TC 5376 Ethics Proseminar Course Syllabus
Montana Tech of the University of Montana
Professional and Technical Communications
Instructor: Ana Nelson Shaw
Office: ENG 205 (Grad Lab)
Class Time: Wednesdays, 11 a.m. – 12 noon, MAIN 209
Office hours:
Fridays, 12 noon - 1:30 p.m., or by appointment
Required Text: A 21st Century Ethical
Toolbox by Anthony Weston, 3rd edition (correct edition very
important!) May rent or buy online. Not requisitioned in bookstore. Copy
available in grad office until yours comes in.
SCHEDULE (any changes will be announced in class
and via Moodle)
Day
|
During
class
|
After
class
|
AUGUST
|
||
Wed. 8/27
|
·
Introductions
·
Syllabus overview
·
Lecture: What Is Ethics?
·
In-class writing: Your Ethical
Background and Choices
|
1.
Read Weston ch. 2
2.
Blog contribution: Find a
recent op-ed from a 1st-tier mass media publication (e.g. The New
York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist) a weighty and controversial
current issue. On the blog, provide a link to the op-ed and explore how the
piece employs or avoids ethics avoidance “disorders.”
3.
By Monday 10 PM, leave a
significant comment or question in response to a classmate’s blog entry.
4.
Read http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-california-water-rights-20140819-story.html
and http://www.ucmerced.edu/news/california-overspends-water-rights-300-million-acre-feet,
the press release that spurred the LA Times story. Prepare three substantive
ethics questions for the PR officer who prepared the release, Lorena Anderson
of UC Merced.
5.
Begin Journal Response Paper 1.
|
SEPTEMBER
|
||
Wed. 9/3
|
· Skype
call with Lorena Anderson
· Discuss
Ethics Avoidance chapter
|
1.
Read Weston ch. 4
2.
Blog contribution: What is the
greatest professional (not personal) ethical dilemma you have faced? What
values did you apply or consider? Are you satisfied with the actions you
chose? Why or why not?
3.
Blog question/comment
4.
View samples of the work of
graphic artist Jerilyn Hassell Pool (links on blog). Prepare three
substantive ethics questions for Ms. Pool.
|
Wed. 9/10
|
· Skype
call with Jerilyn Hassell Pool
· Discuss
Values chapter
|
1.
Read Weston ch. 5
2.
How should professional
communicators choose terms for controversial persons or issues? For example,
consider distinctions between the terms “sex worker,” “prostitute,” and
“trafficked individual.” Come up with at least one other example of
controversial names or terms. How should a communicator consider ethics of
person when choosing which terms to use? What else should be considered?
3.
By Monday 10 PM, leave a
comment or question for a classmate.
4.
Complete Journal Response Paper
1 (2 page summary of academic paper with your comments and questions) and
7-minute presentation (including PowerPoint or Prezi slides) on your
findings.
|
Wed. 9/17
|
· Journal
Response paper presentations
· Discuss
Ethics of Person
|
· Read
Weston ch 6
· Blog
contribution: Read http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-robin-williams-details-of-death-20140819-story.html.
What would Mill or Bentham say about this ethical question? What would Buber
or Kant say? What do you think? Back your assertions with evidence from
reputable sources.
· Blog
question/comment
· Choose
2 short documentaries from http://www.shortoftheweek.com/category/genre/documentary/
to watch. Prepare 3 questions for Nick Hawthorne about ethics in documentary
filmmaking.
|
Wed. 9/24
|
· Guest
lecture: Nick Hawthorne
· Discuss
Ethics of Happiness
|
· Read
Weston ch. 7
· Blog
contribution: What one virtue should take priority in your past or future
line of work? Back up your assertions with evidence from reputable
sources—philosophers, academic writers, data, or published case studies.
· Blog
question/comment
· Read
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/whf/1994/vol15-no2/WHF_1994_15(2)_p175-177.pdf
and prepare 3 questions for Chelsea Newman of Cancer Care Northwest about
ethics of health communication.
|
OCTOBER
|
||
Wed. 10/1
|
· Skype
call with Chelsea Newman
· Discuss
Ethics of Virtue
|
· Read
Weston ch. 8
· Blog
contribution: Imagining yourself in your ideal future job, what is your role
as a communicator in the community? Are there different communities to which
you are responsible? Apply ideas about Ethics of Relationship or Care.
· Blog
question/comment
· Read
posted PDF about ethics of technical communication. Prepare 3 questions for
Sherrie Burt Willey of Zion’s Bancorp.
|
Wed. 10/8
|
· Skype
call with Sherrie Burt Willey
· Discuss
Ethics of Relationship/Care
|
· Read
Weston Ch. 9
· Blog
contribution: Find a piece of popular culture that really resonates with you,
something you agree with. This could be a comic, a meme, a video, or a piece
of writing. Apply the checklist on page 249 to analyze it critically. What
holds up? What doesn’t? What did you learn?
· Blog
question/comment
· Complete
Journal Response paper 2 and 7-minute presentation, including slides.
|
Wed. 10/15
|
· Journal
Response paper presentations
· Discuss
Critical Thinking
|
· Read
Weston ch. 11
· Blog
contribution: Choose a controversial or divisive issue that everybody is sick
of talking about—for example, gun control, abortion, or animal rights.
Outline steps for consensus building or progress. Consider specific obstacles
you might have to overcome for this issue.
· Blog
comment/question
· Explore
http://www.attask.com/
and prepare 3 questions for guest Christa Woodall, Awareness Marketing
Manager of AtTask.
|
Wed. 10/22
|
· Guest
Christa Woodall
· Discuss
Dialogue
|
· Read
Weston ch. 12
· Blog
contribution: Explore how our conversations and conflicts about values might
change for better or worse with broadened knowledge about
neurodiversity—i.e., if we are just wired to disagree.
· Blog
comment/question
· Read
posted PDFs on interaction design ethics and prepare 3 questions for guest Tom
Nelson
|
Wed. 10/29
|
· Guest
Tom Nelson
· Discuss
When Values Clash
|
· Read
Weston ch. 13
· Blog
contribution: Return to the professional ethical dilemma you explored in Week
2. Imagine a completely different approach and what outcome it could have
had, using concepts from Chapter 13.
· Blog
comment/question
· Prepare
questions for guest TBA.
|
NOVEMBER
|
||
Wed. 11/5
|
· Guest
TBA
· Discuss
Creative Problem Solving
|
· Read
Weston ch. 15
· Blog
contribution: Answer three questions of your choice from Weston p. 453-4.
Keep the focus professional. This will help plant seeds for your final paper.
· Blog
comment/question
· Prepare
questions for guest TBA.
|
Wed. 11/12
|
· Guest
TBA
· Discuss
Moral Vision
|
· Read
Weston ch. 17
· Blog
contribution: Answer three more questions of your choice from Weston p.
453-4. Keep the focus professional. This will help plant seeds for your final
paper.
· Blog
comment/question
· Complete
Journal Response paper 2 and 7-minute presentation, including slides.
|
Wed. 11/19
|
· Journal
Response Paper Presentations
· Discuss
Making a Difference
|
· Work
on final paper, Personal Communications Ethics Mission Statement (Weston p.
452-4).
· You
should write 5-7 pages (12 point type, double spaced, 1-inch margins) on your
professional ethics mission statement, using the specifications provided in
the textbook.
· Make
sure to reference prominent ethical thinkers, case studies, or academic
articles to back up your assertions. Provide a bibliography in either APA or
Turabian style (whichever you will be using for your thesis or project
metadocument).
· Consider
this a serious academic endeavor that could be included as a chapter on
ethics in your thesis or your project metadocument.
|
Wed. 11/26
|
No class – Thanksgiving Break
|
|
DECEMBER
|
||
Wed. 12/3
|
Help session for final paper,
|
· Work
on final paper
|
12/11-17
|
FINALS
|
Complete final paper
by 12/17, 5 p.m. Submit by email to ashaw@mtech.edu.
|
GRADING
Weights
Weekly blog
contributions/responses 30%
Journal Article
Response Papers 40%
Final Paper 30%
Letter Grade Cutoff Points
95 A
90 A-
87 B+
83 B
80 B-
77 C+
73 C
70 C-
67 D+
63 D
60 D-
<60 F
Grades are individual;
there is no curve.
POLICIES
AND GUIDELINES
1)
I'm here to help.
I aim to help you become comfortable with applying ethical principles in
practical situations. I hope to provide the help you need to do accomplish your
maximum learning and growth. Take advantage of office hours and Q&A
opportunities for questions and help. Failing these options, you may contact me
by email for an appointment, and I will do my best to meet with you as my
schedule permits. Please use anshaw@mtech.edu
to communicate with me.
2)
Attendance and appropriateness
matter. Attendance is required for all class periods If
you miss a class it is your responsibility to obtain the information I taught
and assigned. The best ways to do this are (a) from a classmate or (b) from me
via email. Some things cannot be made
up. Your grade will inevitably suffer if you miss class. Try not to.
3)
Submit work on time. Blog
responses and commentsmust be submitted
on schedule as noted in the syllabus. Journal response papers should be turned
in on paper in the class period in which they are due, following your
presentation. Your final paper should be submitted by email by 5 p.m. on the
last day of finals. I will deduct 10% for each week you are late with an
assignment. Final papers may not be graded if they are late.
4)
Cancellations and notifications. If
a class period is canceled, or if I need to communicate with you about the
class outside class time, I will use your Montana Tech email. If you use a
different email, please provide me with that address within the first week of
classes and I will use that for notifications, instead.
5)
Individual accommodations and
relationships. If you need any accommodations for your
individual abilities or other personal situations, please notify me. I am
absolutely willing to work with you and others who may be assisting you. If you
have suggestions for improving our lecture or recitation section time, please
let me know. I will try to give all suggestions fair and careful consideration.
If you have a concern about anything I have said or done, especially if I have
offended you or treated you unfairly in any way, please come to me before
taking your concern elsewhere. I strongly believe that people of good will can
work out their problems almost all the time.
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