Ethics and Public Policy

Catalog description

This course is an advanced applied ethics course taught with a focus on specific case studies created by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics for a regional debate competition each year. Students will have the opportunity to engage with ethical problems on wide-ranging topics, such as social and political ethics (e.g. gun control; national health care), global issues (e.g., economic globalization; climate change), civic responsibility (e.g., local activism; voter rights), and academic concerns (e.g., plagiarism; academic freedom), to name only a few possibilities. Work on the case studies will allow students to improve not only their research and writing ability but their oral communication skills as well. Much of the course will involve structured, in-class debate. This course fulfills an Applied Ethics course requirement.