Time Schedule:
Sara L. Goering
VALUES 495
Seattle Campus
Culmination of the values in society minor. Synthesizes training in ethics with primary discipline. Includes a project of positive social engagement (service learning or research project with fieldwork). Limited to undergraduates completing the minor in values and society. Credit/no-credit only.
Class description
This course is designed as the culmination of the Values in Society minor sequence, and encourages students to synthesize their interdisciplinary training in ethics by putting their developed expertise into practice in the community around them. Students will complete a fieldwork experience that pushes them to grapple with the complications and experience the rewards that come from the difficult challenge of implementing policy or action that is ethically sensitive and practically feasible. It is expected that this fieldwork will take one of two forms: (1) Students may engage in a service learning project, designed to make use of their disciplinary competences and their ethics training to aid in a process of social change. (2) Students may develop an independent project of engagement in the community that emphasizes ethical analysis, aims at social change, and involves significant fieldwork (e.g., interviews with key players, attendance at organization meetings, policy analysis, and development of recommendations). The independent project requires advisor and/or capstone instructor approval. In both cases, the student is expected to produce a written report of their activities, including several required progress reports and reflections on the project assigned across the quarter, and to engage in discussion with other students involved in such projects.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
