Minor in Applied Ethics and Critical Thinking
The minor in Applied Ethics and Critical Thinking departs significantly from tradition. Rather than a concentration of content in a specific discipline, it provides students with a cross-disciplinary intellectual experience. The courses constituting the minor are designed to foster evaluation of competing discourses surrounding complex societal issues through various disciplinary lenses. To give a more concrete example of what this means, a student might complete a Philosophy course focused on racial disparities in environmental policy, an English course focused on literary treatments of economic inequality, and a Sociology course focused on water scarcity. Thus, the student would have the opportunity to think critically about three distinct, ethically fraught issues in three disciplinary milieus.
The courses in the minor may be focused on disparate topics and discourses, but they are united in their method of instruction, which is uniquely suited to serving the minor’s aim. This minor is comprised of courses that incorporate Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) on the Ethics, Western Civilization, and American Traditions (EWCAT) model. Each course in the sequence is designed to encourage student ownership of learning and engagement with original texts. EWCAT courses are currently taught in various departments in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS).
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Minor in Applied Ethics and Critical Thinking | ||
| Required Courses | ||
| THNK 3333 | Foundations of Inquiry | 3 |
| THNK 4396 | Capstone Seminar | 3 |
| Prescribed Electives | ||
| Four additional EWCAT courses 1 | 12 | |
| Total Hours | 18 | |
- 1
EWCAT courses, choose from the following:
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| EWCAT Courses | ||
| ENGL 1301 | Composition I | 3 |
| ENGL 1302 | Composition II | 3 |
| ENGL 2332 | World Literature I: Before the 17th Century | 3 |
| ENGL 2333 | World Literature II: From the 17th Century and After | 3 |
| ENGL 3334 | Literature and Film | 3 |
| ENGL 3338 | Studies in Multicultural Literature | 3 |
| ENGL 3391 | Studies in Shakespeare: Tragedies and Histories | 3 |
| HIST 1301 | United States History to 1876 | 3 |
| HIST 1302 | United States History Since 1876 | 3 |
| HIST 2311 | World History to 1500 | 3 |
| HIST 2312 | World History since 1500 | 3 |
| HIST 3369 | The World In The 20Th Century | 3 |
| PHIL 1301 | Introduction to Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 2303 | Critical Thinking | 3 |
| PHIL 2306 | Contemporary Moral Issues | 3 |
| PHIL 4333 | Bioethics | 3 |
| PHIL 4363 | Ethical Theories | 3 |
| PHIL 4371 | Death and Dying | 3 |
| POLS 2305 | American Government | 3 |
| POLS 3373 | Ideologies and Democracy | 3 |
| POLS 3377 | Survey of Political Theory | 3 |
| POLS 3378 | American Political Thought | 3 |
| PSYC 3381 | Social Psychology | 3 |
| PSYC 3383 | Psychology And The Law | 3 |
| PSYC 4334 | Applied Social Psychology | 3 |
| SOCI 1301 | Introduction to Sociology | 3 |
| SOCI 2319 | Introduction To Ethnic Studies | 3 |
| SOCI 3324 | Social Inequality | 3 |
| SOCI 3376 | Rural And Urban Sociology | 3 |
