Professor: Azzurra Crispino
Course Name: Ethics
Course Number: Phil 2306

Contact Information

Office: Elgin Campus Room 1335 (only by specific appointment made at least 24 hours in advance and pending ACC policies) 
Mobile Phone: 512-222-5931
Office Phone: forthcoming (new office) 

Email: acrispin@austincc.edu*
*USE CORRECT SUBJECT LINE FORMATTING*

Office Hours: Tues 3pm-4:30pm, Wed 3pm-6pm, Thurs 3pm-4:30pm and by appointment during other times pending availability 

Please use the Google Calendar appointment link to schedule an appointment during office hours. Please specify in the appointment slot if you prefer to meet by phone (default) or by zoom.
If these hours do not work for you, you may request a private appointment. 
 

Course Description

Credit hours: 3

Contact Hours Per Week: 3 (online)

Students will be introduced to the principles of morality through a critical examination of various ethical theories and their application to contemporary moral problems. There are no course prerequisites for this class. A passing score or the equivalent on the reading and writing portions of the TASP is required.

Course Rationale

One of the most distinctive things about human beings is that we are not simply determined by natural forces; we have the capacity to decide how to act. One of the greatest challenges for human beings is that along with the capacity to decide how to act comes the responsibility to do so rightly. Through the study of ethics one can gain greater insight into how to meet this responsibility successfully.

Instructional Methodology
I want to help you become independent learners who are able to think critically and philosophically when evaluating a problem with an ethical dimension. Students will come away learning how to think and read philosophical texts and understand contemporary moral problems from a perspective that is both critical and sympathetic. Critical readings allow you to see what is wrong with the text, while sympathetic readings allow you to see the strength of the author’s original work and overcome its deficiencies.

Distance Education

The entirety of this course will be conducted in Blackboard, ACC’s approved learning management system.  Login instructions and support information for the system are available here

Online education tends to differ from traditional face-to-face learning in many ways. You will find that the bulk of the work in this course is organized into weekly folders. These folders will become available at the beginning of the week in which they are due, with the contents of each week's assignments to be completed in sequential order.  They will involve reading assignments, quizzes, discussions, group work, journals, etc.  You’ll find that week will frequently feature a series of deadlines for individual exercises.

While the format of this course will thus lend certain advantages to students in terms of schedule flexibility, it will also place certain demands on students in terms of time management and study skills.  If this is your first time taking a fully online course, I recommend that you take a few moments to review the ACC Distance Education General Information

Technology Support Services 

In response to COVID-19-related campus closures, Austin Community College now provides free, secure drive-up WiFi to students and employees in the parking lots of all campus locations. WiFi can be accessed seven days a week, 7 am to 11 pm.  Additional details are available at this site 

Students who submit the Student Technology Access Form and indicate they need help accessing their online learning environment to successfully complete their courses are potentially eligible to check out an ACC iPad for use during the semester.  You must be registered for a credit course, Adult Education, or Continuing Education course.

Course Calendar

Is available on Blackboard under the "Course Calendar" tab. Please be advised that changes to the calendar may occur throughout the semester. These will be updated in the calendar and communicated through Blackboard Announcements. It is your responsibility to track changes to the calendar. 

Course Policies

Attendance

Class will "meet" online. A face-to-face course would meet for three hours in person and would expect six to nine hours of homework. Therefore, you should expect to be spending between nine and twelve hours on this course. You will not be required to "attend" this course at a specific time of the week, but you will be required to turn in assignments each week and interact with other students as part of those assignments.

Class Discussion

Please be mindful of how you are coming across, especially in an online environment. Even though our discussion is online, make sure that you are being polite and respectful of other classmates (and your instructor). Please see "Guide to Netiquette" for further information.

Withdrawal 

Students are required to successfully complete several assignments during the first week of class (for example, Student Success Workshop, Orientation Quiz, or a Departmental Survey if applicable) or will be withdrawn after the first week of class. Please make sure to check the Course Calendar for your semester's exact requirements.

Federal Law now requires faculty to report whether a student has ever attended the course.  Once a student has thus been reported, unless due to faculty error, that decision is final.

After the first week, it is the responsibility of each student to ensure that his or her name is removed from the roll should he or she decide to withdraw from the class. If a student decides to withdraw, he or she should also verify that the withdrawal is submitted before the Final Withdrawal Date.  The student is also strongly encouraged to retain their copy of the withdrawal form for their records.

Students who enroll for the third or subsequent time in a course taken since Fall, 2002, may be charged a higher tuition rate, for that course.

State law permits students to withdraw from no more than six courses during their entire undergraduate career at Texas public colleges or universities. With certain exceptions, all course withdrawals automatically count towards this limit. Details regarding this policy can be found in the ACC college catalog.

Announcements and Due Dates

I hold you responsible for information and announcements sent by email or posted on the web pages (Blackboard) for your class. This policy applies specifically to course assignments and deadlines, including essay due dates which may change over time. 

Incompletes
I will only give incompletes to students who a) have grave outstanding circumstances for requesting them, such as extreme illness, death of a close family member, etc. and b) already completed a significant portion of the semester’s assignments.

Requests must be made at least one week before the last class day in writing. If I decide to award an incomplete, you will be required to ?ll out and sign a form including a plan as to how and when you will ?nish the course requirements, but these dates may not be later than the final deadline for withdrawal in the subsequent semester.

Plagiarism
For the purposes of this course, I will consider any of the following an act of plagiarism:

1) using someone else’s ideas without giving credit to that source;

2) using someone else’s words without putting quotation marks around it and giving credit to the source;

3) to paraphrase the work of another or pattern your work after that of another to such an extent that you have, in effect, not produced your own work. (You can be guilty of this form of plagiarism even if you do give credit to your source.)

Proper Documentation (i.e., How to Give Credit to a Source):

For all ideas or quotations that come from our text, it is sufficient to follow the idea or quotation with parentheses in which you include the name of the author of the relevant material and the page on which it appears, e.g., (Palmer 57). For any material from a web site, provide the URL of the site and the date you acquired the material. For anything from your class notes, cite who said it, that it was said in class, and the date, e.g., (Crispino, lecture, 1/20/09). For any personal communications, cite the source and the date, e.g., (Crispino, 9/18/07) or (Sally, 9/20/07). For any other source, provide sufficient information so that I can gain access to that source. When in doubt, provide a citation.

Applicability
The requirements with respect to plagiarism apply to ALL work submitted in this course, except for tests taken without access to your sources (though, then too, it is desirable to name your source even if you can’t provide a precise citation).

Consequences
Any student who is caught plagiarizing or involved in other forms of academic dishonesty will:
1. Be subject to the ACC Scholastic Dishonesty Policy (see below);

2. Depending on the severity of the case, punishments will range from (a) receiving a grade of zero on the assignment and a 15% deduction off the final grade to (b) an F in the course (at the discretion of the professor). One can also be subjected to additional punishments by the college.

Scholastic Dishonesty
"Acts prohibited by the college for which discipline may be administered include scholastic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating on an exam or quiz, plagiarizing, and unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing outside work. Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their thought, research, or self-expression. Academic work is defined as, but not limited to tests, quizzes, whether taken electronically or on paper; projects, either individual or group; classroom presentations, and homework." (Student Handbook, 2002-2003, p. 32)

Cases of scholastic dishonesty will be pursued according to the procedure set forth in the Student Handbook, “Student Rights and Responsibilities,” Section J, “Academic Dishonesty."

Academic Freedom
Students have the right to believe whatever they happen to believe and, within the appropriate constraints that follow from the organization of a course and its class meetings, to express those beliefs. Grades will never be based on the beliefs that a student maintains, but only on the quality of the philosophical work performed by a student in conjunction with the course.

Student Discipline
Students at the College have the rights accorded to all persons under the Constitution to Freedom of speech, peaceful assembly, petition, and association. These rights carry with them the responsibility for each individual to accord the same rights to others in the College community and not to interfere with or disrupt the educational process. As willing partners in learning, it is expected that students will comply with College rules and procedures. ACC students are recognized as responsible persons who neither lose the rights nor escape the responsibilities of citizenship. Enrollment in the College indicates acceptance of the rules set forth in this policy, administered through the office of the Campus Dean of Student Services. Due process, through an investigation and appeal process, is assured to any student involved in disciplinary action. (See the "Student Discipline Policy" in the Student Handbook for details.)

Testing Policies

All quizzes and exams will be on Blackboard. You will be allowed to use your notes and textbook, but you will not be allowed to use any additional online resources (e.g., Google, wikipedia, etc.) Work on your exams must be your own. You may use the textbook, but you cannot copy and paste from it – what you write must be in your own words. Using any other web resource will not be permitted. Failure to do so will constitute cheating on an exam. If I have reason to suspect collusion may be occurring, I reserve the right to request that individual students take the exam in a different testing environment to prevent cheating. Makeup exams will be provided for students who have missed scheduled exams only because of University-approved absences. If you miss an exam for any reason, please notify me immediately and include the reason for your absence.

Late Work
I will accept late work ONLY IF (a) you contact me at least 24 hours prior to the due date and we mutually agree on a new due date or (b) due to circumstances beyond your control that were also unforeseeable.

Turning in Work
You will be required to turn in certain assignments using Blackboard’s Safe Assign feature. This program will test your essay to make sure that it is free of plagiarism.

DO NOT use Blackboard’s Drop Box for this course!

Contacting Me
Emails for this course must be formatted as follows:
Synonym/Color: Last Name: First Name: Informative Subject Line 
for example: 12345/Yellow: Crispino: Azzurra: Prospectus for Final Paper
You may use Blackboard's email function, but please be aware that it sometimes delays emails to me for 24-48 hours. I strongly suggest you use ACC's email to contact me instead. 

E-mails sent from a non-ACC email or without the five-digit synonym/course color may not receive a reply. I will try to answer emails that do not follow the correct subject line, but I cannot guarantee they will be answered in a timely manner. I aim to answer all emails within the next business day. So, an email sent at Thursday at 8am can be expected to be answered by end of the day on Friday.

During office hours, you may call my mobile phone. You may text my mobile at any reasonable hour (9am - 9pm MF, noon-6pm Sat and Sun) and I will reply to you as I am able.

Problem Resolution

If you are having a problem related to this course or related to me as your professor your first step generally should be to speak with me. If I cannot resolve the problem or satisfy your concern, or, if for some reason you would prefer not to address the issue with me, you may contact the Department Chair of Philosophy, Grant Potts, at gpotts@austincc.edu

Concerns Regarding Course Content 

Some of the ideas we discuss in this course can sometimes be personally disturbing to students.  This is a normal part of the growth you will experience during this course. However, depending on your previous experience, you may find this more challenging.  Please read through the course calendar. If you notice any of the proposed topics bother you, either at the beginning of the semester or as we enter into the discussion, please do not hesitate to contact me (you have my mobile above!) in order to discuss the situation. This could potentially lead to an alternate assignment.  We will be discussing current events in this class, and those topics may not be known in advance to you. You will always be able to choose which topics you participate in for that part of the discussion. If you have any concerns with your classmates' comments or are otherwise uncomfortable, please reach out to me at your earliest convenience. If you need additional support, the college has resources, which you can find at the ACC Mental Health Counseling page.  You may also call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline 24/7 at 1 (800) 273-8255 if you need to speak to someone immediately. 

Reporting Requirements
Under Senate Bill 212 (SB 212), professors, tutors or other staff member at Austin Community College are required to report for further investigation any information concerning incidents of sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking committed by or against an ACC student or employee. The only staff who can provide you anonymity in discussing these issues are our counselors. This state law requires faculty and non-counseling staff to report any information they have, including the names of the victims, to our Title IX District coordinator. The punishment for any staff violating this law is immediate dismissal from the college and potential criminal prosecution.

Federal law and university policy also requires reporting incidents of sex- and gender-based discrimination and sexual misconduct (collectively known as Title IX incidents). This includes reports of incidents that occurred prior to the student enrolling at ACC. This means faculty and non-counseling staff cannot keep confidential information about any such incidents that you share with us.

If you need to talk with someone who can maintain confidentiality, please reach out to one of our Mental Health Counselors. We strongly urge you make use of these services for any needed support. You may report any Title IX incidents to the Title IX Office. You are not legally required to self-disclose any incidents in which you were a participant.

Internet Use

This class will require you to use the Internet in order to access Blackboard in order to complete required graded assignments. If you do not have Internet access at home, I would like to remind you that you do have access to the ACC computer labs as a student in this course. Please be advised that ALL ACC communications are now going through the new g.austincc.edu email addresses. You MUST activate this email address in order to receive communications from me. As such, I expect you to have this address activated and be checking it (or forwarding it to your primary email) by the end of the first week of classes.

All assignments must be turned in on Blackboard. If you have submission issues, you may send the assignment via email only to show that it was completed. However, assignments will only be graded if they are submitted through Blackboard as required by the course policies. 

Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that Austin Community College is situated on the land of multiple Native nations, past and present. These original homelands are the territory of Indigenous peoples who were largely dispossessed and removed. We specifically acknowledge the traditional stewardship of this land by the Tonkawa, Tawakoni, Hueco, Sana, Wichita, Apache, Comanchi, and Coahuiltecan peoples. We pledge to support and advocate for the histories, cultures, languages, and territorial rights of historic Indigenous peoples of Texas and the Indigenous people that live here now. This statement affirms continuous Indigenous presence and rights, acknowledges the ongoing effects of settler colonization, and supports Indigenous struggles for political, legal, and cultural sovereignty. For more information on indigenous lands, please visit this site.  

College Policies
Are available here.

Coursework Calendar
Is available under the Coursework Calendar folder  

Course Objectives 

Departmental Course Student Learning Outcomes

• Identify and discuss meaningfully major figures, divisions, theories and concepts in ethics
• Analyze written texts in moral philosophy
• Apply concepts from philosophy to moral issues
• Develop and defend a moral argument in a written essay

General Education Competencies

• Communication Skills: Develop, interpret, and express ideas and information through written, oral and visual communication that is adapted to purpose, structure, audience, and medium.
• Critical Thinking Skills: Gather, analyze, synthesize, evaluate and apply information for the purposes of innovation, inquiry, and creative thinking.
• Personal Responsibility: Identify and apply ethical principles and practices to decision-making by connecting choices, actions and consequences.
• Social Responsibility (Civic and Cultural Awareness): Analyze differences and commonalities among peoples, ideas, aesthetic traditions, and cultural practices to include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities.

Professor Objectives/Outcomes
Students will:

[1]   Demonstrate the ability to analyze a written text critically and sympathetically

[2]   Analyze an author’s arguments by differentiating premises from the conclusion, paraphrasing the author’s argument, eliminating extraneous verbage, and clarifying the argument by putting it into standard form.   

[3]   Write an effective essays that are relevant, with accurate philosophical content, well-organized with a strong thesis, clearly formulated, and mechanically strong.

[4]    Debate and express themselves more effectively in extending or furthering conversations by asking  questions, applying to a different context, disagreeing or raising a counter-example in a respectful manner

[5]   Apply philosophical theories to real-life scenarios

[6]   Integrate philosophical theories into their own position  

[7]   Participate in a peer-editing process to provide and incorporate meaningful feedback to improve philosophical thinking and excel in writing

[8]  Recognize arguments in key texts in the history of philosophy 

[9]  Engage in service learning to demonstrate civic responsibility 

Student Objectives/Outcomes

Fill these out for yourself 

1. ________________________________________

2. ________________________________________

3. ________________________________________

Course Evaluation/Grading System
News Discussion Board 10%
Class Project Journal 5%
Quizzes 5%
Reflection Questions, Surveys and Modules 5%
Essay 1 15% (this will include peer-editing)
Midterm Exam 15%
Final Exam 15%
Final Project (including all lead-up assignments) 30%
Final grades: F: <60%; D: 60%90%

For help in how to calculate your final grade, please go here 

Weekly News Discussion Board
Once a week, I will post at least one current event item for you to discuss to the Weekly News Discussion Board. You will post once with your initial response regarding the news item. You will make two further posts responding to another student’s ideas regarding this topic. You are required to make a total of three posts per week (not per thread) 

Class Progress Journal
At the end of each week, you will post to this Blackboard journal tool is your opportunity to track your progress in this course, as well as communicate anything to me I might need to know regarding your progress. You will answer three questions in your work journal: 1) what did you do to prepare for this course? 2) did you face any challenges? 3) what did you do to overcome them? You may also post any philosophical or other reflections you may have about the week. The number of points possible is the number of full weeks your course meets for your weekly posts plus two posts for your academic coach meeting. You will make one post when you schedule your academic coach appointment, and another after you have met reporting back on your meeting. 

Reflection Questions, Modules and Surveys
All of the assignments from this section are completion grades. 
The textbook for this course includes Reflection Questions embedded throughout each chapter. You will answer these questions in the online textbook and hit submit. You will need to synchronize your Kendall-Hunt textbook account with Blackboard in order to receive credit for these assignments. 

Modules will be using SoftChalk and will import the grades into Blackboard. I know there are technical issues with SoftChalk, so these are completion grades. Please do not report back on the technical issues, they are well known. However, the content in these assignments is great, and I hope you get a lot from it. You may repeat these as often as you wish to improve your mastery of the material. However, any completion will count for full credit. 

Survey assignments will be your chance to show what you have learned from your group discussion boards.

Quizzes
These will be on Blackboard, and will be taken at home throughout the semester. Each quiz will cover one unit/chapter in the textbook and readings. Will be made up of objective questions (multiple choice, matching, etc.) and potentially short answer. Specific quizzes will have a specific due date availability. 

Exams 

Exams will be on Blackboard. Exams will be open note and open book, but not open neighbor. You may use the textbook, but you cannot copy and paste from it – what you write must be in your own words. You may only quote up to one sentence from the textbook, and must use quotation marks. Otherwise, the words in your essay questions must be your own. Using any other web resource will not be permitted and is academic dishonesty (see below).

The midterm exam will be broken up into a timed portion (multiple-choice, matching, ordering, true/false, etc.) and a take-home portion, which will be essay. The take-home portion will be turned in using Blackboard's SafeAssign feature to prevent plagiarism (see below) The final exam will be take-home, cumulative and all essay questions. It too will be turned in using Blackboard's SafeAssign feature. 

Essays

Essays will be graded according to the rubric found here
Your essays will be beautifully and cogently written, free of mechanical infelicities, and reflect your appreciation of the philosophical texts and underlying moral issues.

You will have two essay assignments for this course. The first will be taking a position regarding a specific philosopher. You will be required to peer-edit as part of this assignment's grade.

The use of wikipedia is not allowed in this class

Final Project - Service Learning
You will engage in service learning for 6 hours, outside of class. Service learning can be volunteering at a non-profit or other approved service learning. You will then write a paper (5-7 pages) reflecting on your experiences philosophically, as well as present your experiences to class during the last week of classes. There will be several lead-up assignments for this project, including a proposal. You must have your proposal approved before you begin volunteering. You will present your final reflection to the class. Additional information to follow under “Course Content>Final Project”.

Extra Credit
For each extra credit opportunity, you will write 1-2 pages. There are three types of opportunities: attending a lecture outside of class, watching a movie outside of class, and writing a letter. Each is worth 1 point added to your final average, with a cap of 5 points total, though you may only do 3 from any category category. 

All assignments must be turned in on Blackboard. If you have submission issues, you may turn in an assignment via email or in person to show that it was completed. However, assignments will only be graded if they are submitted through Blackboard as required by the course policies.

Course Materials
Required: 

1. Ethics for Transformation: Historical Theories and Contemporary Applications by Azzurra Crispino. Purchase by going here.
You will need to purchase the book in order to submit some assignments.

SoftChalk Interactive Modules
Carillo, S. (2018). Argument module 1. [SoftChalk slides]. Retrieved from here

Carillo, S. (2018). Argument module 2. [SoftChalk slides]. Retrieved from here 

Carillo, S. (2018). Argument module 3.  [SoftChalk slides]. Retrieved from here

Carillo, S. (2018). Intellectual virtues module 1. [SoftChalk slides]. Retrieved from here 

Carillo, S. (2018). Intellectual virtues module 2. [SoftChalk slides]. Retrieved from here

Carillo, S. (2018). Intellectual virtues module 3.  [SoftChalk slides]. Retrieved from here

Carillo, S. (2018). Intellectual virtues module 4.  [SoftChalk slides]. Retrieved from here

Carillo, S. (2018). Intellectual virtues module 5. [SoftChalk slides]. Retrieved from here

Recommended: 

1. A Pocket Style Manual by Diana Hacker, copyright 2008, published by Bedford/St Martin’s, ISBN-13: 978-0312664800

2. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing by Gerald Graff, copyright 2005, published by W. W. Norton, ISBN-13: 978-0393924091 (any version is fine) 

Intro to Philosophy and Ethics 

Ancient Philosophy - Plato 

Ancient Philosophy - Aristotle

Medieval Philosophy - Aquinas and Divine Command Theory 

Modern Philosophy - Kant and Deontology

Modern Philosophy - Utilitarianism 

Service Learning

News Discussion and Contemporary Moral Applications