Saturday, May 19, 2007

Done just in time...

My Logic grades are in, just in time to start the Summer session on Monday. I'm not sure why they think this is a good idea for anybody, but as long as my classes make enrollemnt (cross your fingers for me), I'll start a short semester on Monday with an Ethics class at 7:45 AM.

The Ethics class should be fun. I decided to try a new approach to the applied ethics part of the class. We will do about 4.5 class hours discussing the ins and outs of an applied ethics topic. I'll probably have informal debates, small group exercises etc... to get them into the mode of thinking about the problem, then I'll use a bit from popular culture or a specific reading on the topic from outside philosophy to discuss the topic from a new perspective.

We are going to discuss the War in Iraq using an article from Foreign Affairs written by someone both hubby and I know. The article studies training done by the US military in regards to the ethics of warfare.

We'll discuss sexual morality issues and then watch "The Laramie Project", or perhaps another movie that deals with GLBT problems.. or maybe even the problems and experiences of sex workers.

We'll discuss medical ethics in terms of reproductive technology and read Jodi Picoult's "My Sister's Keeper", about a girl who was born to be a donor for her sick sister.

We'll discuss responsibilities to the poor and hunger issues and read Barbara Erinrich's "Nickle and Dimed", about the working poor in the US. This should be really interesting, as part of it takes place in BN state.

I'm going to try out this class format, if it flops, it will give me a clue about what not to endure for a longer semester :).

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