Posted on

Education in Crisis

One-Sheet for SOPHIA Conversations

Adobe logo, to serve as a link to the one-sheet in Adobe PDF.

One-sheet as a printable Adobe PDF.

SOPHIA’s Executive Director Eric Thomas Weber created this SOPHIA one-sheet for the facilitation of a conversation with the Albuquerque Philosophy Collective, our SOPHIA Chapter in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The prompts on this one-sheet consider both current matters involving education in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, as well as broader, continuing crises in education concerning real problems as well as problems of misunderstanding concerning education.

Image of an old school building falling apart.

Thanks to spoilt.exile for permission to share this photo.

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted nations around the world to make sudden and radical changes to schooling practices in the spring of 2020. For a generation prior to the pandemic, scholars and critics of all stripes have proclaimed a variety of crises in education, from questions of whether students are learning anything and are being “left behind” to concerns over inequality and inadequacy of school funding. In 2020, the health crisis saw kids returned home without plans for how parents and guardians would care for their children and the economic effects of the virus and quarantining practices put many people out of work. There have emerged two narratives of crisis in education, then, one long-standing concern over how best to educate people and another about education in times of crisis. This SOPHIA one-sheet presents two prompts, which can either be considered in sequence or separately, in two different meetings.

Click on the Adobe PDF logo on right, on the featured image hereabove, or here to open a printable, Adobe PDF version of the one-sheet.

Special thanks go to the Albuquerque Philosophy Collective and especially to Ty Camp for prompting the creation of this one-sheet and inviting Executive Director Weber to meet with their dynamic and energetic SOPHIA chapter in September of 2020!

Posted on

The First Amendment and Censorship

One-Sheet for SOPHIA Conversations

Printable PDF version of the one-sheet.

Printable one-sheet as a PDF.

This one-sheet was created for the SOPHIA of Worcester County chapter by students in the Communication Law and Ethics course at Fitchburg State University and edited by Dr. J.J. Sylvia IV. Its creation was supported by SOPHIA and the Douglas and Isabelle Crocker Center for Civic Engagement. Students included: Shannon Creedon-Axtell, Jonathan Flerra, Owen Fraga, Joshua Goggin, Matt Makris, and Ian Poyant.

A monument to the First Amendment.

This SOPHIA One-Sheet examines moral questions about the First Amendment and new developments that have amplified the power and reach of speech, especially social media. Social media platforms have been called to address harmful speech that is expressed on their platforms. This one-sheet was designed to facility conversations about the morality of speech and censorship.

SOPHIA is grateful to Dr. Sylvia, his students, and the Crocker Center for Civic Engagement at Fitchburg State University. 

Posted on

The Ethics of Targeted Advertising

One-Sheet for SOPHIA Conversations

Adobe logo, to serve as a link to the Adobe PDF version of the transcript.

Printable one-sheet.

This one-sheet was created for the SOPHIA of Worcester County chapter by students in the Communication Law and Ethics course at Fitchburg State University. It was edited by Dr. J. J. Sylvia IV. Its creation was supported by SOPHIA and the Douglas and Isabelle Crocker Center for Civic Engagement. Students included Landon Callahan, Megan Ptak, Cameron Barry, Evan Hanson, Anthonio Garcia, Dylan Aquino, and Joey Bertolino.

Dartboard with a magnetic dart on a one-hundred dollar bill.

Targeted advertisements are used when websites and apps track the online activity of an individual and tailor advertisements for products and services that the person may have an interest in. This data collection can be done by gathering a user’s search history, web pages visited, location, and more. This now common form of advertising can be very effective in selling a product or promoting a brand. However, ethical debates surround issues such as how certain demographics will be targeted, potential privacy concerns, and the effects this practice may have on democracy. This SOPHIA one-sheet examines ethical questions about targeted advertisements.

SOPHIA is grateful to Dr. Sylvia, his students, and the Crocker Center for Civic Engagement at Fitchburg State University. 

Posted on

Ethics of Online Catfishing

One-Sheet for SOPHIA Conversations

Adobe logo, to serve as a link to the one-sheet document in Adobe PDF format..

Printable one-sheet in Adobe PDF.

This one-sheet was created for the SOPHIA of Worcester County chapter by students in the Communication Law and Ethics course at Fitchburg State University and edited by Drs. J. J. Sylvia IV and Kyle Moody. Its creation was supported by SOPHIA and the Douglas and Isabelle Crocker Center for Civic Engagement. Students included: Curtis Monahan, Sophia Ciampaglia, Emma Thomson, Kim Lier, Ken Roberts, Sam Pappas, Stephanie Fuller, Thomas Boupha, and Shannon McCarthy.

Image of the logo for the television show, Catfish.

Catfish, the documentary TV series on MTV, stars two men who travel around the U.S. investigating people who they believe have been depicting themselves falsely to another user online. Since these interactions are purely digital, it is quite easy to use inaccurate photos or post misinformation of yourself in order to mislead online users. This SOPHIA one-sheet document makes it easy to guide a rich discussion on the ethics involved in “catfishing” online.

SOPHIA is grateful to Drs. Sylvia and Moody, to the Crocker Center for Civil Engagement, and to the students in Drs. Sylvia and Moody’s course in Communication Law and Ethics at Fitchburg State University!

Posted on

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Ethics

One-Sheet for SOPHIA Conversations

Adobe logo, to serve as a link to the Adobe PDF version of the one-sheet.

Printable PDF one-sheet.

This one-sheet was created for the SOPHIA of Worcester County Chapter by students in the Communication Law and Ethics course at Fitchburg State University and edited by Dr. J.J. Sylvia IV and Dr. Kyle Moody. It was hosted by Strong Style Coffee and its creation was supported by SOPHIA and the Douglas and Isabelle Crocker Center for Civic Engagement. Students included Miguel Aguiar, Colin Ahearn, Andrew Allen, Ben Bursell, Olivia Grant, Rebecca Landry, Kevin Newey, Martha Melendez, Shane Muir, Edgar Mutebi, Scott Ryan, and Ben Sharple.

Photo of a robot with hand on chin in front of a background of equations.

‘Artificial Intelligence & AI & Machine Learning‘ by mikemacmarketing is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Artificial intelligence (AI) suggests that machines will one day have the potential to imitate human behavior to complete complex tasks without human assistance. Many ethical questions arise in relation to the development of new technologies featuring artificial intelligence. This one sheet considers overarching questions as well as challenges regarding privacy, bias, and predictive policing. Click here, on the photo above, or on the Adobe PDF logo on right to open this SOPHIA (front-and-back) one-sheet.

SOPHIA is most grateful to Drs. J.J. Sylvia and Kyle Moody as well as their students in the Communication Law and Ethics course that they taught, as well as to the Crocker Center for supporting their work.