Logic has been called the "calculus of computer science" - and yet, while any physics student is required to take several semesters of calculus, the same cannot be said about logic and students of computer science. Despite the great and burgeoning activity in logic-related topics in computer science, there has been very little interest, in North America at least, in developing a strong logic component in the undergraduate curriculum. Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, departments have set up specialized degree programs on logical methods and CS. This special session, organized under the auspices of the ASL's Committee on Logic Education, aims to explore the role of logic in the computer science curriculum. How are computer scientists trained in logic, if at all? What regional differences are there, and why? Is a greater emphasis on logic in the computer science undergraduate curriculum warranted, both from the point of view of training for research in CS and from the point of view of training for industry jobs? What should an ideal "Logic for Computer Science" course look like?
The Association for Computing Machinery has just chartered a new Special Interest Group on Logic and Computation (SIGLOG). Education is one of the prime concerns of this new SIG and one of the activities on the SIG's education committee will be to advocate for a greater presence of logic in the curriculum. Prakash Panangaden discusses the aims of the new SIG with particular emphasis on its educational mission.
Nicole Schweikardt will report on experiences with designing an undergraduate introductory course on logic in computer science at Goethe-University Frankfurt.
The University of Technology Vienna participates in a European Masters program in computational logic and has just started a doctoral program in Logical Methods in Computer Science. Alexander Leitsch describes these initiatives and considers lessons other departments can draw from the Vienna experience.
Presentations will be followed by a panel discussion. Materials here: