Philosophy 425 (Fall 2026)

 

Collaborative Project in Ethics and Society

 

Professor Patrick Frierson (call me “Patrick”)

 

My email: frierspr@whitman.edu

 

Class Meets in Olin 186, Fridays from 1-4pm, and/or by arrangement

 

Come see me!

I’m in my office (Olin East 193) and happy to meet with students on Wednesdays from 10-11am and Thursdays from 2:30-3:30, or by appointment.  We can talk about questions related to class, but you don’t need a specific reason to come.  If you can’t make these times, send me an email and we can make an appointment for another time.  I’m also happy to meet with students over zoom who prefer to meet in that format.  Set up an appointment and we can meet at https://whitman.zoom.us/j/92189368747.  (I’ll generally save Monday evenings from 9-10pm for zoom, so that’s a good slot to schedule, but I can make other times available.)

 

Course Overview:

The Ethics and Society major has three requirements for seniors:

·       Rewriting of a substantive paper from an E&S course

·       A collaborative project that culminates in a public presentation or display

·       Oral exam focused on the revised seminar paper and the student’s work on the collective project

The paper revision will be due at the start of the Spring semester, and I am happy to answer any questions about that paper revision, but the primarily purpose of this senior seminar is to provide a context within which you can complete the collaborative project.  In addition, the Ethics and Society major has several specific learning goals.  Students who complete the major should be able to:

Along with the other courses you’ve taken in the major, this course will help you achieve those learning goals.

You (or most of you) are seniors, ready to graduate from College soon.  This course assumes that you are ready to take ownership of your own learning process.  The seminar provides a context for you to develop, complete, and present a collaborative project.  You are in charge of the class.  Use it to get your work done.

I am here to support you.  I will seek out guest educators who can help you brainstorm ideas for your projects and more generally can help you accomplish the learning goals for the major.  In many cases, these guests will also help you think about how to translate what you have been learning into an ethical and meaningful life of purpose after Whitman.

I also here to nudge you along, to scaffold the process of developing, completing, and presenting your project.  Thus there are various benchmarks and short assignments throughout the semester designed to get you to successful completion of that project.  The final project is due by the end of the semester, and successful completion of it will be the primary basis for your grade in this course.  In addition, however, because this seminar is a collaborative space, your grade will also be based on your contributions to the life of our little scholarly community.

The Collaborative Project!

Ethics and Society is still a relatively new major, so as you complete your own collaborative projects, you are also helping to design and define what the major will look like for successive generations.  You will help provide a template, paradigm, and model that others will look to as they try to interpret what the senior requirements require.

You are required to do a project that is…

1.     Collaborative. That means that the project must be completed in a team of at least two people.  You can’t just do something amazing by yourself.  You need to work with at least one other person, and you might choose to do something that would involve everyone in this year’s graduating class.  How big the collaborative groups are, and what precisely collaboration looks like, will be something you will define over the course of the semester.

2.     A Project.  You should do something interesting, something that matters, something that shows how philosophy is relevant to ethical and social issues today.

3.     Public.  Technically, you need only a “public presentation or display,” but I hope you’ll take the “public” part of this project to mean more than that.  Try to find a project that has public relevance, that gets beyond the ivory tower and out to a broader public.  Note here that “public” does not have to mean “open to the general public.”  If you do a project for a local business or non-profit and present your work to their board of directors, that’s public.  If you pitch a proposal to a state legislator, that’s public.  If you develop materials for use in the local middle schools, that's public.  If you write an amazing 150-page thesis and give it to me, that’s not public.

4.     Presentation or display.  The final result of your work will not be a paper.  You might write a paper.  You might have lots of other written material.  But ultimately, you will need to present your work.  (You get to define what precisely that means.)

 

Accommodations:

This is an intensely collaborative course, which means that accommodations also need to take into account the needs of your classmates and the public you’ll be engaging with through your project.  That said, you all have several years under your belt of dealing well with peers who need accommodations, so I expect you to be mature and respectful in accommodating your classmates’ needs. 

If you are a student with a disability who will need accommodations in this course, please view next steps on the Disability Support Services (DSS) website Links to an external site.. For specific questions about accommodations and/or disabilities please email dss@whitman.edu. To complete an online accommodation request click here Links to an external site). All information about disabilities is considered private. If I receive notification from DSS that you are eligible to receive an accommodation due to a verified disability, I will work to provide it in accordance with the college’s standards.  Note that accommodations are not retroactive; you need to fulfill all course requirements until or unless you receive specific accommodations allowing you to meet course goals in a different way.

Likewise, in accordance with the College’s Religious Accommodations Policy, I will provide reasonable accommodations for students who have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments, or required attendance in class because of religious observances. Please review the course schedule at the beginning of the semester to determine any such potential conflicts and give me written notice (email is acceptable) by the end of the second week of class about your need for religious accommodations. If you believe that I have failed to abide by these policies, you may talk to your academic advisor or contact my Division Chair Matt Reynolds at reynolmm@whitman.edu or file a grievance in accordance with Whitman’s Grievance Policy.

 

Course Timeline

This course is a work in progress.  We will build it together.  That said, here is a tentative timeline that gives some ideas for how to develop your project as we go along.

 

 

Readings to Complete Before Class

Work to Complete Before Class

What to Expect in Class

Sept. 4

 

 

1. Discussion of course and goals.

2. Getting to know each other.

3. Exploring different routes towards finding a project you can get excited about this semester.

4. Meeting some campus and community partners who might help you think about your projects.

Sept. 11

1. I’d like each person to share a philosophical reading for the rest of us to read.  You should read these.

2. You should also engage with (read, view, listen to) the public presentation or display shared by your classmates

1. Give the rest of the class a short reading.

2. Find a “public presentation or display” of something that uses ethical reasoning to address social issues.  Share that with the class before class.

We’ll discuss what makes an excellent public-facing project, and you will get started with your teams in deciding what you want to do.

Sept. 18

TBD

Submit a “project proposal” of at least 500 words, with an annotated bibliography of at least 6 texts.  This should lay out in some detail a possible project for this semester.  You do not need to be committed to this project.

At this point, I’m planning to set aside this time (or, really, any time this week) for individual meetings with project groups to talk about your projects.

Among other things, be ready for me to ask specific questions about how you are using what you’ve learned in philosophy as you develop your project.

Sept 25

TBD

TBD

Figure out whether your project requires IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval.  If you are unsure, email the current IRB Chair (right now, that’s Rebecca Hanrahan).

 

If necessary, complete all the required modules to be able to submit a proposal to the IRB.

TBD

Figure out whether your project requires IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval.  If you are unsure, email the current IRB Chair (right now, that’s Rebecca Hanrahan).

Oct. 2

TBD

Submit a new project proposal.  This can be an update of the earlier one, or something completely different.  Again, 500 words, at least 6 texts in bibliography.

In addition, this proposal should make clear what the form of your public presentation or display will be, who the intended audience is, and how you plan to reach that audience.

This is the latest date at which you can/should submit a proposal to the IRB for projects that require IRB approval.

TBD

(Maybe individual meetings again?)

Oct. 9

Mid-semester break

 

 

Oct. 16

TBD

Submit a clear plan laying out who will be responsible for various components of your project and when each component will be finished.

TBD

Oct. 23

TBD

TBD

TBD

October 30

TBD

TBD

TBD

Nov. 6

TBD

TBD

TBD

Nov. 13

TBD

Submit a clear outline of your entire project.  This should come as close as possible to a “rough draft,” though what that will look like will depend upon your particular project.

TBD

(Maybe individual meetings again?)

Nov. 20

 

Submit specific plans for how you will finish your project before the end of the semester.  You should give me a document that says what you have already done, what you have left to do, who will do what is left, and specifically when those remaining components will be done.

If necessary, book rooms or space for your public presentation and/or display. 

 

Thanksgiving Break

 

 

 

Dec. 4

 

During this week, you should give/present your public presentation or display.

 

Dec. 11

 

Submit a brief final report reflecting on your project.