Intro to Ethics: Reflecting on the fall semester
Professor Maggie Little’s fall semester Intro to Ethics class tackled pressing issues facing students, offering them ethical tools to articulate and meet them. The course was separated into three modules, each focused on a different issue: the COVID-19 pandemic, the racial justice movement, and a presidential election in a deeply divided America.
“Going into the course, I wanted to help each of us, myself and the students, process these three events that we were experiencing, using philosophical tools, in a way that would offer each of us some support,” says Little. “I knew it was going to be a really hard semester, and so that was my goal.”
The first module, titled “Individual & Community in the Time of Pandemic,” focused on the concept of narrative disruption; how had students’ lives, their personal stories, been upended by COVID-19? Exercises included “Mapping my Pandemic,” which called students to visually represent their experiences of the virus, and written reflections on the resiliency and coping methods of their communities.
“This pandemic has forced all of us to own up to our human limitations, and that was always present in the class—a reminder to have compassion for ourselves...”
“It was a glimpse into their humanity, not just their intellectual being, but their human-ness. That’s a lot of what this semester was about. This pandemic has forced all of us to own up to our human limitations, and that was always present in the class—a reminder to have compassion for ourselves, because we’re going through so much,” Little reflects.
“Racial Reckoning,” the second module of the class, came about in response to the murder of George Floyd and growing calls for racial justice nationwide. Students reflected on the role of systemic racism in their lives, and in broader communities, including at Georgetown, considering the impact and moral damage of racism. They considered ways in which they could work to repair this moral damage in their interpersonal relationships and in society as a whole.
In the final module, entitled “Divided Democracy,” students discussed the November election and the deep political divides in America. They looked at the role of misinformation and information bubbles, considering ways to both foster unity and condemn hate.
“I was so impressed with the students,” says Little. “The class asked them to talk about some very hard and challenging things, with compassion for each other, but also with authenticity and candor. They rose to the occasion magnificently. I was in awe.”