UH 101 Section 020: Moral Forum
Fall 2010
3 Credit Hours
Primary Instructor: Stephen Black
Core Designation: University Honors, Humanities
Effective citizenship requires a well-developed capacity for thoughtful moral discourse. In today’s society, dominated by constant exposure to a polarized media, the potential for developing such discourse is seriously undermined. We live in a society where it is much easier to disengage than to process the latest-breaking “news,” which increasingly seems to be an endless shouting match between ideological opposites. Two-minute split-screen “conflict” segments reinforce the polarization of the citizenry and contribute much to the decline of public trust in the possibility of meaningful dialogue. When citizens’ voices are channeled through an increasingly narrow tunnel of market-driven mass-media outlets, our political conversations are severely limited.
This course is concerned with developing the skills to evaluate and respond to moral claims and engage in moral discourse. We will distinguish between making reasoned judgments about the moral legitimacy of views and being intolerant or disrespectful toward individuals or cultural groups. There is a way to directly evaluate values-based issues and respond to moral claims in a thoughtful and sensitive way, but this requires us to move beyond both oversimplified absolutes and moral relativism. This class should challenge you to question the simple absolutes you previously understood as the “right answers” to complex questions.
Class Format
This class will be organized around the analysis of one particular controversial “moral” resolution. In teams of two, students conduct research, attend the regular lectures, and construct position statements in preparation for a Moral Forum tournament taking place in October.
The first half of this course will be organized around preparation for participation in the Moral Forum tournament. Each Monday, all students will attend a two-hour weekly lecture series. These are MANDATORY.
In addition, all students are required to attend one breakout session taking place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays following the lectures (your breakout group is determined by the section of the class you registered for). These breakouts are also MANDATORY.
The tournament is organized around teams, and once teams are formed, each team must prepare two position statements – one affirmative and one negative side of the same resolution. Students should be prepared to respond to a wide spectrum of arguments raised by their opponents during the tournament, while the position statements will only reflect a well-developed summary of the strongest arguments on each side. Material used in the written arguments and the tournament should reflect research beyond classroom discussion and the readings required.
All students enrolled in the course are required to participate in at least one affirmative and one negative round of the tournament with their partner. Qualifying students may choose to continue on in the debate, which concludes with a final, public tournament held at the end of October.
Moral Forum 2010 Resolution
“Given the current technological constraints, it is morally right for the federal government to maintain a moratorium on deep-water offshore oil drilling in US territorial waters.”
Grades for Moral Forum will be calculated as follows:
15% Assignment 1 – Pro argument. Choose a value criterion and back it up with two arguments in favor of the resolution. Cite at least 3 sources, and relate it to a philosopher discussed during Lecture 2. Should be approximately 1 page, typed (double spaced, 1” margins). This assignment constitutes 15 percent of your final grade – due at the beginning of class on September 7/8.
15% Assignment 2 – Con argument. In the same form as Assignment 1, construct an argument against the resolution. Should be approximately 1 page, typed and correctly formatted. This assignment constitutes 15 percent of your final grade - due at the beginning of class on September 20.
5% Assignment 3 – cross examination questions. Due September 27.
5% Assignment 4 – vision statement. Due September 27.
20% Final written position statement – Each partner will turn in one written constructive argument (one on the affirmative and one on the negative side) to be used in the debate competition. These are due in the first round of the tournament, Monday, October 11. Partners will receive the same grade for this assignment.
10% Evaluation of preparation for tournament - Evaluation of substantial debate preparation will be based on the demonstration and use of materials (including organized binder of sources, notecards for tournament rounds, etc.). This component of the grade also includes demonstration of a good faith effort in the two required rounds of debate.
20% Attendance and class participation - Attendance at all lectures and participation in breakout sessions each week are absolutely mandatory. Because participation in all lectures and breakout sessions is critical to the success of Moral Forum, students should expect to be deducted one letter grade after the second unexcused, missed lecture or breakout session. If you do miss a lecture, you are responsible for printing and reviewing lecture notes and any additional readings from eLearning, scheduling a time to listen to the lecture if it has been recorded on Tegrity, and consulting with instructor about any changes to the syllabus or other important information missed. This is a very important part of your grade. Attendance is also required at the Final Tournament on October 25 at 7 p.m., unless excused prior to this event.
10% Final essay exam - The final exam for this course will be in an essay-style format. Date due is TBA. All exams should be submitted to Stephen Black (100 Temple Tutwiler Hall) or emailed to cesr@ua.edu on or before the day/time announced.
If you do miss a discussion, you are expected to consulting with the instructor to obtain any information missed and to complete any required training. You must attend your schedule debate times and the final night of debate unless you have previously provided the professor with a valid excuse.
Students are expected to attend all discussions, breakout sessions, and debates. Students should expect to be deducted one letter grade after the second unexcused, missed session.
All required readings will be posted on e-Learning. Please check it regularly.
It is expected that the required and recommended readings included on e-Learning will only serve as a starting point in the development of your arguments; personal research extending beyond the books and articles distributed to class is necessary for a complete, well-supported and unique position statement. Use the library and all of its tools and resources in conducting your research. The various electronic databases are incredibly helpful, as is Interlibrary Loan (to use if our library doesn’t own or have electronic access to a source you’d like to see). Be skeptical of everything you find on the internet – academic articles posted on random webpages often have errors, and are many times totally illegitimate. It is always best to find the original source.
All students in attendance at the University of Alabama are expected to be honorable and to observe standards of conduct appropriate to a community of scholars. The University expects from its students a higher standard of conduct than the minimum required to avoid discipline. Academic misconduct includes all acts of dishonesty in any academically related matter and any knowing or intentional help or attempt to help, or conspiracy to help, another student.
The Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Policy will be followed in the event of academic misconduct.
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