Courses Detail Information
ENGR4960J – Professional Ethics
Instructors:
Credits:
2 credits.
Pre-requisites:
Vg 100 and Junior or Senior standing
Description:
Engineering and technology play crucial roles in shaping today’s world, having the power to either enhance or harm it. This influence has amplified in our increasingly interconnected global landscape. To better intertwine the activities of engineers into society and to help in providing a “better” world through their work, ethical conduct is paramount. Yet, what does ethical behavior entail in the realm of engineering and technology? This course delves into the nuances of engineering and technology ethics, emphasizing a cross-cultural and international perspective. The ultimate objective is to heighten students’ awareness of ethics, fostering an understanding of professional and ethical obligations within a global context. The course equips students to recognize and navigate ethical dilemmas related to technology. Additionally, it nurtures a profound self-awareness, enabling students to articulate and defend their personal beliefs.
Course Topics:
1. Nature and evolutionary origins of ethics
2. Importance of ethics within engineering and with regard to technology
3. Nature of ethical reasoning and the case-study procedure
4. Nature of and how to avoid plagiarism
5. Nature of professionalism and its relation to ethics
6. Role responsibilities of engineers
7. Nature of safety, objective and subjective
8. Nature of business ethics
9. Nature of personal and professional autonomy
10. Natures of culture, values, and relations between culture, values, and ethics
11. Nature of loyalty, conflicts of interests, and dissent
12. Relations between the sciences-humanities and engineering-the public
13. Nature of rights and rights of engineers