I. BROAD GENED OBJECTIVES: All sections of PHIL 321: MORALITY AND BUSINESS aim to foster students' "informed acquaintanceship with major achievements in the arts and humanities" (GenEd Goal #5) and grasp of "historical perspective and . . . understanding of connections between past and present" (GenEd Goal #6).

II. RELATIONSHIP OF COURSE TO GENERAL EDUCATION GOALS. The course fosters historical perspective by promoting mastery of ethical theories originally created in diverse periods and conditions (ancient, early modern, contemporary) and an understanding of their continuing relevance for moral choice and controversy in today's world. These theories themselves are major achievements in philosophy, itself among the oldest of the humanities. The course explores these theories' key concepts, assumptions, points of strength, and limits. The "major achievements . . ." that are central to this course are the ethical theories-such as virtue ethics (deriving, especially, from Aristotle) and theories such as natural rights and utilitarianism and liberal egalitarian, libertarian, care ethics, and human rights theory from the 20th century. Understanding the origins of these theories in particular periods and their contemporary applications is in line with the goal regarding "historical perspective."

III. PUBLICIZING THE OBJECTIVES: Individual instructors of Phil 321 sections will distribute a statement reflecting points I and II to their current (Spring 2005) sections of Phil 321, and will include this information in future syllabi for the course.

IV. GENERAL EDUCATION ASSESSMENT METHOD: On the final exam students will be given one or two passages consisting of between 10 and 50 words each. (If two are given, students may choose the passage about which they may write their essay.) They will be asked (1) to identify the perspective (e.g., utilitarianism) or the thinker most closely associated with the statement (e.g., Bentham or Mill) and explain or elaborate on the meaning of the passage, if need be supplying insights based on the larger context of the particular moral philosophy. They will also be asked (2) to articulately discuss [. . . why the theory was created in the context in which it was first proposed and one of the following*] (a) the relevance or application of this theory to contemporary moral problems in business or the economy or (b) critical challenges to the theory from other ethical perspectives. The passages will be based on a set of at least four (4) different theories discussed during the semester. The list will be announced at least two weeks prior to the final exam on which the student will be assessed. The students' essays should be between 100 and 500 words in length.

The Grading Scale for the evaluation will employ the following ranks: outstanding, excellent, good, fair, poor (5, 4, 3, 2, 1). These grades will be used to rate the individual student performances and to arrive at a collective 'grade' for each section and also for all sections of Phil 321 offered that semester. Deficiencies will be noted, discussed by faculty members, and used to devise improvement strategies and more effective pedagogical approaches as necessary."

V. REPORT TO GENED COMMITTEE: This assessment method will be implemented at the end of the current (Spring 2005) semester, and the results will be communicated to the General Education committee as requested.

* Note: The bracketed phrase will not apply to the Spring 2005 final exam.--JG (rev. 3-16-05)