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Ethics Flag

Courses carrying the Ethics Flag equip you with the tools necessary for making ethical decisions in your adult and professional life. Courses carrying this Flag expose you to ethical issues and to the process of applying ethical reasoning in real-life situations.

For a class at UT to satisfy the Ethics Flag, it must meet the following definition:

  • At least one-third* of the course grade must be based on work in practical ethics, i.e., the study of what is involved in making real-life ethical choices.
    *For three-or four-credit courses. For two-credit hour courses, at least one-half of the course grade should be based on Flag content. For one-hour credit courses, the whole course grade (100%) should be based on Flag content.

What is an Ethics Flag class like?

Ethics courses are taught in departments all over campus, both at the upper and lower divisions, and cover a wide variety of topics. No matter the course content, ethics is an important and explicit component of the course, not simply implied in controversial material.

Each instructor will use the Flag requirement in unique ways to enhance the class. You might be asked to think through case studies involving ethical issues or dilemmas, determine what actions you would take if pressured by a superior at work, or argue from multiple perspectives before asserting your own view. Any such activities are designed to help you master course content, increase your awareness of factors that bear on ethical decision-making, and equip you to be your best self in difficult situations.

Examples of courses that carry the Ethics Flag:

  • PHL 304: Contemporary Moral Problems
  • N 321: Ethics of Healthcare
  • LAH 350: Germany in the 20th Century