Ethical and Social Issues in Public Engagement

Catalog description

Pre-req: ENGL 1120 or consent of Instructor. Offered: every other year. This seminar examines how values influence STEM research as well as the ethics and politics of STEM communication and policy. Students will gain practical skills in ethics relevant to their professional work, analyzing how research, design, communication, and policy decisions may incorporate, or fail to incorporate, diverse stakeholders’ interests. The course explores barriers and power relationships that can prevent certain groups from enjoying the full benefits of scientific and technological change. Assignments will challenge students to operate as public-responsible researchers or communicators and ask them to consider how products and policies can challenge inequality and promote the common good.