FAS/CDE 498  Ethics in Families and Relationships

Instructor:  Denise Ann Bodman (Bustamante)

Office:  Cowden 101          Phone:  480-965-8335 Office Hours:  10:00 to noon and 1:45-2:45 TTH and by appointment    

Website:  www.public.asu.edu/~dbodman

Line #:  63099 (CDE); 24631 (FAS)                     Location:  Cowden 124                Time:  TTH  3:15-4:30

Course Description:  This course is designed to be a “capstone course” for family and human development.  As such, it will address, stretch, and measure areas our department considers important for graduating seniors – knowledge, relationship skills, writing/presentation skills, computer skills, critical thinking, and application.  The subject matter is fascinating.  The area of applied ethics has been an academic subject for years and has specifically been studied in law, business, and medicine.  Family ethics, however, has been all but overlooked; yet, it is within the context of family and relationships that most of us will be faced with ethical dilemmas and moral decisions.  Our exploration will lead to discussions of what place children hold in the lives of adults?  What is the place of men and women?  How does culture, history, and society weigh into the complex interests and values that identify what is truly at stake for men, women and children?  Because of the nature of families and relationships, traditional means of addressing ethical dilemmas may be inadequate.  This course will help students to make better philosophical arguments about moral matters; and, as a result, students will be able to make more informed decisions in the morally complex world of family and relationships.

Objectives:  By the end of this course, students will be able to:

1. Effectively discuss complex ethical issues related to family and relationships;
2. Identify and understand arguments used in taking a moral stand;
3. Effectively write about complex moral decisions related to family and relationships;
4. Utilize the Internet and various computer applications to assist in communicating to a wider audience about specific issues in family ethics.

Text:  Morals, Marriage, and Parenthood:  An Introduction to Family Ethics by Laurence D. Houlgate (1999).  Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Packet of Readings available at Alphagraphics, located at The Arches (NW corner of University and Forest)

Class Policies and General Information:

1.        You are responsible for all notes.  If you miss a day, ask a classmate for notes.  Classmates are not required to give you copies of their notes if they don’t want to.

2.        You must be on time for exams. 

3.        You must take all exams.  If you miss an exam, you must have a reasonable excuse along with evidence to support your excuse (i.e., hospital record, accident report).

4.        All homework assignments must be turned in at the beginning of class; late homework assignments will not be accepted.

5.        No extra credit will be given on request.  Do not come to me at the end of the semester and ask what you can do to get the grade you want.  What you can do to get the grade you want is…attend class, complete all assignments, read the book, and study.  If you are doing all of this and still not doing well, make sure you see me early in the semester.  I will help you.

6.        Cheating (e.g., exams or plagiarism) will result in an “E” for the course and submission of the student’s name along with a complaint to the Department Chair and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.  Students who know of another student’s cheating and assist him/her will be punished likewise.

Grading:

This course is a senior level course, and it is presumed that students have reading/writing/oral skills commensurate with this level.  The course will have very little lecture and will primarily involve reading and discussion.  Your grade will be based on the results of several Reading Assessment Tests (RATs) that will be administered almost daily.  The RATs will be 10 to 20 questions long (multiple choice; matching; true/false).  You will take each RAT individually, then collectively with a small group.  Your group RAT will be graded in class and the group may prepare a written argument for any answer scored incorrectly.  Students will NOT be allowed to make up an RAT, unless the instructor determines that the student has a valid excuse for missing it.

Group discussion, questioning, role-playing will be the mainstay of this course.  Therefore, it is imperative that you make a strong effort to attend every class.  Due to the nature of the class, discussions will probably be very animated.  Students will NOT be graded on the “rightness” or “wrongness” of their opinions; rather, the student’s ability to formulate arguments, dissect/understand positions and consequences, and communicate his or her opinion will be assessed.  This will be done through various in-class and out-of-class activities and short position papers.

The final for this class will be a pro and a con position paper written by the student on a family/relationship ethics topic of the student’s choice.  These two papers will be posted on the Internet.  I and my TA will be available to help you post your papers.

The weight of the above will be as follows:

RATs – 50%

In Class/Out of Class Assignment/Groups – 30%

Final Project - 20%