Disaster ethics

Lauren Traczykowski, Aston Univeristy

Research suggests that people resort to what they know in a crisis situation. However, there is a difference between knowing the practicalities of crisis management/response and knowing what should be done, ethically speaking. This course will provide students with an appreciation of ethical theory/principles applicable in disaster or crisis scenarios, the skills to apply ethics in a crisis and make justifiable decisions; an ability to critically analyse/advise professionals on the application of ethics in crisis scenarios. To that end, the ‘what they know’ will include the capacity for ethical analysis and decision-making.

Sessions will cover a range of disaster/crisis ethics topics. Students are often not exposed to problems/issues/crises from different disciplines. By considering the intersection of ethical concepts, in disaster/crisis contexts, across disciplines, students will be exposed to the different discipline-specific responses which may/may not suit an overall ethical response operation.

Many of the topics covered under the umbrella of disaster ethics are distinct disciplines in themselves: climate justice, capitalism and financial crises, humanitarian response,
normative ethics. Philosophy students will thus develop an interdisciplinary bridge with these different disciplines or backgrounds so as to improve their ability to work in real world scenarios. Students will learn how to examine and apply ethics in a disaster scenario, considering the conflicting and overlapping priorities of different disciplines and learn to articulate and act on professional responses. Understanding commonalities, interests, priorities, across disciplines ahead of a crisis will prepare those responding to interact with colleagues and pursue cohesive and ethical outcomes.

I take a playful learning approach to teaching and with that I provide students a chance to challenge principles, debate with classmates and become accustomed to working across disciplines in a crisis.

Fiction Writing as Philosophical Methodology

Sara Uckelman, Durham University

In this class, I will introduce students to the idea that writing fiction can be means of doing philosophy – a novel method that brings insight into philosophical problems that traditional methods might overlook. The class will comprise both the theoretical, including discussions of methodology, epistemology, philosophy and literature, and genre, and the practical, including hands-on writing and revising workshops. At the end, students will be able to confidently articulate the value of writing fiction as a means of philosophical exploration, and to deploy this methodology on their own.

Find the class schedule here

Disagreement and Democracy

HCSPiP Staff: Russell, Chris, Henry, and Noa

Disagreement and Democracy is a collaboratively-taught class involving student collaboration, in part through team-based learning. Students are often dissuaded from effectively collaborating across disagreement by a constellation of related social pressures: fear of embarrassment or humiliation from peers and instructors; unsurety about the content of their comments, especially how to enter a philosophical conversation; lack of trust in other members of their classroom community often due to a lack of familiarity; and an inchoate wariness about public speaking. Many students want to share their views and to hear new and diverse perspectives that can help them to grow and change. But they lack the tools for doing so with emotional safety. 

Team-based learning helps to establish trust and expectations among students and with instructors. Permanent groups provide familiarity among team members. Engaging activities build team bonds, interdependence, and often friendships. Scaffolded conversation gives students a restricted range of vetted conversational moves that assure them that their comments are within bounds, providing students with the tools to engage conversation and mitigating (if not removing) concerns about social interactions. 

In Disagreement and Democracy, we will both look directly at the nature of disagreement and examine particular topics about which there is substantial disagreement, often political in nature. We’ll start, in the first week, by exploring democracy and deliberation, looking at the nature of scientific disagreement and thinking about what we expect from the contentious notion of civility. Then, in the second week, we will turn to counter speech and the role of emotion in belief before turning to questions about animal welfare and gender that prompt lively political and philosophical discussion.