9/14/2017 Course Outline

Course Road Map

Your Instructor: Dr. Andreea Mihali
Hello everyone and welcome to PP 223 OC 1 Contemporary Moral Issues! My name is Andreea
Mihali and I'll be your instructor for this course. I look forward to working with you and to
getting to know you!

Please use the Discussions feature to ask questions about the course materials; your fellow
students may benefit from the discussion or they may be able to help you find the answer. I
will monitor and respond to questions posted on the bulletin board. I will also occasionally
post additional material on the bulletin board.

Private correspondence should be conducted via email. Please contact me through the
MyLearningSpace email link at the top of this page. Put the course number and your
name in the subject line. This is REALLY importantemails not identified this way
will be deleted without being read. Please don't make me spend time trying to decipher
from your email what your name is and what class you are in.

Learning Outcomes:
PP223 explores some controversial issues, including state power and individual freedom, the
environment, social inequality, sexual ethics, the proper treatment of animals and the
justification of war.

The goal of the course is to gain an understanding of the facts and reasoning which support
different views, and to develop persuasive responses. Students will be evaluated on how well
they can summarize the ideas of others and how clearly and thoughtfully they can state their
own ideas in light of objections. Those who have successfully completed this course will be
able to participate more intelligently in a variety of public policy debates.

Getting Started:
Online learning requires that you keep at things in a regular way and not fall behind. There is
a lot of reading and self-directed study in this course, and it is important not to let things
slide, or it will be hard to catch up. As in many projects, the more work you put into it the
more you will get out.

Here are some suggestions about how to approach the lessons:

Read the texts. Give yourself time to make some notes and to digest the arguments and
information provided.

Look at the course notes for the lesson. These are not a substitute for the readings but will
pick out some questions and themes that the instructor deems important. (Useful information
at exam time!)

Watch the video, if there is one. If there is a video you should take notes on it as if it were a
required reading because you will be responsible for the information in it.

After getting acquainted with the issues, contribute to the online bulletin board discussion and
let your now informed and enlightened judgement illuminate the issue of the day. Don't be
afraid to disagree with your discussion partners, provided that basic courtesy is
observed. Learning comes from setting competing ideas against each other and trying out
new views.

Do the weekly written assignment and online quiz for the week, if applicable.
file:///C:/Users/Bogdan/Dropbox/College/PP223/course%20outline%20gc-s07.html 1/5
9/14/2017 Course Outline

Course Tools and Learning Materials:

1. Textbooks:
1. Moral Matters 2nd ed., Jan Narveson (Broadview Press, 2002)
2. Ethical Issues: Perspectives for Canadians 3nd ed., Eldon Soifer,
ed. (Broadview Press, 2009)

You can purchase the textbooks from the Laurier Bookstore (Waterloo
Campus), either in person or online
(www.wlubookstore.com/textbooks/textbooks.htm). If you visit in
person be sure to go to the online learning section of the bookstore.

2. On-line course notes

3. Video material for selected lessons (2 DVDs, others online - see
below)
1. Not a Love Story (DVD)
2. In Defense of Animals: A Portrait of Peter Singer (DVD)
3. Desperate Business: Human Organs for Sale (see the links
section)
4. In the Name of Liberation: Freedom by Any Means (see the links
section)
5. Better Off Dead? Who Decides? (see the links section)
6. What is Justice? (see the links section)
7. Does the End Justify the Means? (see the links section)

Please Note: Just to clarify, there are 2 DVDs in the package of

loaned media that can be requested form the online learning
office https://students.wlu.ca/academics/online-learning/course-
materials.html .

Desperate Business: Human Organs for Sale, In the Name of

Liberation: Freedom by Any Means, and Programs 1-3: Better Off
Dead? Who Decides?, What is Justice?, and Does the End Justify the
Means? should be accessible through the course links and/or
embedded videos in the lessons. The embedded videos may or may
not work, but the links should now work.

Learning Activities & Requirements

Class participants will be expected to review the readings and videos for individual lessons
and they will be encouraged to do the weekly written assignments (worth a total of 20% of
the final mark for this course) and to take part in weekly on-line discussions (I've reserved
5% of your final grade to reward participation here). In addition to participation to on-line
discussions, grades for the course will be based on ten weekly written assignments, five short
on-line quizzes, a short paper (3 pages) and a final examination.

BULLETIN BOARD CONTRIBUTIONS:

While we cant explore the material face to face, the discussion boards can be very useful for
airing our thoughts and getting feedback from one another. I strongly encourage you to post
to the boards on a weekly basis. The participation marks are earned for quality of contribution
as well as quantity. You should participate weekly, and I hope your fellow class mates will
encourage you to be thoughtful. In addition to asking questions or making comments about
the material I invite you to post any other relevant material (links to news articles, blogs,
etc.) that you think may be of interest to the class. I will also be posting material from time to
time that may be covered in the quizzes or be relevant to other assignments. Id also love to
hear your own thoughts on these and other matters as the semester progresses. Finally,
please remember, there really are no stupid questions when it comes to studying
philosophy. If you are wondering about something you think you dont understand a concept
or are feeling generally a bit lost regarding some material I guarantee you that at least 20%

file:///C:/Users/Bogdan/Dropbox/College/PP223/course%20outline%20gc-s07.html 2/5
9/14/2017 Course Outline

of the class are in the same boat. So, you will be doing both yourself and the class a favour
by making a post and airing your thoughts/questions/concerns. So, post away!

THE WEEKLY WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS: This is a reading intensive course; it is not

possible to skip the readings and do well in this class. To give you further incentive to keep up
with the readings, 20% of the final mark for this class will come from work you do on the
readings assigned for each week except the first and the last. After doing all the readings for
a given week, you are required to pick ONE article and read it again. After you have
identified the position that the author of that piece wants to defend, pick the most
persuasive argument that the author presents for that position. Then, explicitly state the
page numbers where this argument is presented. Proceed to outline the argument: break it
down in premises-conclusion form. To conclude your assignment, briefly state WHY you take
this argument (rather than a different one) to be the most persuasive one provided by the
author of the reading you are dealing with. To complete these weekly assignments
please download the fillable PDF form available under Course content > Quiz and
Assignment Information. For each of your weekly assignments please complete all
the sections, save and submit the PDF to the Dropbox.

THE ONLINE QUIZZES will be timed multiple choice tests designed to check on how well
students are keeping up with the assigned readings and videos. Please go to the Quizzes
section of Quiz and Assignment Information for more details about the make-up of the
quizzes and the Quizzes section of the course home page for the quiz dates. It is very
important that you not leave your preparation for the quizzes (reading the assigned readings
and course notes, as well as watching the required videos) until just before doing the quizzes.
That will be a recipe for disaster. You should have gone through the material at least a couple
of times before doing the quizzes if you want to do well.

THE PAPER (First day of Week 9)

The paper (3 double-spaced pages) will involve a brief critical discussion of a topic of debate
from the first 6 weeks of the course, due on the first day of Week 9. It will be graded on its
clarity, logical coherence and accuracy of exposition. Options for topics to address can be
found under Content > Quiz and Assignment Information.

Submission Instructions: Papers should be submitted to the appropriate course Dropbox.

For submitting to the Dropbox:

1. From the main Dropbox page, select the folder you want to submit an assignment to. In
this case, it is the one entitled Paper.
2. Click Add a File.
3. Click Browse to attach the file you want to upload. You can click Add to attach additional
files.
4. Click Upload.
5. Click Submit.

Also, please note the following (read carefully!):

Assignments must be submitted as one file only, not multiple attachments.

The file name of your document must begin with your name, last name first. Then
include both the course code (PP223), and assignment name. So, if John Smith were
submitting, it would be: Smith John PP 223 Paper. If you fail to label your file in this
way it will be discarded. This seems harsh, but D2L requires I download submissions to
my computer to open them. This separates the file from the sender. Once on my
computer files that are not identified are easy to lose or delete (mistakenly thinking I've
marked them already). I will consider mislabelled files unsubmitted, that is, late, until
they are correctly submitted.

file:///C:/Users/Bogdan/Dropbox/College/PP223/course%20outline%20gc-s07.html 3/5
9/14/2017 Course Outline

There is no need to submit a paper copy, but please make sure to keep an electronic
copy just in case unforeseen events require it.
Your essay should NOT include a cover page but don't forget that the top of the
first page should contain the following information: Your name, your WLU ID number,
the instructor's name, the course number and course name (PP 223, Contemporary
Moral Issues), and assignment description (Paper).

Late Policy:

Late assignments will be accepted only with documentation of a medical condition or

emergency or other crisis. Documentation must be submitted to the Online Learning Office.

Optional Preliminary Outlines:

If you are able to get an outline (in point form) of your essay to me by the First day of
Week 7 (by submitting it to the Paper Outline Dropbox) I will be happy to go over it and offer
you some preliminary comments on the content and structure of your arguments. However, I
will not be correcting errors of grammar, spelling or the like - past experience has shown that
it simply takes too long. But note: this is not to say that spelling, grammar and the structure
of your presentations will not factor into your grade - they will. For that, I strongly (and I
mean strongly) recommend that you visit the Writing Centre, which you should do before you
submit it to me if at all possible. Getting their assistance in the form of a good proof-read is
an easy way to improve the clarity and presentation of your ideas thus improving your grade
(sometimes substantially). You should do so even if you do not submit a preliminary draft.
Heres a link to Writing Centre: The Writing Centre. Again, I really recommend that you take
advantage of their services.

Please see the Paper section in Quiz and Assignment Information for more information.

THE FINAL EXAM

The final exam will be written online like the quizzes. Unlike the quizzes it will be an essay
question that you will have 1.5 hours to write, and it will only be open for that period (that is,
everyone will write it at the same time). The due date and exact nature of the assignment will
be posted on the Notifications and Updates board in Week 12. Due to the time constraints
regarding marking (I have 96 hours to grade 50 assignments), I will not be able to offer
comments.

Student Evaluation:
Components of the final grade are as follows:

Online Discussion 5%
Weekly Written Assignments (10 @ 2%) 20%
Quizzes ( 5 @ 10%; only the best 4 scores will
40%
count toward your final mark )
Paper 15%
Final Examination 20%
Total: 100%

Student Support:

OL Guide:
Online Learning Information, Administrative Information, Student Services - LINK

Helpdesk:
Problems with the course Web pages (i.e. links/postings): myls@wlu.ca
file:///C:/Users/Bogdan/Dropbox/College/PP223/course%20outline%20gc-s07.html 4/5
9/14/2017 Course Outline

Hardware/Software problems with your computer: CCS Help Desk at WLU ext.2222 or
support@mylaurier.ca

Course Policies:
Communication:
There are two ways I can be reached: by making a post, or by emailing me through the course email
program. My policy is that I will get back to you within one day, except under unusual circumstances
(e.g., illness). Having said that, the volume of email I have been receiving on a daily basis in recent
semesters has increased dramatically, to the point where I can spend an hour or more a day responding.
This in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, assuming the emails are necessary. The problem is that many
are for requests for information that is readily available on the course home page (e.g., quiz dates). So
this semester I am amending my policy a bit, in that if I do receive an email that is for readily available
info, I will simply politely advise the seeker that they should seek it on the home page. Of course, if for
some reason it cannot be found, then by all means students may email me once more for help. As for all
other emails regarding course content, bring them on. But I should add that it is better if you make a post
instead, for a number of reasons: First, it is usually the case that if one student has a question, then at
least five other students are most likely wondering the same thing. So by posting, you not only get help
yourself, but will be helping your classmates as well. And secondly, with any luck it will get a good
conversation going on the board. This is valuable in its own right, as conversation - even the online
variety - is the lifeblood of philosophy. Two last important things:

1. IMPORTANT!!! Please adjust your email settings so that it will include the email to which
you are responding. Heres how: Click on Email at the top of the course home page, then
Settings, then check off the box next to where it says "Include original message in email replies").
That way I will know what your email is about if you are responding to one I have sent you.
2. Please tell me who you are when you email me. In other words, sign off with your name (given and
last name). Given that we dont actually get to meet, it provides at least a modicum of familiarity
and helps me find you on the grade sheet and quiz list.

Academic Misconduct:
Student papers may be checked for plagiarism, a serious academic offence which can result in a failing
grade. Quotations and paraphrased passages taken from other authors need to be acknowledged in your
notes. Please review the section on Academic Misconduct from the Current Undergraduate calendar.
Taking snapshots or screen captures of course materials and quizzes also constitutes cheating and is a
punishable offence.

Plagiarism:
Wilfrid Laurier University uses software that can check for plagiarism. Students may be required to submit
their written work in electronic form and have it checked for plagiarism.

Special Needs:
"Students with disabilities or special needs are advised to contact Laurier's Accessible Learning Centre for
information regarding its services and resources. Students are encouraged to review the Calendar for
information regarding all services available on campus."

file:///C:/Users/Bogdan/Dropbox/College/PP223/course%20outline%20gc-s07.html 5/5