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Social Responsibility & Ethics

Social Responsibility and Ethics (SRE)

Shape the world to improve life in your community and beyond.

SRE Syllabus Statement

This course meets the Core Curriculum Social Responsibility and Ethics Essential Learning Outcome; it provides students the opportunity to reason about right and wrong conduct, to assess moral beliefs and practices, and to apply that knowledge to make a positive difference in the community and the world.

Expectations for Student Learning

Courses approved for the Social Responsibility and Ethics ELO ask students to engage in activities or complete assignments that build competence in this area. They require students to demonstrate knowledge of and/or skill in at least four of the following areas:

  • Identifying moral questions as a distinct type of question about right and wrong conduct.
  • Identifying, analyzing and defending one’s own attitudes and beliefs towards key societal moral issues.
  • Evaluating the impact of actions taken by individuals and organizations that have made or attempted to bring about change for social good.
  • Designing and implementing a project that addresses a community need, explaining and defending the importance of that project from a moral standpoint.
  • Applying moral reasoning to concrete ethical problems in their social context, showing an awareness of the competing values at stake and the implications of the moral decision.
  • Identifying the various types of ethical theories and the methods of moral reasoning associated with them.
  • Identifying the diversity and commonality of moral values across cultures.

Sample Activities or Assignments

  • Write an essay addressing an important contemporary moral issue. The essay should demonstrate an understanding of each side of the debate and the arguments defending each position, and an ability to make a reasoned defense of your conclusion. [Criteria 1, 2, 5, 6]
  • Produce a tangible product (a piece of legislation or policy, a business, building, or civic infrastructure, water quality or scientific assessment, needs survey, research paper, service program or organization) that integrates your academic work with community engagement. Show how you engage community constituents and respond to community needs and assets through the process. [Criteria 3, 4, 5]
  • Create and manage a service project that engages others (such as youths or members of a neighborhood) in learning about and taking action on an issue they care about. In the process, teach and model processes that engage others in a deliberative democracy forum, one that includes multiple perspectives on the issue and seeks how best to make positive changes. [Criteria 3, 4, 5]

SRE Course Listing