manifesto
In creating our manifesto for the ND Computer Science student, I felt that I did not connect with the extreme passion that was supposed to come from it. Jack’s, Isabelle’s, and my manifesto was a little one-sided because we wanted to give it from the perspective of a true Computer Science student. In the spirit of the initial manifesto we wanted to convey a sense of passion and frustration from a mistreated vigilante. I never felt misunderstood in my time here at Notre Dame because I never fully engaged in the Computer Science community. I spend my extra time in singing groups and hall government so I never felt a deep connection to the CS lifestyle. I mingled with the Mendoza kids and the found interests in areas of studies other than Computer Science, so many of those comments didn’t apply to me. I feel that this manifesto comes from the CS perspective of every student though, and that it is a warcry to the administration. A warcry that stresses the importance of the Computer Science department and how it is not given enough respect at this school. Many of the points made in our manifesto stem from a frustration of the system and a lack of respect from colleagues. This manifesto shows that the community of Computer Science students feels strongly about the program and that we value our education and feel that it deserves more respect and resources to improve.
Portrait
The “typical” Computer Science student at Notre Dame is very hard to fit into a cookie-cutter mold. Every individual is very unique and has defining characteristics that separates him/her from the group. I think our portrait does a great job of acknowledging these differences, while still including every member of the class. I believe that every Computer Science student would be able to connect with at least one thing in every category of our portrait but that no student would be able to connect with every statement. Our portrait is an inclusive one that doesn’t discriminate a certain type of student or leave out an aspect that does not bleed the computer science “reputation.” I think our group is a very diverse group of students because many of us have interests outside of Computer Science and bring those passions into our lives and into the classroom.
Stereotypes
I typically do not have a problem with stereotypes because I think that there is always a large element of truth to them, however, I do not agree with them for programmers because we are not a homogenous group. Most stereotypes form because a group is very similar and tends to not have much variation, but my experience with Computer Science majors at ND has been far from that. Stereotypes are important in how they affect perceptions that people have on a particular person or group, but in this case stereotypes are disabling because there is not one group to tell a story of in Computer Science but rather that Computer Science is the mixing pot of countless stories. Manifestos and portraits are good in unifying a group that has many similarities, but this is not the case in Computer Science, and a manifesto actually excludes the majority of the group. Manifestos tend to show an extreme viewpoint, but this does not work for Computer Science because (in my experience) it is comprised of a lot of middle ground individuals. I think a portrait gives opportunity for a lot more inclusion, and our portrait did a great job of this. When manifestos and portraits keep a inclusion point of view they can do a lot of good for uniting a group, but otherwise they seem to do a lot more destruction.
Ethics Blog 