PHIL 2222: Ethics

Intersession 2020

Course Information

PHIL 2222.01-I20: Ethics

3 Credits

Prerequisite: None

Instructor Information

Instructor: Dr. Douglas Ficek

Use the Blackboard Messages tool to communicate with me.

However, in an emergency or when you cannot access Blackboard, please use UNH email to contact me: [email protected]

Course Description

What should I do? Who should I become? What is the meaning of life – of this life, of my life? How should I treat the others around me, and how should I expect to be treated by them? Are there solutions to the moral problems that distress us and so often divide us?

Questions like these – and there are many others – are about ethics, and in this introductory course we will explore them across several readings.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Explain what ethics is and why it is important.

2. Identify different ethical theories.

3. Apply different ethical theories to specific issues.

4. Reflect thoughtfully on the ethics of abortion.

5. Reflect thoughtfully on the ethics of capital punishment.

6. Develop a critical and philosophical voice.

Required Materials

You are not required to buy a text book for this course.

There will be articles assigned for each of the the modules. Instructions for obtaining these readings (e.g., from the library, on websites, attached as PDFs) will be provided within each module.

Accessing Course Materials

Communication and Technical Issues

You will be using Blackboard (Bb) to access course materials and communicate in this course. I will notify you via Bb Announcement page about changes to the course schedule or syllabus or other class-related information.

Please familiarize yourself with the Bb Messages tool (see the Bb Tutorials/ Documentation link in the course menu). It is your responsibility to check your Bb messages frequently. As well, you should contact me with any questions related to the course through the Bb message tool or the Course Questions Discussion forum.

General technical support, including support for Blackboard, is available through the “Campus Card” office at 203-932-7062 or via [email protected]. For hours the office is open visit their web site: http://www.newhaven.edu/OIT/29095/

Attendance and Absences

It is essential that you keep up with your work each day and not fall behind. To facilitate this, the Course Calendar includes beginning and ending dates for each module, as well as due dates for all discussion posts, activities and assignments.

It is your responsibility to be aware of the due dates for all assignments. If you experience a medical, family or other real emergency that will hinder your ability to complete an assignment, you must contact your instructor through the Bb Messages tool. If you cannot access Blackboard, use email (using your UNH email account). Documentation may be required, and any extension, substitution, waiver, or make-up of any assignment will be at the discretion of the instructor.

To avoid any issues, complete and submit your work early – problems with technology or understanding how to use Bb tools are not a valid excuse for failing to submit an assignment on time.

Please note that attendance is extremely important for your success in this course and is required for maintaining your eligibility for Federal Financial Aid (and many other aid programs). Class attendance, in this case is mandatory and involves logging into Bb and accessing the course content often. Be sure to log into Bb and access the material (e.g., module content, learning activities, discussion forums, quizzes) regularly. The system tracks your access (i.e. when and how long you are on the system).

Instructor Participation

Your instructor will:

· Post a welcome message during the first 24 hours of the course.

· Make module content available by 8:00 am on the first day of that module (listed in the course calendar).

· Respond to student messages within 24 hours.

· Communicate with you through the Bb communication tools, including internal course messaging.

· Provide you with formative feedback throughout the course via Bb based on work submitted.

· Grade all assignments within 3-5 business days.

Student Participation

Students are expected to:

· Have the required computer software, technology, and high-speed Internet access that is appropriately configured to work in the UNH Blackboard environment (Browser Check: http://pegasus.newhaven.edu/BrowserCheck/).

· Have the computer skills to be successful in the online environment.

· Read and understand the course syllabus and comply with all the requirements outlined for the course.

· Login regularly to read announcements, complete activities and assignments, and participate fully in the course by interacting with the instructor/students in the course.

· Contact the instructor immediately in the event of an emergency, illness, or issue that affects participation in the course.

· Develop a time-management strategy based on the following: 40-50 hours a week (3 week course), 20-30 hours a week (6-8 week course), 10-12 hours a week (15 week course).

Course Requirements and Activities

Readings

Assigned readings will prepare you for class discussions and other assignments. The purpose of these readings is to provide you with a thorough understanding of the topic at hand. It is your responsibility to complete all assigned readings in a timely manner in order to complete related work.

Lectures

Because this is an online course, “lectures” consist of online modules within Bb containing explanations of important content, readings, learning activities, and self-assessments.

Modules will be opened by 8:00 am on the first day of each week listed in the course calendar. Although the structure of the last module may be slightly different, most modules in this course will present readings and information covering the primary theories or concepts, each with assigned activities.

Collaboration and Interaction

By registering for a web-based course, you have made a commitment to interact regularly with the content of the course, your instructor, and fellow students in the course. You will be expected to participate in online discussion forums with your peers, contribute to journals, and complete a writing project to improve your understanding of underlying course ideas and issues.

Grading Policy

Final course grades will be determined based on the following assessment compoents, grade weights and UNH grading scale below.

PHIL 2222 Intercession 2020 Course Calendar

Assessment of Student Learning

Pre-Assessments (100 points)

Pre-assessments are a way to get you started thinking about the topics of the module. As a student, you already have gained a great deal of knowledge. What you know and have experienced prior to this class will affect how you perceive, learn, and retain new information. Your learning is also affected by what you think you know, and thinking about what you know.

With that in mind, each week you will answer a question or two that might help you recall knowledge about the topics coming up for the week. These will be completed using Blackboard’s Journals. You do not need to research the answers. In addition, grading is not about getting it right or wrong, but participating in the pre-assessment question.

Discussions: Critical Reading Responses/Replies (900 Points)

As you can see by the high point value for this activity, this is the bulk of your course learning.

Each week, you will be reading papers to help you absorb the material. You will have a separate discussion forum for each of those readings.

In order for you to have a chance to discuss every reading with your peers, each week you will be responsible for contributing an initial post (critical readings response) and reply posts to your peers:

· Post 500-word critical reading response posts, one for each of the readings/forums each week.

· Post at least 1 reply posts in each of the forums each week.

· Your posts will be graded in terms of their quality. In all cases, you are expected to respond to all required questions with well-thought-out responses and to support your positions with knowledge you have gained in this course from the readings and videos.

Unless otherwise specified, online discussion postings and responses do not require APA formatting or formal citations and references. However, you should always clearly state the basis for what you write in discussion postings.

Because discussion boards are our form of “live” communication, there can be no extensions or make-ups on discussion posts. If you have a medical or other emergency that prevents you from posting to the discussion board, please use the Bb messaging tool to contact the instructor.

To lessen the risk of losing your work, do not write major discussion postings directly into a discussion forum. Instead, compose and check your work in other software (such as Microsoft Word) and then use Create Thread or Reply and paste your text into the new posting. Do not attach documents as your post but rather put them directly into the text boxes.

Administrative Information, Policies and Resources

Academic Integrity

You are responsible for being familiar with all the policies that are related to your activity in this course. Academic integrity is a core university value, which insures respect for the academic reputation of the University, its students, faculty and staff, and the degrees it confers. Cheating and plagiarism are forms of academic misconduct. The University expects that students will conduct themselves in an honest and ethical manner and respect the intellectual work of others. Please be familiar with the UNH policy on Academic Integrity.  Source: http://www.newhaven.edu/academics/16246/

Plagiarism Plagiarism is a violation of the UNH academic integrity guidelines . The instructor will not accept as an excuse that you were unaware that your behavior constituted plagiarism. Therefore, it is highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the concept of plagiarism and that you approach the instructor if you have any questions.

Please visit Purdue’s OWL writing website for valuable resources for understanding and avoiding plagiarism. You are also responsible for familiarizing yourself with the academic integrity guidelines found in the University of New Haven Student Handbook. Sources: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/1/ and http://www.newhaven.edu/studenthandbook

Netiquette

Before beginning your course work, be sure to review the netiquette guidelines for online interaction described below. You are expected to follow these guidelines in all interactions in this course.

In general, always be respectful to your fellow students and instructor. Netiquette is a word used to describe the do’s and don’ts of online communicating. Basic courtesy and common sense are generally the rule of the day when communicating, whether it is face-to-face or through the Internet.

Virginia Shea’s Netiquette website, which outlines the core rules of netiquette. Some other best practices:

· Don’t send an attachment when you could put the text in the body of the message. Not everyone can open your attachment and in these days of viruses, many are afraid to open attachments.

· Avoid using shortcuts you might use in text messages on your cell phone, lol.

· DO NOT USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. This is the equivalent of yelling at someone.

· Do not spam your classmates. Spam is the practice of sending unsolicited emails usually trying to sell something. This is not an ethical practice.

Use fonts that are easy to read, for example, Times Roman. While Mistral may be an interesting looking font, it is very difficult to read if used for more than a few words of text. On the same note, colors may be difficult for people to read. It is best to use colors in your text for emphasis only.

Source: Netiquette Web Site: http://www.albion.com/netiquette

Student Accessibility Services

Students with documented disabilities are encouraged to visit the Campus Access Services page or make individual appointments with the Director of Disability Services & Resources, Ms. Linda Copney-Okeke, who can be reached by phone 203.932.7331 or by email: [email protected] so that you can be informed of the full range of student services available at the University. If you feel you could benefit from some extra assistance seek it out early.

Source: http://www.newhaven.edu/student-life/CampusLife_StudentAffairs/Campus_Access_Services/

Library Services

UNH offers many online services and electronic databases that you can use for your research. Visit the site, Library Services for Distance Learners for a full listing.

Source: http://www.newhaven.edu/library/Services/29892/ Writing Services

If you need help with other aspects of writing, such as grammar, punctuation, organization, or developing a thesis statement, this link to the Purdue Online Writing Lab offers resources and exercises for general and subject-specific writing, technical writing, and English as a Second Language.

The OWL also offers:

· How to create an effective PowerPoint presentation

· Dealing with writer’s block

Source: Purdue Online Writing Lab: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ Counseling Services

The Counseling Center offers a variety of services aimed at helping students resolve personal difficulties and acquire the balance, skills, and knowledge that will enable them to take full

advantage of their experience at the University of New Haven.

Source: http://www.newhaven.edu/student-life/CampusLife_StudentAffairs/counselingcenter/

Holidays and Religious Observances

The University of New Haven respects the right of its students to observe religious holidays that may necessitate their absence from class or from other required university-sponsored activities. Students who wish to observe such holidays should not be penalized for their absence although, in academic courses, they are responsible for making up missed work. Instructors try to avoid scheduling exams or quizzes on religious holidays, but where such conflicts occur, should provide reasonable accommodations for missed assignment deadlines or exams. If a class, an assignment due date, or exam interferes with the observance of such a religious holiday, it is the student’s responsibility to notify his or her instructor, preferably at the beginning of the term, but otherwise at least two weeks before the holiday. In a similar vein, students who will not participate in other required activities due to religious observance should notify the staff or faculty member who oversees the program with the same lead-time.

Student Handbook It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with all UNH policies. Review the Student Handbook.

Source: http://www.newhaven.edu/studenthandbook

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