ETHICS for Media Psychology |
Table of contentsWeekly pages, schedule, summer 2017Part I- Ethics fundamentals
Wk 1: Your ethical self (May 4-8/2017) Wk 2: History, evolution of ethics (May 9-15) Zoominar: May 9th, 5PM Pacific; https://zoom.us/j/886916737; Presenter: Jason, Ethics and course overview Post-Zoominar update: Here is the recording of our meeting. Student Moodle leaders: Michael Wk 3: Developmental ethics (May 16-22) Student Moodle leaders: Aunna, Meghann Part II- Perspectives from industry, research Wk 4: McLuhan (May 23-29) Zoominar: May 23rd, 5PM Pacific; Presenter: Jason, McLuhan overview Student Moodle leaders: Brady, Ethan Wk 5: Assessing technology (May 30-June 5) Student Moodle leaders: Corey, Olga Wk 6: Consumer psychology, ethics (June 6-12) Zoominar: June 6, 5PM Pacific; Presenter: Dr. Carrie Perry- Ethics of Advertising Student Moodle leaders: Yamika Redo of Dr. Perry's Zoominar on Sunday 6/12: https://zoom.us/j/274566946 Wk 7: Ethics of a digital lifestyle (June 13-19) Zoominar: TBA Present: Caryn Wiley- The Quantifiable Self Student Moodle leaders: Edgar Wk 8: Media ethics (June 20-26) Student Moodle leaders: Linda Wk 9: Corporate responsibility, ethics (June 27-July 3) Student Moodle leaders: Tatyana Part III- Issues Wk 10: Issue, TBA (July 4-10) Student Moodle leaders: Elizabeth Wk 11: Issue, TBA (July 11-17) Student Moodle leaders: Deborah Wk 12: Issue, TBA (July 18-24) Student Moodle leaders: Wk 13: Issue, TBA (July 25-31) Student Moodle leaders: none; myself Part IV- Independent work Wks 14-16: Independent work (August 1-10) + PAPERS DUE AUGUST 11 + + GRADES DUE AUGUST 18 + Course materials
I do my best to make this course as inexpensive as possible. Toward that end I use a good deal of free web-based materials from academic sources and popular media. You will read from two books:
Also, please get the following. It is only $6:Another version of it can be found at:Other resources are identified throughout the course as needed. Class flow
Every week you are required you to engage in similar activities. First, you read/view materials and discuss them with colleagues in Moodle. The discussion is driven by a combination of the questions I provide, as well as those you develop. It is important that you reference the materials in your discussion. Doing so is how you demonstrate competency of understanding. You will take turns leading Moodle discussions. You will identify and lead discussions about the ethical implications of current media events. More about this as the course progresses. Zoominars. We will have a few of these during this course. Formal essay writing. Your primary assignment is a formal essay. More about this later. Grading
Your grade is comprised of the following:
Moodle Communication Notes
We use three main approaches to communication in this class:
Moodle topics. Beginning with week 2, we will discuss a new topic about a media issue and the ethics of living a digital lifestyle.
Site credits
Photo content: Rubic cube, robot and human. Kelion, L. (2015, 25 August). Rubic cube, robot and human. article by; photographer unspecified. Open Bionics robotic hand for amputees wins Dyson Award. BBC News. Retrieved: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34044453 |
Course competenciesGoal of this course: to help you acquire and apply the information, skills and perspectives needed to be an ethical leader in the field of digital media.
Three levels of competencies
There are three levels of competencies involved with every course you take: 1) Fielding University-Wide competencies; 2) Media Psychology program competencies; and, 3) course competencies. Competencies will be identified each week. What follows are the competencies for this course: Course competencies
Students, through their writing, scholarly discussion and class activities, will be able to:
When you are confronted with an ethical decision, what would you do?And more importantly why would you do it? What is more right and less wrong? Based on what set of standards?
In this course you need to have more than an ethical perspective. You also need to have a foundation and argument to support your perspective. You will find that as you weigh the ethic considerations that arise in a number of situations, you will need to balance some or all of the following. This list is not comprehensive:
If ethical practice were clear and consistent across time periods, cultures and situations, then applying ethical and moral standards would be a fairly straightforward undertaking. But the reality is that most situations of any consequence require us to weigh "what is more right and less wrong." The large, ethical grey area we inhabit means that finding ethical consensus among even a small group of people within a pluralistic society often seems impossible. We experience ethical dissonance not only interpersonally but also intra-personally. That is, as individuals we are often challenged by competing ethical perspectives that force us to make decisions that rarely feel completely right or wrong but which, on balance, feel more right than wrong. The more controversial or complicated the issue, typically the more confusing or contentious the clash of competing ethical perspectives. This is particularly true in the world of technology, media and information, in which the nature of human responsibility is struggling to keep pace with the rapidly evolving technologies that challenge what it means to be "good," ethical and human. The goal of this course is to empower you as an ethical leader. In this course we will first look at ethics in a conceptual and historical sense; then we will look at how various industries have conceptualized and applied ethics within their fields; then we will look at specific ethical issues related to media, technology and living a digital lifestyle. The last part of the class allows students to pursue individual research. To get warmed up, consider the issue in the next section, A Case of Genetic Discrimination. Consider this:
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