NMC 302 | Course Introduction and Application Information - Department of New Media and Communication

Course Name

Ethics

Code	Semester	Theory (hour/week)	Application/Lab (hour/week)	Local Credits	ECTS
NMC 302	Spring	2	2	3	5

Prerequisites	None
Course Language	English
Course Type	Required
Course Level	First Cycle
Mode of Delivery	face to face
Teaching Methods and Techniques of the Course	Discussion Group Work Case Study Lecture / Presentation
National Occupation Classification	-
Course Coordinator	Prof. Dr. Ahmet GÜRATA
Course Lecturer(s)	Prof. Dr. Ahmet GÜRATA
Assistant(s)	-

Course Objectives	This course aims to equip students with the conceptual tools necessary to analyze and evaluate the ethical issues arising in communication contexts involving new and old media. Particular emphasis will be placed on exercises designed to apply these concepts and reasoning procedures to concrete situations.
Learning Outcomes	The students who succeeded in this course; Explain the fundamental theories and concepts of ethics. Compare different theories of ethics. Analyze ethical problems in the fields of media and communication in terms of ethical concepts and standards. Evaluate ethical problems in the fields of media and communication. Discuss ethical problems in the fields of media and communication. Apply general ethical problems to particular problems in diverse media situations.
Course Description	This course provides an introduction to fundamental ethical paradigms in ethical thinking and evaluation in order to deliberate on and engage with ethical conflict in media old and new. Students will be expected to actively discuss and debate and participate in in-class group projects.;Students will learn the relationship between general theories and the analysis of particular problem by performing exercises tha emphasize he problems of application.
Related Sustainable Development Goals

Course Category	Core Courses	X
	Major Area Courses
	Supportive Courses
	Media and Management Skills Courses
	Transferable Skill Courses

Week	Subjects	Related Preparation
1	Introduction: What is Ethics?	Sharman, “How to watch a movie”: https://uark.pressbooks.pub/movingpictures/chapter/how-to-watch-a-movie/
2	Virtue Ethics - Character, eudaimonia, habituation, the mean
3	Divine command and the problem of evil - Natural law, guilt, retribution, theodicy
4	Utilitarianism and contract - Consequentialism, aggregate harm, higher and lower pleasures, the social contract
5	Kantian Ethics — Deontology - The categorical imperative, the formula of humanity, autonomy, dignity, rights
6	Existentialist Ethics - Ressentiment, master and slave morality, radical freedom, bad faith, authenticity
7	Ethics and the Other - Levinas and the face; Foucault on power, discourse and biopolitics; feminist ethics and the ethics of care; systemic versus individual responsibility.
8	Midterm Exam
9	Ethics of Spectatorship	Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others.
10	Sex, Gender and the Gaze	bell hooks, "The Oppositional Gaze."
11	Speciesism and the Non-Human	Peter Singer, Animal Liberation, ch. 1 ("All Animals Are Equal")
12	Climate	Amitav Ghosh, The Great Derangement — excerpt.
13	AI	“Coercion, consent and the struggle for social media” in Routledge Handbook of Mass Media Ethics; “Holocaust denial, cyberspace, and the question of moral convergence” in Ethics of Emerging Media.
14	End Times Ethics (December 25)	Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor, End Times Fascism. Farrar, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK2nLNiFEAQ
15	Review of the semester
16	Final Exam Week

Course Notes/Textbooks

1. Digital Media Ethics, Charles Ess ed., 2 nd ed. Polity Press 2014. ISBN-10: 0745656064

2. Routledge Handbook of Mass Media Ethics, Lee Wilkins and Clifford G. Christians, 2 nd ed, Routledge 2020. ISBN- 10: 9780805861914
3. Ethics of Emerging Media, Bruce Dushel and Kathleen German eds., Continuum International 2011 ISBN- 10: 0230367038
4. Introduction to Ethics: A Reader, eds. Dell'olio and Simon, Rowman and Littlefield (2010) ISBN: 978 0 7425 6357 5

Suggested Readings/Materials

Christopher Falzon, Ethics Goes to the Movies: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy. Routledge, 2019.

Russ Shafer-Landau, Living Ethics: An Introduction with Readings. Oxford UP, 2019.

Julia Baggini and Peter S. Fosl, The Ethics Toolkit: A Compendium of Ethical Concepts and Methods. Blackwell Publishing, 2007.

Semester Activities	Number	Weigthing
Participation	1	20
Laboratory / Application
Field Work
Quizzes / Studio Critiques
Portfolio
Homework / Assignments	1	40
Presentation / Jury	1	40
Project
Seminar / Workshop
Oral Exams
Midterm
Final Exam
Total

Weighting of Semester Activities on the Final Grade	4	100
Weighting of End-of-Semester Activities on the Final Grade
Total

Semester Activities	Number	Duration (Hours)	Workload
Theoretical Course Hours (Including exam week: 16 x total hours)	16	2	32
Laboratory / Application Hours (Including exam week: '.16.' x total hours)	16	2	32
Study Hours Out of Class	14	3	42
Field Work			0
Quizzes / Studio Critiques			0
Portfolio			0
Homework / Assignments	2	13	26
Presentation / Jury	1	17	17
Project			0
Seminar / Workshop			0
Oral Exam			0
Midterms			0
Final Exam			0
		Total	149

#	Program Competencies/Outcomes	* Contribution Level
#	Program Competencies/Outcomes	1	2	3	4	5
1	To be able to critically discuss and interpret the theories, concepts and ideas that form the basis of the discipline of new media and communication.	-	-	-	-	-
2	To be able to critically interpret theoretical debates concerning the relations between the forms, agents, and factors that play a role in the field of new media and communication.	-	-	-	-	-
3	To have the fundamental knowledge and ability to use the technical equipment and software programs required by the new media production processes.	-	-	-	-	-
4	To be able to gather, scrutinize and scientifically investigate data in the processes of production and distribution.	-	-	-	-	-
5	To be able to use the acquired theoretical knowledge in practice.	-	-	-	-	-
6	To be able to take responsibility both individually and as a member of a group to develop solutions to problems encountered in the field of new media and communication.	-	-	-	-	-
7	To be informed about national, regional, and global issues and problems; to be able to generate problem-solving methods depending on the quality of evidence and research, and to acquire the ability to report the conclusions of those methods to the public.	-	-	-	-	-
8	To be able to critically discuss and draw on theories, concepts and ideas that form the basis of other disciplines complementing the field of new media and communication studies.	-	-	-	X	-
9	To be able to develop and use knowledge and skills towards personal and social goals in a lifelong process.	-	-	X	-	-
10	To be able to apply social, scientific and professional ethical values in the field of new media and communication.	-	-	-	-	X
11	To be able to collect datain the areas of new media and communication and communicate with colleagues in a foreign language ("European Language Portfolio Global Scale", Level B1).	-	-	-	-	-
12	To be able to speak a second foreign language at a medium level of fluency efficiently.	-	-	-	-	-
13	To be able to relate the knowledge accumulated throughout the human history to their field of expertise.	-	-	-	-	-