ARCH 577U • WINTER QUARTER 2003   The Practice of Ethics Charting Your Own Personal Course       Click below for   Seminar Overview Schedule             By professing our values, even if we don't act on them consistently, we begin to integrate our values into our lives and choices. Bill Grace, Center for Ethical Leadership       Seminar Description   The overarching purpose of this interactive seminar is to help you develop the principles and values that can guide your work as you begin your professional career. No ethical positions are prescribed by the instructor; rather you will debate numerous social and environmental dilemmas with your classmates so you can define your own path. These dilemmas include the need to serve an increasingly diverse and economically stratified society, while protecting the Earth's ecosystems, which are being irreversibly damaged by human excess and negligence. This course will be especially useful if you have some professional practice experience and are questioning how to apply the values gained during your academic studies in the marketplace. Through readings, you will revisit texts that you may have read as an undergraduate to compare various ethical systems--pre-historic, Western, environmental, commercial, guardian. You will explore how the professions came into being and how they have changed in recent years. You will read about current social and environmental dilemmas, selecting ones that interest you for class discussions that you will co-facilitate. Finally, you will be exposed to several best practices in ethical leadership. Each week, you will write at least one substantive question, based on the assigned readings, for class discussion. In addition, you will work in a team to design and facilitate one student-led session on a topic of your own choosing. A draft of a position paper is due at midterm, with a refined version being due at the end of the term. Because of the interactive nature of the seminar, only one absence is permitted.   Seminar Goals Develop a critical awareness of ethics in contemporary society; Develop a critical awareness of the professions, their changing ethical obligations, and the implications of these changes for professional education; Be exposed to best practices in the field via readings and guest practitioners; Use the seminar as a laboratory for beginning to articulate your own professional ethics; and Improve your communication and facilitation skills, which are essential to exploring alternative ethical positions.     Seminar Requirements Participate in, and facilitate, seminar sessions, Complete--and base discussions on--the reading assignments, Write a weekly question(s) for the teacher-led and guest speaker sessions, Conduct research in a team for a current dilemmas session, Conduct individual research for a position paper, and Complete a well-research, well-written position paper.       Credits   Three Meets the professional practice selective requirement in architecture       Prerequisites   Enrollment in a Masters degree program or by permission of the instructor Landscape Architecture, UDP, and CEP students are encouraged to register     Class Time   Tuesday/Thursday 06:30 - 08:20 PM   Location   100 Gould Hall     Instructor   Sutton [Arch 577U SLN 1301]