Course Title:
BIB413 Personal and Social Ethics in Contemporary Society
Course Description:
This course explores how we develop into the people we want to be and then use what we have--skills, moral qualities, power, money, and influence--to make our own lives and the lives of others better. Using resources from religion, philosophy, psychology, and sociology, we consider both those questions we ask and those that life asks of us. While the specific questions will be determined partly by the class, possibilities include: (a) How do I come to know myself, and what do I do with that Knowledge? (b) How do I know, decide, and do what is good or right? (c) What makes a life significant? (d) What is my society, or life, or God asking of me? and (e) How can I become an influence for what I see as good? When we are younger, we can defer these questions to others, but becoming an adult means we have an increasing capability and responsibility for our own participation in the life of the world, based on our own knowledge and action. In working through these and other questions that the class members raise, we will use our own life experiences (and reflections on those experiences) and the reflections and experiences of others, along with a wide range of other resources. Grade: 12
Academic Goals:
Knowledge:
Understanding selected Bible narratives and the questions and perspectives they present concerning moral leadership and decision-making, in order to understand how this material applies to contemporary moral decisions and actions.
Appreciation of enough basic psychology and sociology to understand the dynamics of interpersonal relationships and groups/organizations, and their effects on decision-making, so that students can know how to be a constructive force for moral leadership in decisions made and actions taken in a group.
Understanding of both good and bad examples of leadership and decision-making presented in class—including why they are good or bad.
Substantial appreciation of integrity in leadership; styles of moral leadership; accountability to God (the role one’s beliefs should play in ethical decisions one makes that affect others); the nature and extent of one’s responsibilities to others; the ethics of power and influence; and other issues students may identify.
Attitudes:
Students will develop an openness to the constructive role Biblical teaching can play in decision-making by contemporary.
They will grow in their curiosity about dimensions of the Bible, human psychology, moral leadership, etc., which are new or unfamiliar to them.
They will demonstrate a willingness to see the ethical dimensions of decisions leaders make as central to those decisions.
They will be committed to the primacy of ethical considerations in their own decisions.
Skills:
Students will become skilled in Biblical exegesis and hermeneutics.
They will be increasingly able to understand and interact effectively with challenging ideas they encounter—in all media, but especially in reading.
They will become proficient in oral and written expression of their own thinking about the ideas they are encountering.
They will have confidence to become increasingly independent in the questions they ask and in their efforts to find answers to those questions.
They will become more able to think about their own values (including how to work through situations when they find their values in conflict with each other); how to make and defend coherent moral claims; and how to influence others to live up to the moral principles they see as good (and which their group—dorm, family, school, work group, etc.—embraces.
They will grow in their ability to make moral decisions and to exercise leadership of a moral nature in their personal, social, and professional lives.
They will learn how to contribute to a group and learn from others in their group.
Evaluation:
Since the course is intended for upper-level students and will be conducted in a seminar format, a substantial part of the responsibility for the class will rest with the students. To that end, students—at first, only in pairs or a team; later, individually, as well—will take turns sharing responsibility for leading discussion on a day’s assignment. All students will be accountable for doing the daily assignment, and class participation will account for a significant part of the course grade for each student. Students will also write several short papers and a few longer ones, with a large final project. They will also work on some group assignments which will include both an oral and a written component.
Grades will be weighted as follows: Final project: 25% Group work: 25% Short/mid-length papers: 20% Tests: 15 Class participation (including quality of daily preparation): 15%
