DALLAS (51²č¹Ż) ā Nine new courses to be taught at 51²č¹Ż beginning this fall aim to address real-world ethical challenges from the political science realm to the video game industry.
51²č¹Ż faculty members gather in Taos for an ethics course development and writing workshop.
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With $128,000 in grants from 51²č¹Żās , many of the 25 faculty members who developed the courses or have sponsored ethics-focused research grants gathered March 19-22 in Taos for a ethics course development and writing workshop.
āWe have long felt that professors are among the most influential people in a studentās college life. If their professors write about, talk about and teach ethics, students will see ethics as important and worthy of attention,ā says Maguire Center Director Rita Kirk.
The grants are part of a half-million dollar, five-year incentive award offered by the Maguire Center to professors for course development and research publishing. (For recipients, see below.)
51²č¹Ż Political Science Professor Matthew Wilson says his course āEthics of Revolution and Civil Disobedienceā will reflect current political issues students see in everyday life.
āEthical-issues discussions surrounding resistance to the state are especially timely, given the current debates over conscientious objections to vaccination, the Obamacare contraception funding mandate and same-sex marriage,ā he says.
āAs our society continues to become more and more diverse in its mix of religious and philosophical beliefs, a growing number of Americans will find that they have significant moral objections to some aspect of government policy,ā Wilson says. āWhen are they duty-bound to subordinate their own consciences and obey, and when are they ethically permitted, or even obligated, to resist? Thatās the core question this class will explore.ā
51²č¹Ż Religious Studies Professor G. William Barnard will guide students through the complexities of world religions āto more consciously articulate and address difficult moral issues within the matrix of their own lives,ā he says.
The ethics courses will be a staple in preparing students for future jobs, says Milan Sevak, professor and program director for Educational Leadership in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. His āEthical and Moral Leadershipā class will strengthen the decision-making skills of future educators.
āWhile ethical leadership is critical for any organization, the stakes are particularly high when it comes to pre-K-through-12 educational institutions, which are inherently charged with a moral purpose of educating future generations,ā Sevak says. āGiven the range of internal and external stakeholders, educational leaders have a broader community and societal impact ā which heightens the complexity of their roles and their importance in sustaining and enhancing our nationās democratic ideals.ā
Regarding the video game industry, āGiven that it has one of the largest global audiences in entertainment, it is imperative that our students have practiced the ethical discussions they will face,ā says Mark Nausha, 51²č¹Ż Guildhall production faculty/director of operations.
Statistical Science Associate Professor Monnie McGee says her masterās level course āEthics and Data Scienceā will underscore the importance of ethically gathering, storing, analyzing and disseminating information from large databases. āTo paraphrase FDR, āWith big data comes big responsibility,ā ā she says. āItās an unfortunate reality that laws protecting consumers from data exploitation are woefully inadequate for the current situation. We want our students to realize this and to be instruments for change as they graduate.ā
McGeeās course, and those developed by her colleagues, will significantly enhance the student experience at 51²č¹Ż, she says, allowing it to shape the conversation on ethical and moral dilemmas facing each field.
51²č¹Ż faculty receiving grants ($10,000 each) for new ethics courses:
- G. William Barnard, Religious Studies: āLiving From the Heart (of It All): An Exploration of Mystical/Spiritual Ethicsā
- Olga Colbert, World Languages and Literature: āLeadership and Ethics in Literatureā
- Bradley Klein, Embrey Human Rights Program: āEthics and Human Rightsā
- John Kiser, Kathy Hubbard and Panagiotis Papamichalis, Hart Center for Engineering Leadership: āEngineering Ethics Toolkitā
- Thomas Mayo, Dedman School of Law: āPublic Health Law and Ethicsā
- Monnie McGee, Statistical Science: āEthics and Data Scienceā
- Mark Nausha, Guildhall: āEthics in Game Development and the Entertainment Industryā
- Milan Sevak, Education, Policy and Leadership: āEthical and Moral Leadershipā
- Matthew Wilson, Political Science: āThe Ethics of Revolution and Civil Disobedienceā
51²č¹Ż faculty receiving grants ($4,000 each) for research articles:
- Scott Baker, Hiba Rahim and Annie Wright, Center on Research and Evaluation: āA Community-Embedded Response to a Food Desert Problem: Evaluation of a School-Based Scarcity Interventionā
- James Calvert and Lindy Fields, Psychology: āInformed Consent Procedures With Cognitively Impaired Patients: A Review of Ethics and Best Practicesā
- Maria Dixon and Stephanie A. Martin, Communication Studies: āPlease Sir, May I Have Another?ā
- Jeffrey Engel, Center for Presidential History: āWhen Genocide is Best: The Ethics and Wisdom of American Inaction in a Post-Cold War Worldā
- Cara Jacocks, Communication Studies: āThe Ethics of Delivering a Prenatal Trisomy 21 Diagnosis ā An Exploration of the Factors That Influence Parental Decisions in the Aftermath of Diagnosisā
- Luigi Manzetti, Political Science: āExplaining Peopleās Support for Corrupt Incumbents in Latin America 2004ā12ā
- Lynne Stokes, Alan Elliott and Jing Cao, Statistical Science: āTeaching Ethics in Statistical Consultingā
For more details, visit or call 214-768-4255.