March 28, 2024

Pastor Drew Takes on Ethics

(Zoom screenshot by Emily Dietz)

All Capital students are aware of the university’s requirement for an Ethics course; this semester, University Pastor Drew Tucker has taken the position of professor for two sections of the University Core class.

A few years ago, Capital changed the University Core curriculum to make Ethics a first-year course; previously, it had been a 400-level class designed to be taken during a student’s senior year. This spring, Tucker is teaching both a section of UC-170 and a section of UC-410.

Both classes will be delivered in a hybrid format, and Tucker says that one silver lining of the pandemic is that it has opened up his schedule. While he greatly enjoys working with students in the classroom, he typically would not have the time to teach several courses simultaneously.

Tucker has been interested in moral philosophy since his own days in college—in undergrad, he picked up a minor in Ethics, and he holds a master’s degree in Philosophy and Theology.

Despite his personal interest in theological ethics, though, Tucker does not plan to spend a considerable amount of time discussing the intersection of religion and ethics.

“I would rather have students who are interested in that come and find me, and we could have more discussion about it outside of class, than force that on people who aren’t there for it,” Tucker remarks. Typical conversations involving religion and ethics “presuppose a level of agreement,” Tucker said, one that he understands that his classes will not share.

In fact, before the semester began, a student emailed him with concerns about differences in opinions. In reply, Tucker said, “My goal is not to grade you on what you believe.”

He expects that class participants will have many different opinions on topics—his primary goal for the semester is to help students learn to talk about differences in a productive manner.

To accomplish this, the course’s final project will be to give a mini-Ted Talk. Students will choose a controversial ethical issue and present it to their peers, using uncharged language. This assignment exemplifies Tucker’s idea of the value of teaching ethics: it enables students to “have those difficult conversations in healthier ways.”

For this purpose, the study of ethics is particularly timely. “The lack of respectful argumentation in today’s politics and world has served to divide society,” Tucker said, and he hopes that his class can help Capital University students confront problems in a more constructive manner.

Author

  • Emily Dietz

    Emily is a sophomore English literature major at Capital, and a reporter and distribution manager for the Chimes. When she's not carting papers around campus, Emily enjoys watching Jeopardy, bothering her cats, and eating mac and cheese. edietz@capital.edu.

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