William Krieger<\/a>, chair of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s philosophy department, says the traditional way of teaching ethics worked well 30 years ago when those taking philosophy courses were thinking about entering graduate school. But in recent years, students suggested to Krieger\u2019s department that in addition to preparing philosophers for graduate work, the ethics course should be more aligned to modern-day job experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cFor instance, nurses felt they needed some additional clarity and understanding about how to apply classroom knowledge to nursing,\u201d Krieger said. \u201cSo, we took an innovative approach to better educate our students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, the \u201cBig Ethics\u201d course\u2014which began this fall and is widely accepted by students\u2014is offered in two segments. The first is the large lecture, where students learn foundational ethics frameworks, such as theories and key philosophical ideas. These frameworks are applied through real-life moral dilemmas, case studies and open discussion, Pandit says, allowing students to see ethics not as an abstract thing, but something that genuinely shapes decisions in everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During these large lectures, Pandit offers a myriad of teaching methods to ensure the foundational ethics theories are covered in the class. Such methods include open discussions and in-class activities, such as polls and students doing written reflections applying to that day\u2019s topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other segments are three recitation sections that allow students to have more focused discussions on specific areas of concern\u2014medical ethics, environmental ethics and criminal justice (with the ability to add additional focus areas, depending on program and student interest). Here, students practice reasoning, questioning, debating and reflecting on their own moral points of view in an intimate atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, Pandit occasionally uses movie references, either noting specific scenes or characters, to help students analyze how philosophical ideas appear in real-life situations. She says some movie scenes align closely with classic philosophical thought experiments shared in the class, thus enhancing engagement with students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Objectivism, or equally looking at both sides of an argument, is a frequent topic among students in the class. Abraham Diop, of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, who is double majoring in philosophy and political science, says the objectivity he learned in the class, looking at both sides of various issues such as environmental ethics, helped him better understand their significance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe course has really given me and other students insight into what kind of responsibility and power all of us hold when it comes to making a difference in the environment or really any ethical issue,\u201d said Diop, who hopes to become a lawmaker after graduating from 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abbey Jasinowski, a pharmacy major from Centennial, Colorado, says objectivism is important regarding major decisions to be made in caring for patients, such as who should receive an organ transplant. Jasinowski also says the objectivism she\u2019s learning will help her be a trusted medical professional and treat patients as people, not lines in a spreadsheet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt’s important to remember that at the end of the day these patients are people and treating them simply as just an illness or a number is almost immoral in a way,\u201d she said. \u201cOne of the most important things that I’ve learned from this class is that you can’t take a very subjective approach to ethics, especially when in the medical industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pandit hopes the Big Ethics class will attract more students in the future. Plus, the philosophy department will soon partner with the 溏心vlog免费B站 College of Business<\/a> to include AI ethics as a new recitation class within the Big Ethics course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cIt is important for everyone to morally and responsibly use artificial intelligence in our learning process and how we can utilize the tool in everyday life,\u201d Pandit said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Nov. 18, 2025 \u2013 Traditionally, ethical theory\u2014a systematic framework that provides rational bases for determining what is morally right and wrong\u2014has been a primary focus for ethics courses taught within higher education. But like many aspects in life, adaptation is required to meet current standards and needs, ethics notwithstanding. While understanding what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":105358,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12,1902],"class_list":["post-105357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-arts-and-sciences","tag-student-engagement"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105357"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105365,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105357\/revisions\/105365"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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