class act

RTV 4931 Ethics and Problems in Telecommunication
Associate Prof. Michael Leslie

Examining
belief systems

What does your class teach that students can’t learn in other courses?

We require students to examine their belief systems. We have all these opinions and attitudes and I try to make the class such that people have a chance to examine other viewpoints. This course is about how to think.

What do you aim to accomplish through this course?

It is auto reflexive, which means that when students say something, I want them to be able to reflect on what they said. In logic, they have this thing called syllogism, which is a way of constructing an argument. For example, if you say that all Soviets are bad, and that Michael Leslie is a Soviet, it is inferred that Michael Leslie is bad. So if you think about the fact that the first premise is false, everything else that you deduct from it is also false. It’s clear, not all Soviets are bad. Maybe 99 percent of them are, or 50 percent, or 70 percent. That’s what I mean about being auto reflexive: stepping back from what you speak and what you say to examine whether or not there is any validity in it.

I also like students to consider what other thinkers have come up with, because most of us haven’t sat around to think about how we can make things work. If you look at it, we have a planet that’s in turmoil, environment-ally, politically, you name it.

But there are people who have actually thought about how to make this work rather than “let’s just bomb the next people that we need to bomb.”

How do you structure the course and what kind of assignments do you give?

We read Elements of Moral Philosophy by Rachels. The students examine certain moral issues for the first time, such as euthanasia. I also have them look at case studies, related to the media for the most part, in which there are contradictions; privacy, for example. I mean, if you’re a public figure, are people entitled to know how many times you’ve been married? Or, not only that, whether or not your children are mentally disabled? Is there public need to know those things? If there’s not a public need, then it could just be taking advantage of people to sell newspapers or advertising.

What is your teaching style?

I lay toward the students an issue and ask them, “So what would you do in this case?” Then I say to them, “Well, suppose it had these repercussions, then what would you do?” And I ask them, for example, about principles and ethics that we can use to help decide things. We have something called the utilitarian principle, which is to do the greatest good for the greatest number. So I ask them, “If you made this decision would the greatest number be served, or would you just be basing your decision on principles you believe everyone should respect, such as thou shall not steal or thou shall not kill.” So they get a chance to measure if what they said is consistent with what they said they believe. It’s pretty fun. The class is not really a lecture. I mean, I’m sure I lecture a lot, but the part that the students like most, and that I like most, is the Socratic dialogue.

How has this course changed over the years?

I used to spend a lot more time with the data, as in this principle, that principle. I still spend some time on that, but it’s a lot more philosophical now. I’m a lot more interested in thinking and encouraging students to think, even if it’s not directly related to mass communication.

I want them to think about social and political issues. Affirmative action, for example, is something that people need to think about, and they need to have an opinion other than just, “I think it’s good or I think it’s bad.”

Does this course require a great deal of reading?

Yes. In addition to Elements of Moral Philosophy, the students are required to read two textbooks. One has case studies in it, and another has ethics in it. They also have the option to study cases online if they don’t want to read the ones in the text. They have a reading assignment due every class.

–Krystina Gustafson