Davis A. Foulger, Ph. D.

Visiting
Professor
Fall, 2005-Spring, 2006
and Fall 2001-Spring 2003
 

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
COLLEGE AT OSWEGO

Department of Communication Studies

Approved Syllabus

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