The Ethical Dilemmas of Classroom Speech: How Students Construct Meaning Around Difficult Classroom Discussions

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Seven
  In Roundtable Session: The Complexities of Change in Higher Education (Table 6)

Abstract

The narrative of a “free speech crisis” on college campuses has proliferated over the past few years, yet we still lack a clear understanding of how students experience the challenges of engaging with controversial, potentially offensive topics in classroom discussions. Drawing from the field of empirical ethics, and in particular Carter’s (2019) work on the connections between empirical ethics and grounded theory, the purpose of this study is to examine the ethical dilemmas that students encounter when engaging in discussions of controversial topics in diverse classroom contexts. Findings point to the existence of a number of ethical dilemmas, including those related to benefit and harm, ethics of care, human dignity, legitimate victimhood, moral responsibility, virtue and character, and consent.

Authors

• Elizabeth Niehaus, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
  Presenting Author

• Jamil Funnah, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
  Presenting Author