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Intro to Ethics Unwrapped

Six video series cover topics such as behavioral ethics, applied ethics, values-driven leadership, real-world blunders, and current and historical events with ethical undertones.

Overview

All Ethics Unwrapped videos – except glossary videos – offer accompanying discussion questions and case studies. Every video is research-based.

Many of the series also offer teaching notes, additional resources, bibliographies, ethical insights, and transcripts of the video narration. The six video series are:

  1. Concepts Unwrapped: Explores key concepts in applied and behavioral ethics. 36 short videos combine student interviews with animated, expert content.
  2. Ethics Defined: A glossary of ethics terms and concepts. 58 animated videos – two-minutes each – explain with accessible language and visual storytelling.
  3. Ethics in Focus:  Short videos on current events (e.g. the #MeToo movement), historical topics (e.g. the rise of the Nazi party), and ethics concepts (e.g. Moral Illusions).
  4. Giving Voice To Values: The principles of values-driven leadership explained in 8 short videos by Mary C. Gentile. Based on Gentile’s book, Giving Voice to Values: How to Speak Your Mind When You Know What’s Right.
  5. In it To Win: A 25-minute documentary reveals the internal biases and external pressures which led to super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s downfall and conviction. Includes 6 related short videos.
  6. Scandals Illustrated: Newsworthy scandals recapped in 30 one-minute, animated videos. Companion case studies identify ethics concepts that likely played a role.

In addition, a Case Studies Series offers more than 80 cases on a wide variety of topics. Every case includes discussion questions, related videos, and a bibliography.

Start Here: Videos

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is the psychological discomfort that we feel when our minds entertain two contradictory concepts at the same time.

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Intro to GVV

Intro to GVV

Giving Voice to Values is learning about how to act on your values effectively – not about wondering whether you could.

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Start Here: Cases

Abramoff: Lobbying Congress

Abramoff: Lobbying Congress

Super-lobbyist Abramoff was caught in a scheme to lobby against his own clients. Was a corrupt individual or a corrupt system – or both – to blame?

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Negotiating Bankruptcy

Negotiating Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy lawyer Gellene successfully represented a mining company during a major reorganization, but failed to disclose potential conflicts of interest.

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Pao & Gender Bias

Pao & Gender Bias

Ellen Pao stirred debate in the venture capital and tech industries when she filed a lawsuit against her employer on grounds of gender discrimination.

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Teaching Notes

Begin by viewing the “Start Here” videos. They introduce key topics such as behavioral ethics, cognitive dissonance, and leading with values, which are relevant to many fields of study. Read through these videos’ teaching notes for details and related ethics concepts. Watch the “Related Videos” and/or read the related Case Study. “Additional Resources” offer further reading, a bibliography, and (sometimes) assignment suggestions.

Show a video in class, assign a video to watch outside of class, or embed a video in an online learning module such as Canvas. Then, prompt conversation in class to encourage peer-to-peer learning. Ask students to answer the video’s “Discussion Questions,” and to reflect on the ideas and issues raised by the students in the video. How do their experiences align? How do they differ? The videos also make good writing prompts. Ask students to watch a video and apply the ethics concept to course content.

Case studies are an effective way to introduce ethics topics, too, and for students to learn how to spot ethical issues. Select a case study from the Cases Series or ask students to read a video’s “Case Study” and answer the case study “Discussion Questions.” Then, ask students to reason through the ethical dimensions presented, and to sketch the ethical decision-making process outlined by the case. Then, challenge students to develop strategies to avoid these ethical pitfalls. Suggest students watch the case study’s “Related Videos” and “Related Terms” to further their understanding.

Ethics Unwrapped blogs are also useful prompts to engage students. Learning about ethics in the context of real-world (often current) events can enliven classroom discussion and make ethics relevant and concrete for students. Share a blog in class or post one to the class’s online learning module. To spur discussion, ask students to identify the ethical issues at hand and to name the ethics concepts related to the blog (or current event in the news). Dig more deeply into the topic using the Additional Resources listed at the end of the blog post.

Remember to review video, case study, and blogs’ relevant glossary terms. In this way, you will become familiar with all the ethics concepts contained in these material. Share this vocabulary with your students, and use it to expand and enrich ethics and leadership conversations in your classroom. To dive deeper in the glossary, watch “Related” glossary videos.

Many of the concepts covered in Ethics Unwrapped operate in tandem with each other. As you watch more videos, you will become more fluent in ethics and see the interrelatedness of ethics concepts more readily. You also will be able to spot ethical issues more easily – at least, that is the hope! As your students watch more videos, it will be easier for them to recognize and understand ethical issues, and to express their ideas and thoughts about what is and isn’t ethical and why. Hopefully, they will also come to realize the interconnectedness of ethics and leadership, and the essential role ethics plays in developing solid leadership skills.

 

Additional Videos

Additional Cases