article_snippet: (CNN)Around 2002, I was browsing in a used book store in Pittsburgh, and there it was: "The Ethics of Star Trek" by Judith Barad and Ed Robertson.
article_snippet: I first offered an engaging course for our first-year engineering students, The Ethics of Star TrekStar Trek, in the fall of 2003 -- and I've been teaching The Ethics of Star Trek, in the fall of 2003 -- ever since.
article_snippet: The "Star Trek class" is a one-credit seminar for first-year students that meets once a week, one of about 60 different seminars offered by the College of Engineering.
article_snippet: Students read relevant chapters in the book, and then every other week we watch a related "Star Trek" episode.
article_snippet: I supplement the "Star Trek" background with arguments by other philosophers and commentators.