Ethics and Community Service Learning

The Ethics program is based on the personal, social, and intellectual development of students and responds to the moral issues that students experience. In that context, the Ethics department offers a course of study that identifies moral problems, draws on the humanistic traditions, helps students develop skills of judgment, and increases their sensitivity to the moral dimension. In Forms III and IV, courses meet twice a week for one semester, and students must complete one course each year. In Forms V and VI, students choose one course from a program of electives. Courses meet four times per week for a semester or twice a week for a school year. In order to provide direct experience, the Ethics program includes community service through supervised placement in a community agency or through service learning courses.

ETHICS III

This course introduces a theoretical framework in ethics along with a spirit of self-reflection. Competing ethical theories are analyzed, such as those that focus on consequences, virtue, rights, duties, justice and caring. Critical thinking and the ability to recognize fallacious argument are encouraged. Ethics as it relates to business, government, citizenship, technologies, biology, diversity, and nature are discussed.

INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY SERVICE

The course serves as an introduction to the Community Service/Service-Learning Program at Fieldston. Through service projects students are engaged in meaningful and challenging tasks that meet community needs in New York City. Participation in such work requires analyzing information, thinking critically and creatively, taking action, and reflecting on the service experience. The course provides students with a language for talking about ethics, service, and community. Students also are made aware of the opportunities for volunteerism.

ETHICS IV

Through readings, discussions, and a semester debate project, students reflect on cases of individual interest versus the public good in public policy, examining the ethical and political issues in topics such as abortion, legalization of physician-assisted suicide, restricting private property to protect the environment, and other issues. The core question is when, if at all, is the government justified in intervening in the lives of people to prevent harm or to force them to do something they do not want to do.

SOCIAL ISSUES AND SERVICE-LEARNING

This course will explore urban environmental issues relevant to the New York City metropolitan area. We will examine the complex factors that impact our environment and explore every day steps we can take to make a difference. Possible topics include recycling, the effects of global warming, and the future of our water supply. We will supplement our reading material with news documentaries and guest speakers. We will also have the opportunity to translate our learning into action by helping a group of young children from a local community center participate in environmental projects. This course meets two times a week. One meeting includes a Thursday afternoon of service from 3 – 5 P.M.

CSAB: FIELD METHODS IN COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING

The Community Service Advisory Board Methods seminar is the first year in a three-year sequence. The seminar follows the service-learning methodology begun in the previous year’s Introduction to Community Service (ICS), yet expands on the ICS model by placing students into the leadership roles of planning and executing service projects. Students continue to work at the client level, but their work now includes interaction with agencies and the administrative aspects of service projects. Each unit provides information regarding the special needs of a client population, leadership development, communication skills, needs assessment tools, project management and evaluation strategies. Special attention is given to group process.

CSAB: FIELD WORK LEVEL I

Students in Fieldwork Level I are given the opportunity to assume leadership roles. They execute the community service project designed in their Methods seminar the previous year. Participants provide weekly service to address a social justice issue (e.g., educational inequity, literacy needs, homelessness) in a community-based organization of group choice. Funds are raised by the group as needed in order to support their efforts. Their primary work is accomplished at their chosen field site; students also meet weekly in a seminar group for the purpose of debriefing and reflecting on their field experiences and observations.

CSAB: FIELD WORK LEVEL II

ADVANCED PEER LEADERSHIP (STS)

This course has been established to further healthy interaction between middle school students and selected upper form students. The STS leaders work with 7th grade students on a variety of social issues and meet twice weekly (once with 7th grade students, once with faculty supervisors) for the year.

ADVANCED PEER LEADERSHIP (STS)

The Student-to-Student (S.T.S.) Major program provides participants experiential leadership training in facilitating group discussions and identifying and using different leadership strategies. Participants work cooperatively with peers and faculty in preparing and implementing 8th grade Ethics lessons. The leaders also explore their own understanding of the 8th grade Ethics curriculum about how culture, self-concept, stress, integrity and communication influence conflict. The course meets four times weekly throughout the year (three sessions with an 8th grade class and one leadership training class).

MORAL LEADERSHIP

This course examines essential elements of moral leadership and activism as demonstrated by contemporary individuals. Through readings, discussions, media and guest presentations, course content exposes students to accounts of social, political, educational, spiritual, political, educational, and economic leadership. The course is experiential in nature; students will be required to identify, apply and attempt to further develop their own skills of leadership.

COMPARATIVE RELIGION

This course provides a sense of several religions of the world, focusing most intensively on the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Issues covered include the sociology and philosophy of religions and their impact on the worldview. Topics are based on readings from primary and secondary sources.

ADOLESCENT SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

This course explores many topics of adolescent social development. Overarching themes include how adolescents construct, effect and perceive their social realities, social intuition, social influences, personal attitudes and dispositions, biological behavior, and applications to everyday adolescent life. To further appreciate psychology as science, each student will be required to design and conduct a relevant year-long research project.

ETHICAL ISSUES IN SCIENCE

Scientific issues involving the environment, genetics, and human reproductive biology are examined to study issues involved in personal and political decision-making. Possible topics for study include genetic engineering, the use of barrier islands, waste disposal, pollution of air and water resources, endangered species, agricultural and human pest management, land management in New York City, abortion, and organ and tissue transplants.

CONTEMPORARY MORAL PROBLEMS

This course analyzes a range of controversial contemporary issues through in-depth articles, essays and first person accounts. Readings are drawn from both classical and contemporary sources. Topics in the course include abortion, cloning, reproductive technologies, euthanasia, punishment, the death penalty, race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, poverty and welfare, world hunger, animals, and environmental ethics.

ETHICAL ISSUES IN SPORTS

What is your notion of the stereotypical athlete? Are athletes motivated for the right reasons? When do parents go too far? Why do fans act the way they do? Should we expect athletes to be role models? Is it “acceptable” for athletes to abuse their bodies? Is winning more important than competition? Why (not) cheat? Are racism and sexism inherent in sports? This course asks students to analyze, debate, and theorize the possible answers to these, as well as other ethical issues in sports.

SOCIAL JUSTICE IN PRACTICAL MATTERS OF DIFFERENCE

This course explores the moral, political, and philosophical questions that emerge from living in a pluralistic and multicultural society. Special emphasis will be given to issues of class, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and race. Problems of individual and group identity, ideology, cultural difference, justice and equity, and social and historical experience will be examined. These topics will serve as lenses for understanding the ethical complexities of creating a democratic community and just society. Course work will include weekly readings and journal writing, essays on selected topics, as well as experiential learning activities, multimedia presentations, and field trips. Each student will design and conduct a social justice action project of their interest.

MORAL PHILOSOPHY

Drawing on classical and contemporary sources, this course examines the major questions and theories in moral philosophy—relativism, egoism, utilitarianism, Kantian morality, and virtue ethics. In conjunction with the ethical theories, the course enables students to think systematically about practical ethical issues and to acquire basic skills in ethical argumentation. A spring semester thesis paper provides an in-depth opportunity to apply ethical concepts to a current ethical controversy.

ADVOCACY FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

This year’s Advocacy Course will address the following question: As a nation of immigrants, what are our civic and moral responsibilities with regard to the current issues of immigration? Weaving together service learning pedagogy with contemporary ethical theory, this course will examine the history of immigration in the United States and its current impact from a social, legal, economic and political perspective. Focusing on social constructions and intersections of race, class, and gender, this course will explore the multi-ethnic character of American society. Using first person stories and primary sources, we will study the experiences of Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos, Jews, Irish, and Asians, with attention to the overlapping and shared narrative experiences of these different groups. A service learning focus will provide students with opportunities to test assumptions, models, and ideas about civic/global responsibility toward immigration in the community i.e. through an on-going service experience with International Refugee Committee or a day laborer program.