Contemporary Moral Issues: Fall, 2000 -- Phi 3630, Section 001
Meets Mondays and Wednesdays, 11 A.M. until 12:15 A.M. Instructor:
Diane Wilkinson
Office Phone: 974-5811. Home Phone: 727-733-8444 * dwilkins@luna.cas.usf.edu Office Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays, 3:30 P.M. until 4:00 P.M. and by appointment. * FAO 242.
Class Requirements:
1. Attendance is required. This is an analysis, discussion, observation, and communication class.
2. Class preparation is required. Unless you have read the text sections assigned , you will not be able to join in the discussion in a meaningful and interesting way. Off-the-point discussions, while initially entertaining sometimes, are almost always destined to be boring and frustrating. I, like you, don’t like being bored or boring. If you stay with this class, I will assume you have agreed to help keep the class as interesting and valuable as possible.
3. Assignments must be turned in at the beginning of classes for which they are assigned, unless you are notified otherwise.
4. You will he required to choose between two grading methods for yourself, one including a midterm exam, and one method which does not. Both methods will include a twenty-five per cent portion (500 points) from in-class work and discussion, and both will include twenty per cent (400 points) from written assignments—assignments on which content and grammar, is graded. If you attend all classes and stay alert and involved through them, participating in the discussions, you will receive all four hundred participation points possible. No tricks. Similarly, if you truly complete the written assignments, following instructions scrupulously, you will be graded reasonably and fairly for the second four hundred points.
The choice you must make lies with how you achieve 800 of the final 1100 points available in this class. The final exam, which everyone must take, will count as 300 of these 1100 points. You may choose to count any 10 of the12 quizzes as your entire 800 additional test points. But you may do this IF AND ONLY IF you have at least a B- average on those quizzes and all written work at midterm. If you do have the B-, in other words, you may choose to skip the midterm, and the mini-quizzes and final exam will count for the entire 1100 points. If you don’t have the B- average on weekly quizzes, and consequently do not qualify for skipping the midterm, the mini-quizzes will count as 400 points, and the midterm will count for 400 points, to make up the total test-related percentage of 800. (Note: if you do qualify for skipping the exam, but want to take them to bring up your grades, you may do so.) The final exam, in all events, counts as 300 points.
Grading:
Class Participation = 25% or 500 points.
Quizzes = 40% or 800 points (or midterm 400 points
and quizzes 400 points)
Papers = 20% or 400 points
Final Exam = 15% or 300 points
Total: 2000 points
All students must take each quiz. This is to ensure that you have read the materials and have kept the pact with the rest of us, as reflected in item 2 above, and to see what progress you are making in understanding the course material. (If you miss class one week, you will be expected to make up the quiz within two weeks, with a possible maximum score of 90%.) On each quiz, I usually will offer you twelve to twenty-five questions, either multiple-choice or two-sentence answers, and you may pick any ten to twenty of these twelve to twenty-five questions to answer. If you have read the materials, you almost certainly will be able to answer these questions. They are to test your general familiarity with material and your understanding, not your rote memory, unless I tell you in advance there is memorization involved, which may occur on three of the later quizzes. But even then, the quiz will not be difficult unless you have ignored the assignment.
Papers: The three assigned papers will be three pages in length and will be in an argumentation format. We will discuss what this means in class. You will be given an opportunity to rewrite your papers for a better grade.
The Final: You will be given the questions for the final in advance, so that you can prepare for them.
Finally, there is no grading curve in this class. If all of you earn A grades, you will all be given A grades.
Class Assignments & Schedule:
8/28: Introductory Remarks and Administrative matters: syllabus and
text discussion
Assigned for next class: Read pages 1-41 in text.
8/30: Discussion of Chapter One. More administrative stuff.
Assigned for next class: Read pages 43-47, 49-50, 51-55, 57-61, 63-66, 80-85, and Noddings.
9/4: Holiday
9/6: Discussion of chapter one.
Assigned for next class: TBA
9/11:Chapter one exercises.
Assigned for next class: Review Chapter One and notes for quiz. Read pages 313-324.
9/13: Quiz on chapter one. Discuss Chapter Six, Death Penalty.
Assigned for next class: Read pp. 326-329, 353-368, 383-393, 343-351.
9/18: Discuss Chapter Six.
Assigned for next class: Review readings and notes.
9/20: Quiz on Chapter Six. Discuss Chapter Six.
Assigned for next class: Position paper on Death Penalty, due 10/2.
9/25: Continue Chapter Six class consideration.
Assigned for next class: Read Cloning materials, pages 173-184, 185-194, 196-198.
927: Turn in position paper. Discuss Cloning articles.
Assigned for next class: Read pp. 205-206, 208-218, 220-227.
10/02: Quiz on Cloning articles. Discuss cloning.
Assigned for next class: Read pp. 229-235.
10/04: Conclude Cloning discussion. Introduce Euthanasia issues.
Assigned for next class: Read pp. 243-254, 261-271, 290-299, 303-306. Assign cloning or euthanasia position paper, due 10-11 (3 pages).
10/09: Discuss Euthanasia articles.
Assigned for next class: continue euthanasia readings.
10/11: Take up Position Papers on Cloning or Euthanasia. Discuss Euthanasia. Introduce Abortion issues.
Assigned for next class: Read 108-119. Euthanasia quiz. 10/16: Euthanasia quiz. Return papers for rewrite. Discuss abortion issues and overview of articles. Hand out midterm exams to those who must take them; due 10/23.
Assigned for next class: Read pages 533-542, 543-554, 486-498. Prepare for quiz on outing.
10/18: Outing quiz. Discuss outing.
Assigned for next class: paper rewrites and midterms.
10/23: Take up midterms and take up paper rewrites. Discuss outing issues.
Assigned for next class: Read 511-516, 519-522, 525-531, 500-509
10/25: Return paper rewrites and midterms. Discuss outing issues.
Introduce gay marriage issues.
Assigned for next class: Read pp. 525-531
10/30: Quiz on gay marriage articles. Discuss gay marriage issues.
Introduce Hate Crimes/Free Speech issues.
Assigned for next class: Read 563-573, 575-585, 587-592, 608-615.
11/01: Discuss hate crimes and free speech issues. Quiz on free speech issues.
Assigned for next class: Read pp. 605-606.
11/06: Discuss. Introduce articles on sexism and pornography.
Assigned for next class: Read pp. 623-634, 636-642, 644-651, 653-662
11/08: Quiz on sexism and pornography articles.
Assigned for next week: Read 665-671, 673-678,682-686
11/13: Discuss sexism, pornography issues. Introduce Racism and Affirmative Action.
Assigned for next class: Read 695-706, 708-712.
11/15: Discuss racism and affirmative action articles.
Assigned for next class: Read 715-724, 727-733, 746-750.
11/20: Quiz on racism and affirmative action articles. Discuss articles.
Assigned for next class: Read 751-767, 682-686, May, Berry, Frye (handouts).
11/22:Discuss affirmative action issues.
Assigned for next class: Position paper on racism, sexism, or gay marriage or outing, due in one week.
11/27: Racism issues. Introduce Drugs/Alcohol issue.
Assigned for next class: TBA
11/29: Take up position papers. Discuss drugs and alcohol issues.
Assigned for next class: TBA
12/04: Animal rights issues. Return papers for rewrite. Hand out questions for final exam.
12/06: More Drugs and animal rights. Take up rewritten papers.