Institute For Ethics Presents December Brown Bag Session posted 11/24/09
Director of Institute, Fritz Detwiler, presents; Adrian community invited.

ADRIAN, Mich. – Adrian College Professor and Director of the Institute for Ethics, Fritz Detwiler, will present the next Institute for Ethics Brownbag, Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 12:10 P.M. in Knight Auditorium.

Detwiler’s topic is "Ethical Problems in Teaching Cross-Cultural Courses.”  The presentation focuses on real life issues like "Should a Non-Native teach a course on Native American traditions?”  "How do we fairly represent other cultures in the classroom?"  "What are the ethical implications of teaching cross-cultural courses?"

“The main point I want to make is that we cannot fairly represent other cultures by failing to take into account the way other cultures look at the world and the categories and ideas that guide their understanding of the world,” said Detwiler.

This would include such things as looking at the insights about the natural or social world that are often overlooked by Western science and social sciences.

“The presentation comes from problems with which I have had to deal in teaching non-Western religions and the difficulty students have of moving beyond their own views of the world to seriously entertain other views of the world,” says Detwiler. 

The Brownbag series is designed to begin conversations about ethics on campus and integrate that conversation into courses and capstone experiences. The Brown Bag sessions are free and open to the public. All guests are encouraged to bring a brown bag lunch. Knight Auditorium is located in Valade Hall on Williams St.