Human responsibilities towards one another
MIT's Compass Course Helps Students Navigate Ethical Complexity
MIT's Compass Course, titled Love, Death, and Taxes: How to Think — and Talk to Others — About Being Human, is a new multidisciplinary class that aims to help students navigate conflicting viewpoints and develop their own values. The course, part of the Compass Initiative led by faculty from the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS), provides students with a moral compass rooted in the humanities and social sciences.
The course, numbered 21.01, revisits a real-life debate around recombinant DNA research and its potential dangers. Each student is assigned a persona from a 1976 Cambridge City Council hearing debating this very issue. In the Compass classroom, students argue different sides, from banning the research to proceeding without government interference.
The course is designed by Associate Professor Robin Scheffler and led by Lily L. Tsai, Ford Professor of Political Science and lead faculty for Compass. It takes a "flipped classroom" approach, with students watching recorded lectures at home and coming to class prepared for discussion and debate. The course is co-taught by two faculty members, combining disciplines and perspectives.
The MIT Human Insight Collaborative's SHASS Education Innovation Fund supports the Compass Initiative. The course covers questions like what do we value (and why), what do we know (and how do we know it), and what do we owe to each other (and what should we do about it).
First-year student-athlete Shannon Cordle views the Compass Course as helping her practice speaking up and being willing to be wrong, because that's how you learn. Dada, a student, notes that the course teaches him how to negotiate with someone who has different values and come to a resolution that respects everyone involved.
One exercise in the course asks students to draw a map representing their values, with arrows pointing from ones that are more instrumental to ones that are fundamental. The course aims to help students develop their own values and navigate conflicting viewpoints.
The course is the result of a multi-year collaboration involving over 30 faculty from 19 departments. It is also the subject of the MIT Compass Podcast, which engages in these fundamental questions with guests from across the MIT schools of Science and Engineering.
In the first week, students draft a Rousseau-inspired social compact and learn firsthand how to build a classroom community. The course investigates the question: Who governs science - scientists, the government, those who fund research, or the public?
By fostering open, thoughtful dialogue across different perspectives in a multidisciplinary setting, the Compass Course equips students to responsibly navigate ethical complexity and develop their own considered values amid divergent viewpoints.
- The Compass Course, located in MIT's classroom, is a multidisciplinary class under the Compass Initiative.
- Faculty from MIT's School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) lead this initiative, with the course named 21.01.
- Associate Professor Robin Scheffler designs the course, while Lily L. Tsai, Ford Professor of Political Science, leads it.
- The course adopts a "flipped classroom" approach, with lectures viewed at home and discussions happening in class.
- Two faculty members co-teach the course, offering a blend of disciplines and perspectives.
- The MIT Human Insight Collaborative's SHASS Education Innovation Fund supports the Compass Initiative.
- The course delves into questions about values, knowledge, and obligations towards each other and how these should influence our actions.
- A first-year student-athlete, Shannon Cordle, finds the course valuable for learning to speak up and be open to mistakes.
- A student named Dada learns how to negotiate with individuals holding different values and find resolutions that respect everyone.
- An exercise in the course requires students to draw a map of their values, identifying core beliefs and instrumental ones.
- The course incorporates themes from psychology, philosophy, politics, and engineering to help students develop their values.
- The MIT Compass Podcast, focusing on fundamental questions, originates from the Compass Course and features guests from various departments of Science and Engineering.
