With ethical questions about 技术 multiplying fast, ODU wants to help students discover the moral positions they’ll need to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
A new class introduced this fall, “Raising Moral Issues in STEM” or PHIL 160R, teaches students to refine and articulate moral arguments related to science, 技术, engineering and math.
“It often feels like ethical questions are falling into our laps that we didn’t see coming,” said Nathan Nicol, adjunct professor of Philosophy, who will teach the class. “T在这里 are new challenges every day. It’s a sign of the times.”
But in academics, STEM fields and the humanities don’t often intersect. “With the steady march of 技术, it’s clear that we need to talk,尼科尔说.
The idea of the class grew organically, out of conversations within ODU’s Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies.
例如, why did researchers originally model crash test dummies after male — not female — bodies?
“That’s the kind of implied ethical bias that’s just baked into some research and engineering,尼科尔说.
Similar issues abound. The department built a course intended to draw out questions from research projects and examine them from an ethics perspective.
After covering an introduction to ethical theory, Nicol plans to examine cases w在这里 the right moral answer is perfectly clear.
“We’ll focus on things w在这里 we know the right answers,” he said. “But how do you talk about it without getting people mad at you? How do we get our views across?”
The class is accessible to a broad range of students. T在这里 are no prerequisites. While it’s pointed at those interested in STEM fields, diverse perspectives are welcome.
“We want the class to be helpful and down to earth,尼科尔说. “These are skills that can be learned and practiced,尼科尔说. “They are everyday useful.”
Learn more about philosophy courses at ODU 在这里.