DPI-202M: Ethics in Public Life

Semester: Not Offered

Credit: 0.5

Faculty: Kenneth Winston

Schedule

Day Time Location
First Day
Meet Day
Review

Description

This course in practical and professional ethics helps students develop the skills they need for acting effectively and well in public life. Through close analysis of actual cases, we examine instances of exemplary conduct and attempt to learn from moral failures; engage in ethical debate in the classroom and in writing assignments; trace the connections between ethical judgment and specific public policies; and explore the challenges posed in working across geographical and cultural boundaries. Topics include the meaning of professionalism, the appeal to personal conscience in public decision making, the responsibilities that arise from global interdependence, the problem of "dirty hands," and the ethics of loyalty and dissent in bureaucratic settings. Cases from around the world form the primary focus of class discussion.

Not offered in 2012-13.