Christian Ethics and Design

REL 369H1, 360H1, 490
Department of Religious Studies in cooperation with
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Dayton
Winter 2008
LTC Studio

Readings | Best Essays
Requests for Proposals

Instructors

Brad J. Kallenberg
Office: 329 Humanities
Office Hours: by appt.
937.229.4392
brad.kallenberg@notes.udayton.edu 		Andrew P. Murray
Offices: 363D Kettering Labs & Alumni Hall 125
Office Hours: by appt
937.229.2201 or 937.229.4615
murray@udayton.edu

Course Outline

29 April (Finals Week), 5:55 PM Topics - RFP 10 presentations
18 April Topics - RFP 9 due, RFP work

Background reading - A couple of short pieces that were originally going to be assigned as required reading: The Society of Mary Considered as a Religious Order and a piece on Marianist Prayer. The single pager (Marianist Letter) comes from: Chaminade, Blessed William Joseph. "Society of Mary Considered as a Religious Order." In Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, Founder of the Marianist Family, edited by Thomas A. Thompson, SM and Vincent Gizard, SM, translated by Arthur Cherrier, SM, 98-99. Dayton, OH: North American Center for Marianist Studies, 2000. The others come from chapter 3: Aguilera, Enrique, SM, and José María Arnaiz, SM. "Marianist Prayer." In Enfleshing the Word: Prayer and the Marianist Spiritual Journey, translated by Joseph Stefanelli, SM, 33-42. Dayton, OH: North American Center for Marianist Studies, 2000.
11 April Topics - RFP 8 presentations, RFP work
04 April Topics - Truthful descriptions, RFP 9 & 10 unveiled, RFP work
28 March Topics - A walk in the student neighborhood, Visits to RFP 8 locations

In class reading - Engineering Society Accused of Cover-Ups by Cain Burdeau
21 March Topics - A little break known as Spring
14 March Topics - RFP 6 essay due, RFP 8 initiated
07 March Topics - RFP 6 Presentations, Hueristics used by the Engineering Method, and Deja Vu
29 February Topics - Last week's topics, plus
The principal rule of the engineering method
Background reading - More on connecting ethics with design, or what additional help can you offer on the third of three monuments? What Can Christians Learn from Technologists? by Brad Kallenberg
22 February Topics - The rest of Maya Lin, Tacit learning, Proposal work ...er, SNOW DAY!!
15 February Topics - RFP 5 Presentations, Character and Design, and Maya Lin

Background reading - There is a myth about design that goes something like this: the best design always wins. Stuart Leslie shows how Charles Kettering (yes, THE Charles Kettering) had a terrific idea. However, these designs never survived the road to production, in part at least, by dysfunctional relationships... Charles F. Kettering and the Copper-cooled Engine by Stuart W. Leslie
08 February Topics - Effective Teaming, e2, Proposal work

Background reading - These are a couple of very brief and easy-to-read pieces on teaming: Groundrules and Agreements for Meetings and Running an effective team meeting
01 February Topics - The wonder, politics and metrics of design, and
What does BusinessWeek have to say about design?

In class reading - Rural Areas Left in Slow Lane of High-Speed Data Highway by Ken Belson

Background reading - This is a meaty article. Note the structure of his argument, especially section I: The Politics of Successful Technologies by John Staudenmaier
25 January Topics - Measuring cups, IDEO, Brainstorming, The design process, and Crossing the river

Background reading - The Power of Design by Bruce Nussbaum
Background reading - The rest of the story on the Bridge at Avignon
18 January Topics - Voting redux, Designers' code of ethics

In class reading - An Exotic Tool For Espionage: Moral Compass by Scott Shane
11 January Topics - Introductions, Team assignments, RFPs, $$, and Games

In class reading - Tsongkerclintkinbro Wins by John Allen Paulos

Description

This interdisciplinary course aims to teach engineering design and Christian ethics simultaneously. Design is best taught by hands-on involvement. Readings in this course are kept to a minimum number of highly crucial articles. In the place of the read-write-apply approach to learning, this course employs a number of projects for learning design as a hands-on process. In like fashion, Ethics is learned best by conversation. But, any time there is room for deliberation, there is automatically room for design. To accomplish the dialogical component, the course uses the same series of team projects. To increase the real-world feel of the course, design teams are responsible for managing their own R & D (research and development) budget and for generating competitive "Proposals" in response to assigned RFP's (Requests for Proposals). Each RFP lays groundwork for the next project as students learn by iteration the process of ethics-laden design. Projects range from the trivial to the multi-disciplinary.

Grading

The final course grade is composed of both individual and team components.
  1. Individual Component: It is essential that students do assigned reading before class and come prepared for discussion. To help facilitate literate participation in classroom discussion, students will be required to do assigned reading in advance, showing that they have done so by writing about one page (or one-half page, single spaced) to each assigned question. Hard copy will be collected in class and electronic copy must also be submitted to Turnitin.com.
    Typically, questions will be posted in turnitin.com. However, some questions and readings may be delivered by email from the instructor. Therefore, if you use an email account other than notes, it is your responsibility to link that account to your LotusNotes account so that the emails reach you. Since the object of problem sets is to do the reading before class, late submissions will not be accepted.
    Submissions will be granted on a scale between 1 and 10 points for relevant discussion and evidence that the reading has been done. Top three responses each week will be given special merit. The cumulative weight of these assignments is worth 25% of the total grade.
  2. Team Component: Proposal scores accumulate for a total of 50%.
  3. Team Component: Teams final financial standing at semester's end contributes to a grade worth 15%. Please see the Financial Model for additional information on earning this 15%.
  4. Professionalism: Worth 10%. Students’ grades will be helped or hurt in accordance to the rigor of their participation and their in-class conduct, speech and demeanor.

Elecrtronic Submission

In order to keep plagiarism to a minimum, the weekly essays must be submitted to turnitin.com. Before being able to use Turnitin.com you must register for the course. Here's how to do this:
  1. Go to www.turnitin.com. Click on "create a new user profile" in the upper right hand corner.
  2. Fill out the profile using your real name (so that I can recognize you) and preferred e-mail address. Your password is your own secret.
  3. Return to Login page and login.
  4. Click on "Enroll in a class" (or follow the prompts if it is your first time at turnitin). Use the following Class ID Class ID = 2141466 Password: design
  5. Click on our class name "Christian Ethics & Design." Join the class.
Note: You must also supply hardcopy of the assignment in class.

Laptops

Each team needs to have at least one laptop present each Friday (note-taking during brainstorming, online searches, etc.)

Background Readings

Background readings will be added to the syllabus throughout the semester. The readings are picked because they inform the current discussions in class. A working philosophy for your team is that (at least) one person should do this reading and act to inform the group. In general, a thoughtful consideration of these extra readings will produce better proposals.