This course will focus on the complex ethical questions posed by the immediate and long-term existential threats to individuals and society. Among these threats are the effect of mass media on elections, the use of AI, global climate change, pandemics, exclusion movements and nativism, structural racism, and criminal injustice. The course will be taught seminar style—students will be working in dyads or triads and will be responsible for researching a topic of their choice, writing a one-page paper, and making one 10-minute presentation in class. Class discussion will focus on the nature of these threats, their ethical ramifications, and the individual and societal values that are being challenged by them. We will discuss the influence of philosophy, religion, and science on these issues and will explore whether or not they are responsive to these threats, or whether a “new” set of values, ethics, and morals is required.
NOTE: Students should be willing to work in a collaborative way with one or two other students outside of class, and be open to differing points of view.
