Dr. Pfaff, CORE 10 – THE CONGRUENCE OF FAITH AND INTELLECT

Class: TuTh, 8:35 - 9:50 p.m. in Core 113 Instructor: Dr. Rob Pfaff

Office Hours: MWF 11:00 – 11:50

(and by appointment)

Office: S 304A

Phone: 866-6380

An increasingly visible issue in American life is the relative value of faith and secular knowledge. To be sure, both are important. But how do we respond when we perceive a conflict between them? Perhaps the most useful approach is to assume that, for every issue we face, there is but one true solution. That is, if faith and secular learning are both appropriately practiced, the answers reached by each should be compatible; there should be congruence between them. This seminar will examine issues in the modern world from both perspectives in an attempt to find that congruence. Topics will be taken from science, politics, economics, and others that might come to the forefront of current events during the course.

The required texts for the course are available at the College Store:

Jeffrey Olen, Julie C. Van Camp, Vincent E. Barry, Applying Ethics: A Text with Readings, 9^th ed, Wadsworth, 2007.

Pope John Paul II, Fides et Ratio / On the Relationship between Faith and Reason, Pauline Books & Media, 1998.

COVERAGE

The material will be covered on or about the dates indicated below. If warranted, this schedule may be revised as the semester progresses. Students may propose specific topics they want to make sure we cover.

Week of	Class Activity	Graded Work
1/7	General Ethics, Olen Chapter 1, 2
1/14	General Ethics, Olen Chapters 2, 3	1-Pager 1 due
1/21	Olen Chapters 6, 8
1/28	Olen Chapters 9, 10	Exam 1 Research Paper First Proposal due
2/4	Olen Chapters 11, 12	1-Pager 2 due
2/11	Fides Chapters 1 – 3
2/18	Fides Chapter 4	1-Pager 3 due
2/25	Fides Chapters 5 – 7	Exam 2 Research Paper Revised Proposal due
	Spring Break
3/10	Discussion/Projects/Wrap
3/17	Library time	1-Pager 4 due
3/24	Library time	Research Paper Rough Draft due (email)
3/31	Presentations (if needed)
4/7	Presentations	1-Pager 5 due
4/14	Presentations	Research Paper Final Draft due
4/21	Presentations
finals	Presentations

ITEMS FOR GRADING

The following activities will take place or be due at the times stated above.

2 Exams	50 pts ea
Research Paper	200 pts
Oral Research Presentation	100 pts
5 1-Pager Lit Commentaries	10 pts ea
Class participation	50 pts

Your grade will be determined from the sum of your scores on the graded work. You are responsible for topics covered in the texts, even if they are not covered in class. You are also responsible for topics covered in class, even if they are not covered in the texts.

We will begin developing topics for research papers early in the semester. Many of the nuts-and-bolts items are addressed at the end of this outline. The paper is to be an exploration of your own values on an issue in science or technology. Not only will I try to keep you on task by calling for two proposals and a rough draft of your research paper, you should reflect on your topic often. On the rough draft, I will primarily be reading for content and organization of your work. I will also mark spelling and grammar errors when I notice them. However, eliminating typos and grammar and spelling errors from your final draft is entirely your responsibility.

On the subject of the research paper, I have been seeing more plagiarism in the past few years or so and, frankly, I'm getting mad. Therefore, you will submit your research paper to www.turnitin.com as well as directly to me. We will discuss this as submission time approaches.

The library time referred to in the schedule above needs clarification. I do not mean that we will meet in the library for those five class periods. Rather, class will meet only if needed during that time. Instead, we will all spend a lot of time in the library. Not only will you be working on your own in the library, but I will work individually with each of you to ensure you find all the relevant information for your paper.

In addition to turning in the research paper, you are required to give an oral presentation on your paper to the class and potentially to outside referees. Your presentation is to last 20 minutes (you will be penalized for deviating greatly from the 20 minutes) with a few minutes for questions. As this is the capstone course in your education at Saint Joe, this presentation is to be formal. As such, think of it as your first big presentation at your new job. That includes visual aids, such as PowerPoint, overheads, slides, and/or handouts. It also includes getting dressed up (As in ties for the gents and skirts/dresses/nice slacks for the ladies. Capris and “hip-huggers” are not professional dress. Suits are always acceptable…).

The 1-pagers are due each week stated above. You are to look for an article in the popular press (news magazines, science magazines, etc.) dealing with an ethical issue associated with volunteerism or daily life and write a short summary of it and a personal commentary on it (minimum one page, hence the term 1-pager). The only acceptable newspaper is the Wall Street Journal. No WWW pages may be used, with the exception of those web pages offering electronic versions of print articles. The key here is that the article needs to have been subjected to editorial control or peer review. The 1-pager may be hand written but put it on decent, untorn, 8½” x 11” paper. Attach a photocopy of the article to it. Note: MSNBC, CNN, and similar sites are not newsmagazines.

Attendance in class is essential for making this a successful course. Therefore, you may miss 2 classes during the semester without any penalty. The only limitation is that you cannot take a free day if you are scheduled to present to the class. For more than 2 absences, your course grade will be docked 4% per missed day. For example, if you miss 5 days of class during the semester, 2 are “free,” and the other 3 will result in a 12% reduction in your semester point total.

The grade cut-offs are below. The percentage cut-offs apply to the graded activities as well as to the final grade.

Grade	Percent	Grade	Percent
A	93%	C⁺	77%
A^-	90%	C	73%
B⁺	87%	C^-	70%
B	83%	D⁺	67%
B^-	80%	D	60%

Exams are to be taken at the scheduled times; 1-pagers and the papers are due at the beginning of the class period on the due date. Late papers will be docked 10% of their value for each day (or fraction thereof) they are late, starting at the due time; therefore, a paper that is 1 hour late will be docked 10%, after 8:35 the next day, the penalty is 20%, etc. If a conflict arises which prevents completing a task at the scheduled time, I may, at my discretion, give an extension. Requests for extensions must be made prior to the start of the scheduled due time. A telephone message is sufficient. Requests made after the scheduled due time will not be considered. Also, it is my policy not to approve dropping the course after the College’s drop date.

I trust I don’t have to belabor the issues of academic honesty. You are about to enter the professional world where absolute honesty is expected. And, after all, this is an ethics class! Nevertheless, if I become aware of any breech in academic honesty, your score on the effected task will reduced to a zero.

If you are a student with a disability, kindly meet with me immediately to discuss the accommodations you will need during class activities, examinations, and out of class assignments in order to participate fully and demonstrate your abilities.

Feel free to keep your scores in the spaces provided below so you can always tell where you stand in the course.

Research Paper Guidelines

You will need to research a topic in the ethics of some societal issue. It does not need to be an issue in volunteerism. I expect to see at least 20 full MEANINGFUL pages of text, so don’t choose a topic that is too narrow or for which little information is available. Conversely, don’t choose a topic so broad that 20 full pages of text is only a superficial treatment. I will consult on topics, and give feedback through the two proposal drafts, but the final choice is yours.

This paper is to be multidisciplinary. That is, it must cover the issue you choose from at least two academic subject areas (like law, psychology, biology…whatever are appropriate) as well as ethics.

The structural rules:

§ The paper is to have a minimum of 20 full pages of text.

§ Use 8½” x 11” paper.

§ The margins are to 1” on all sides.

§ Use 12-point Times New Roman or Arial font.

§ It must be double spaced.

§ The pages must be numbered.

§ You should have a cover page with the title, date, and your name.

§ References, illustrations, etc., should be placed at the end of the paper.

§ You need to have references, not a bibliography. Note: Different formats (MLA, APA, Chicago, CSE, etc.) call the list of references different things. It might be called References, Works Cited, List of References, or Notes. Nevertheless, no matter the name, you must provide direct citation of words and ideas in your text to the specific reference.

§ Do not overuse direct quotation. In general, quotation should only be used if it is historically important or if the quote states an idea in a particularly poignant way. Your analysis and synthesis of the information is essential.

§ You must have at least as many references as you have pages of text. That is, if your paper is 21 pages, you must have at least 21 references; if the paper ends up being 25 pages, you must have at least 25 references. You don’t need to introduce a new reference on each page; this just sets the number of references needed. Also, a reference is a source document. For example, if you cite one article or book 15 times, it is still only one reference.

§ Also, even though some referencing formats don’t require you to list page numbers in the citations of referenced books, I do.

§ You should use The Everyday Writer to make sure you understand rules of grammar and citing sources.

Beyond it covering an ethics topic, your paper should do four things. First, it should review past knowledge, including theories and practices, on the topic, that is, give a history of your topic. Second, it should discuss what the current theories and practices are. Third, it should present what researchers think the future study of the topic is likely to reveal. Fourth, discuss how this topic (its theories, what is known and how it’s studied) fits into your own value set. That is, from the perspective of Christian humanism and perhaps with the guidance of your Christian Humanist Manifesto, analyze and attempt to resolve the issue. Obviously, the history of the topic and the current theories require references. The future predictions can be referenced to researchers, but you can also venture your own predictions. The value assessment probably won’t be referenced unless you find citations backing up your beliefs.

For a research paper, newsmagazines (such as Time and Newsweek), encyclopedias, dictionaries, and newspapers are NOT acceptable references, except as stated below. Journals, monographs, and higher-level magazines, such as Scientific American, American Scientist, and Nature are suitable as references. The key here is that you are to use peer reviewed literature for your sources. Webpages in general are not acceptable sources. When in doubt on the suitability of a reference, please consult me.

Because journals have a significant lag time in publication, events occurring within the past six months or so will not yet be in them. So, for events since December 1, 2007, you may use newsmagazines as your sources. The number of newsmagazines used may not exceed four.

Also recall that you will submit your paper to www.turnitin.com as well as directly to me. We will discuss details of the submission as the time approaches.