I. |
Course Number and Credit: |
COM 380 -- 3 credits |
II. |
Course Title: |
Communication Ethics |
III. |
Course Description: |
Communication
ethics is the study of
the principles governing the conduct
of private and public
communication
in the pursuit of the personal and
common good. The student will approach
the application of these principles
from a problem solving perspective
using moral imagination. |
IV, |
Prerequisites: |
Minimum
of nine credits in the department
or with permission of the
instructor. Junior or senior
status. |
V, |
Course Justification: |
The
history of communication beginning
with Plato and Aristotle bears witness
to the social concern that the dialogic
interaction
between people at the interpersonal
up to the mass media level
be
supported by honesty, trust, and
reliability. Ethical communication
is one guarantee that human
relationships in the context of
our social, economic, and political
worlds flow with
reliability.
Journalists, media persons, and
public communicators need to acquire
a sense of social responsibility,
a framework to make ethical
judgments. |
VI. |
Course Objectives: |
The student will be able:
- A. To define the study of ethics
and appreciate its value in society
- B. To explain the dynamics of ethical
and moral development and the formation of values and attitudes.
- C. To define the requirements for a
system of ethics and its dimensions.
- D. To explain the dynamics and the
role of critical thinking in ethical and moral reasoning.
- E. To explain the importance of truth
as a fundamental value in journalism, advertising, and public relations.
- F. To explain the delicate balance
between the rights of privacy and the society's right to know.
- G. To describe the elements of conflicts
of interest and their ethical implications.
- H. To explain the ethical consequences
of facing economic pressures and social responsibility in media work.
- I. To describe communitarian ethics
and the satisfaction of social justice.
|
VII. |
Course Outline: |
- A. INTRODUCTION: What is the study
of ethics? What is it value in stabilizing society?
- B. How do individuals and society as
a whole develop ethical principles? How are values and attitudes part
of this ethical development?
- C. How does a system of ethics anchor
society? How do shared values, wisdom, justice, and freedom function
as fundamental elements of an ethical system?
- D. what are the philosophical foundations
of ethical theory? How do the deontological (dutybased), teleological
(consequence -based), and virtue theories compare? How does critical
thinking operate as a dimension of moral reasoning? What would a model
of moral reasoning look like?
- E. What is truth? What is its importance
for the media person in the areas of journalism, advertising, and public
relations?
- F. What are the tensions between individual
rights of privacy and society's right to know? What is the value of
privacy? What about special privacy areas: contagious diseases, rape
and sex crimes, juvenile offenders, suicides, accidents and personal
tragedies, etc.?
- G. What is a conflict of interest?
When are they real or imagined? How do we deal with conflicting relationships,
public participation, and personal interests?
- H. What are the tensions between economic
interests and moral obligations? what problems arise with the concentration
of media ownership? What problems arise with the alliance of mass media
and marketing, advertising?
- I. What is communitarian ethics and
how does it function in creating social justice? What are the responsibilities
of the journalist, media person, etc. in meeting the demands of communitarian
ethics in seeking to establish social justice?
|
VIII. |
Methods of Instruction: |
The course will be taught
using lecture/discussion, case
studies, small group collaboration and reports, field work, writing to
learn, and midterm and final examinations.
|
IX. |
Course Requirements: |
The student will be required:
- A. To complete assigned readings
- B. To conduct field projects and report
on them
- C. To give group oral reports of case
studies
- D. To write a major research
paper
- E. To pass a midterm and final
examination
|
X. |
Means of Evaluation: |
The student will be evaluated based on
the quality of:
- A. Midterm and final examinations
- B. Major research paper
- C. Performance in group
interaction and reports
- D. Field research project
|
XI. |
Resources: |
No
additional resources will be needed to offer this course beyond keeping
current with library acquisitions. |
XII. |
Bibliography: |
attached |