Dignity, Ethics, and a Just Society

Core Student Learning Outcomes that this component is designed to intentionally Develop:


[SLO 1] All SLU Graduates will be able to examine their actions and vocations in dialogue with the Catholic, Jesuit tradition. Catholic, Jesuit beliefs and traditions provide the intellectual and spiritual foundation for education at Saint Louis University. The Core exposes students to Catholic, Jesuit and other worldviews and asks them to reflect on how these perspectives inform their character, sense of purpose, and vocations in order to imagine and assess the moral and spiritual implications of their actions and life choices.


[SLO 3] All SLU graduates will be able to assess evidence and draw reasoned conclusions. Critical thinking—from the scientific method to the creative process, from systems thinking to complex abstractions—is a hallmark of a well- developed mind. The Core fosters a student’s ability to gather source material and discern its reliability, analyze data via quantitative and qualitative methods, compare multiple interpretations of evidence, evaluate conflicting claims, and demonstrate evidence-based reasoning.


Core Student Learning Outcome that this component is designed to intentionally Introduce, Develop, and Achieve:


[SLO 7] All SLU graduates will be able to Evaluate the extent to which social systems influence equity and reflect innate human dignity. The Catholic, Jesuit tradition calls on students to envision a just society, recognize how and when injustice is institutionalized, and identify conditions that promote the dignity and equity of all. The Core enables students to consider how social, political, and cultural systems influence human interactions and well-being in the past, present, and future.

Core Component/course-level Learning Outcomes

Students who complete this course will be able to:

  • Analyze the cultural-institutional conditions and causes of just and unjust social systems using such concepts as social location, relationships, power, privilege, and vulnerability

  • Apply such ethical concepts as human dignity, equity, well-being justice, and the common good to critically evaluate both existing social systems and proposals for social change

  • Envision and articulate systemic social changes and other ways to promote flourishing, well-being, equity, justice, and the dignity of the human person

Essential criteria

  • Familiarize students with key theoretical concepts and methods of analysis necessary for the critical evaluation of social systems (understood to include sociocultural practices, institutions, sectors of society, etc.) from the standpoint of human dignity, well-being, the common good, and justice, as appropriate for the topic area and discipline

  • Require students to analyze how social systems advance or obstruct justice, and to evaluate the relative utility of different concepts and methods used to analyze the social systems/visions treated in the course

  • Enable students to reflect on the ethical implications of course content in their own lives

  • Require students to produce an artifact or artifacts that can be used to assess student achievement of the required course learning outcomes

NOTES

  • The key concepts of human dignity, well-being, and justice are intended to gloss three broad, multifaceted dimensions that have relevance for social evaluation; moreover, the use of the key concepts is not meant to preclude the use of additional concepts.

  • Courses with this attribute may include a range of justice-oriented courses in a variety of disciplines, including professional and applied ethics courses (e.g., health care ethics, computer ethics).

  • Any course in the University Core or in a major program of study is eligible to be approved as carrying this attribute except for: Ignite Seminar; Cura Personalis 1, 2, and 3; Eloquentia Perfecta 1; Eloquentia Perfecta 2.