You have three kinds of assignments this quarter --

• reading and writing responses to seminar books,

• reading. doing field research and making a group presentation for one of three special study areas and

• doing research and careful writing on a small number of ethical principles.

• Becoming able to identify ethical principles to which you are willing to be responsible

• Negotiations with peers to make choices and plan even in personally sensitive areas

• Having access to and using a subtle and creative vocabulary

• Recognizing the ethical consequences of key points in US history, politics and culture

Seminar is a time when students work together, accommodating to differences in skills, learning styles, interests and experiences. The collaborative work is designed to ensure that all participants gain an understanding of at least some of the author's key ideas as they relate to program themes. In preparation you need to read the book with a receptive and yet critical mind -- probing it for the questions, ambiguities and concerns you hope to discussion with others. You will also need to write a short reflective piece, 1-2 pages long, double spaced, which illuminates how the book challenged your own thinking. For those of you who need more information on critical reading, seminar process and writing reflections there will be college-wide workshops both now and during Week 4. In week 4, they will happen during class time, so that you will definitely be able to attend.

Group Project

There are three groups: Rock music, Food worker, and Athlete. Each group will meet once in class to seminar on an assigned book and to plan/share out field research opportunities. Then you will meet again, via e-mail to discuss your findings from the field research. Then you will meet again in class for a very extended time to plan a presentation, to spend more time in the library doing research if you need to and to design a handout and a 1/2 hour group presentation to the whole class. You will get a more detailed handout on this project in class on October 9.

Encyclopedia of US Ethics

Your individual research is the setting in which all four skills development projects need to come together. You will need to work with the whole group to identify 60-80 different ethical principles worth consideration for inclusion in such an encyclopedia. You will select/be assigned 3 for detailed research and writing. You will have to identify where and how this principle came to this country, what it consists of these days and how it is used. You will also have to write an elegant, short, entry for the encyclopedia (with appropriate background materials attached). Lastly you and your colleagues will have to determine which of the 60 entries truly do belong in such an encyclopedia. On the last day in class we will compile what we have and give each person a copy. You will get a more detailed handout on this project in class on October 5.