Instructor: Jane E. Till, M.A.
St. Pete/Gibbs Campus– FA 122
Office: 727-341-3579
Email:
Academic Dept: Applied Ethics Institute, St. Petersburg College
Director: Keith Goree 727-341-4313
Course Name: Ethics in Pop Culture and Entertainment
Course Prefix: PHI 2624
Syllabus: This syllabus is posted in Angel under the syllabus Tab
PREREQUISITE: PHI 1600, PHI 1602, PHI 1603, PHI 1631, or PHI 2649.
Course Description:
PHI 2624 Ethics in Pop Culture and Entertainment
This course is a study of the fundamental concepts of classical and modern approaches to moral reasoning as identified in various forms of popular culture and entertainment. A review of fundamental ethical definitions and concepts, elements of critical thinking and logic, and classical and contemporary approaches to moral reasoning will precede the examination and analysis of selected forms of popular culture and entertainment. The analysis phase will consist of an examination of the selected materials with a view to identifying the presence of issues and dilemmas of moral significance. Fictional and historical characters will then be assessed as to their critical thinking processes and their approaches to the resolution of moral dilemmas. 47 contact hours.
Meeting Information/Office Hours:
Class meets two times weekly: instructor available via e-mail, telephone, or by appointment - the best method to contact me is through the ANGEL course email. Posted daytime office hours are available on St. Pete/Gibbs Campus Fine Arts Building Room: 122 or on ANGEL under the “Lesson” tab. Gordon Rule Class – a “C” or better must be earned to pass.
Attendance POLICY:
We learn from each other – if you are not in class we all miss something! Educational studies are showing that consistent attendance is one of the most important factors in your success or failure in any college course. Generally speaking, “A” students are rarely absent and students who fail are absent often. Even though this is an elective, attendance is something that is taken very seriously by the professor and therefore should be taken seriously by students. In light of that, and because of the nature of this class, consistent attendance is required. Students accumulating excessive absences (more than 5) are subject to being dropped from the class. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of class sessions. Students are expected to be present when role is taken. Students arriving late should make sure that the absence is changed to a tardy; it is the student’s responsibility to notify the teacher that they are present. Refer to College policy (Revised October 2006) on class attendance http://www.spcollege.edu/central/botrules/R4/4_30.doc.
Special Attendance Requirements: If you exceed a total of five (5) absences you will either be administratively withdrawn (if this occurs before the 60 percent point in the term) or be given a grade of WF if it occurs later in the term. If you are in your third attempt at completing a course, you will be given a WF grade at any point in the term that you exceed the maximum number of weeks absent. Check your attendance record under the “Tools” tab in ANGEL weekly and notify your instructor immediately via email if you were incorrectly recorded as absent. If you choose a “Group Project” and miss more than two meetings – you will be withdrawn from your group and be assigned an individual project.
Dropping the Course
It is the responsibility of the student wishing to withdraw from the course to do so by October 30, 2008. Any student wishing to withdraw from the course must do so his or her self online in the MY SPC registration area found at http://www.spcollege.edu . All students registered in the course after October 30, 2008 will receive a grade as outlined in your syllabus. By SPC Policy (enacted February 2005), student cannot withdraw from a course after October 30, 2008, the withdrawal deadline. If this is your third time taking the course, you cannot withdraw (State of Florida regulation), and not meeting the attendance requirement will result in a grade of WF. Students who abandon the course or do not withdraw themselves by October 30, 2008 are subject to receive a grade of WF.
Veteran’s Attendance Policy
Veterans’ Administration (VA) requires timely reporting of students who are receiving Veterans’ benefits and who are no longer attending classes. In order to meet these requirements, a report is completed whenever a student receiving VA benefits discontinues participating in the course.
Classroom Behavior
Diversity is a valued benefit of the college experience. Diversity of culture, age, gender, traditions, religious and political beliefs, and education level will provide a rich learning environment. The basic rules of conduct taught in American kindergartens will prevail. Courtesy is required – and each student is expected to demonstrate respect for each other in accordance with the SPC Code of Conduct. Inappropriate language or inappropriate behavior is not tolerated. In a course of this nature, the discussion of controversial issues should reveal different points of view – understanding that there are differing worldviews concerning the human condition is the very essence of this class. All cell phones and electronic devices must be turned off during class and be put out of sight. Please see www.spjc.edu/webcentral/admit/sturesp.htm#conduct .
Course Information
Course Objectives:
1.The student will demonstrate knowledge of fundamental concepts and definitions in the field of ethics as these are illustrated in selected forms of popular culture and entertainment by:distinguishing between moral and non-moral issues.
· identifying evidence of moral, immoral, and amoral attitudes and behaviors.
· identifying the "moral" of a story.
· recognizing conflicts of interest and the ways in which they are resolved.
· identifying ethical approaches as opposed to purely legal approaches.
2. The student will apply theories of moral development as these are illustrated in selected forms of popular culture and entertainment by:
· identifying and evaluating the stages of moral development as theorized by Lawrence Kohlberg, Carol Gilligan and James Rest.
· explaining such theories through the words and motivating forces of the characters under consideration.
3. The student will apply critical thinking and logic as these are illustrated in selected forms of popular culture and entertainment by:
· evaluating the logic process and critical thinking skills of selected characters.
· identifying deductive and inductive forms of argumentation on the part of the characters examined.
· identifying, naming and explaining logical fallacies found in the words and actions of those characters under examination.
4. The student will demonstrate knowledge of moral reasoning as these are illustrated in selected forms of popular culture and entertainment by:
· explaining and evaluating ethical principles in selected philosophical moral theories.
· applying those central ethical principles to resolve moral issues and problems presented in selected examples of pop culture and entertainment.
Required Books: Baker, Emily and Richardson, Michael L., Ethics Applied, Edition 3.0, Pearson Education, or Ethics Applied, Edition 4.0, Pearson Education, 2004, or Ethics Applied, Edition 5.0, Pearson Education, 2006. Most of you should have the book from the prior ethics class since you couldn’t sell it back you can use any version of the book.
Other Requirements: Students will be required to rent/borrow videos throughout the semester that they will be required to watch at home. There may be additional expenses incurred due to this requirement.
ACADEMIC HONESTY:
St. Petersburg College has an Academic Honesty policy.It is your responsibility to be familiar with the policies, rules, and the consequences of violations.Read about the policy at: http://www.spcollege.edu/webcentral/admit/honesty.htm. There is no tolerance for cheating and academic dishonesty.Discipline can range from a zero on that specific assignment to expulsion from the class with a grade of F.Note that copy/pasting published information, whether it's from your textbook or the Internet, without citing your source is plagiarism and violates this policy.Even if you change the words slightly, the ideas are someone else's, so you still have to cite your sources. Cheating, plagiarism, bribery, misrepresentation, conspiracy and fabrication are defined in Rule 6Hx23-4.461, Student Affairs: Academic Honesty Guidelines, Classroom Behavior. Students are not allowed to work on assignments or tests with others students except with the special permission of the instructor for group projects. All students must take the academic honesty quiz and achieve 100% to receive grades in this course.
Grading: Your final grade in this class will be based on the points you earn on assignments, papers, projects, exams, and participation. There are 1000 total points available for the semester, not counting extra credit (if offered). Late assignments will be marked down and MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY in the designated ANGEL DROPBOX. I assign grades based on total points earned at the end of the semester. The top score in the class earns 100% of 1000 points; I calculate cutoffs for A, B, C, and D as 90, 80, 70, and 60% of the top score. You may view your “point in time” points as an estimate of your grade on ANGEL under “tools”. Please note that grades posted during the semester do not reflect 100% of the possible points; the interim scores reflect points that are due; items such as participation, final papers, extra credit, and the final exam are not calculated until the final grade is submitted. Also note that final grades for the course depend on total points earned in the class, not on letter grade equivalents.
The final grades will be determined as follows:
Grading Scale:
A = 90-100% (1000 - 900 points)
B = 80-89% (899 - 800 points)
C = 70-79% (799 -700 points)
D = 60-69% (699 -600 points)
F = 59% and below (599 - 0 points)
Assignments:
1. Class Participation (150 points): Up to one hundred and fifty points of your semester total are based on your active participation in class.” Active participation" does not refer just to talking in class, but means that you are mentally involved in whatever we are doing. Offenses such as sleeping in class, frequent tardiness, excessive absences, and doing other homework while in class, and sending text messages will lower this grade. To that end, it makes logical sense that if a student misses class he/she cannot participate and absences will strongly affect this grade. The class participation grade will include discussion participation on assigned forms of pop culture.
2. In class writings (350 points) – students will be required to watch or listen to a form of popular culture and then write about it in class. In class writings will vary in point value and may not be made up if a student misses the day when the assignment is done.
3. Take home writings (200 points): Students will be responsible to view different movies throughout the semester. When viewing these movies the students are to take notes as directed by the instructor and be prepared to discuss the movie. The point value of the take home writings will vary.
4. Music presentation (100 points): Students will be required to find the song and the lyrics to the song that they want played at their funeral. Students will then be required to play the song and display the lyrics to the class. In addition, students will have to speak to the class as to why they chose this song and share their view on Death and Dying.
5. Application Project – Final Exam (200 points): Students will be required to critique a segment of the culture such as; media, TV, movies, magazines, shopping malls, advertisements, or elements of the internet. Students will present what they discovered to the class as the final exam. Students will receive more details regarding this requirement at a later date.
Special note: Within this class we will be viewing and listening to different types of popular culture. Some of this media may have violence or language that some may perceive as offensive. I will warn you prior to viewing or listening to these media. Please make sure to tell me if you do not feel comfortable viewing or listening to such media, this way we can set up an alternative assignment so you do not lose points. In addition, we may watch movies or portions of movies that are rated “R” this means you must be of the proper legal age to do so. Students under this age must have prior parental written consent in order to attend this class. If you do not want to view these selected items you may notify the instructor ahead of time so that he may come up with another assignment for you so you will not lose credit.
Late Work: Late work is accepted with a penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment off per calendar day late. It is considered received when I have it in my hand. You may not make up in class writings for days that you are absent.
Extra Credit:There will be no opportunities for extra credit.
General Course and Campus Information
College Communication
All registered students have a student e-mail account. All official correspondence from the college will be sent to your student e-mail account including registration appointment dates and college closing alerts. You may access your account by clicking on MySPC on the college website www.spcollege.edu and logging in. Click the SPC student e-mail link on the left under Main Menu. Your default password will be displayed in red on your personal login screen.
Equal Opportunity
St. Petersburg College is dedicated to the concept of equal opportunity. The college will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion sex, age, national origin or marital status, or against any qualified individual with disabilities, in its employment practices or in the admission and treatment of students. Recognizing that sexual harassment constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex and violates this rule, the college will not tolerate such conduct. Should you experience such behavior, please contact the director of EA/EO at (727) 341-3257 or (727) 341-3261 or by mail at P.O. Box 13489, St. Petersburg, FL 33733-3489.
Documented Disability Information