About the Course
In 2016, Pope Francis invited distinguished leaders from the world’s major religious traditions, philosophers, scholars, and scientists, to the Vatican for a series of meetings. Known as the Ethics In Action (EIA) initiative, these meetings sought to promote dialogue and find consensus around the values needed to advance transformative action for our common home and the human family.
Ethics In Action, the new massive open online course (MOOC) from the SDG Academy, brings together EIA meeting participants, as well as other leading voices in religion, philosophy, and sustainable development; and discusses the perspectives of some of the world’s great traditions and the role of spirituality in addressing our world’s most pressing challenges, including poverty, corruption, and climate change. The course presents multi-faith cooperation as essential for achieving sustainable development, and calls for the development of a new shared virtue ethics to bring us all into a sustainable and peaceful future.
What do the world’s great religious and secular philosophies have to say about ethical conduct? Which virtues are common across faiths? And what role do religious communities have to play in building a more just and sustainable world?
Course Logistics & Requirements
The course is structured around a series of pre-recorded chapters, readings, chapter questions, ethical reflections, discussion forums, and a final exam. Each of these course components can be completed at a time that is convenient for the learner, prior to the deadline which is the last date of the course. Each video chapter will have a short quiz that directly follows it, followed by either an optional activity or discussion board question at the end of each module.
In addition to the asynchronous components of the course, we will also host special live events with course instructors and climate action experts throughout the year. Keep an eye out for updates from this course, subscribe to the SDG Academy newsletter, and follow us on social media to learn when these special live events will take place.
The estimated time commitment to complete all course components is 2-4 hours per week, though this depends heavily on the learner and his/her objectives in taking the course.
Grading & Certificates
While this course is not credit-granting, we encourage learners to work with their own institutions to explore the option of granting credit for online coursework.
This course contains chapter comprehension questions, a three-part "Reflection Journey" exercise, and a final exam.
VERIFIED LEARNERS: The final exam counts for 100% of your final grade. It consists of information from all of the lectures. You must pass with a 70% or above to receive your Verified Certificate.
Whether or not you are pursuing a certificate, you are encouraged to complete all of the assessments, as they are your opportunity to gauge how well you understand the material and reflect on what you have learned from the course.
Visit the "Assessments and Grading" page for more information.
Transcripts
The course videos have been recorded in English, and English text transcripts can be shown to scroll adjacent to the videos by pressing "cc" at the lower right corner. Transcripts in additional languages will be added throughout the year.
Contact Information
Questions? Concerns?
Please be sure to direct any technical questions about the course to edX using the "Help" button at the top of your page!
For any further communication and questions about the course, email us at courses@sdgacademy.org. Since this email is used for multiple courses, please specify that you are inquiring about the “Ethics” course.