MA in Applied Ethics and the Professions Graduate Degree
Interdisciplinary Training for Professionals and Decision-Makers in
law, medicine, business, engineering, industry, public administration, environmental ethics, social work, and pastoral care.
Printer-friendly versionMasters of Arts in Applied Ethics and the Professions Graduate Degree
The M.A. Program in AEP offers a broadly interdisciplinary training for professionals and decision-makers in law, medicine, business, engineering, industry, public administration, environmental ethics, social work, and pastoral care.
The two required courses in Foundations of Ethics I & II (AEP 501 & AEP 502) provide the students with the theoretical and historical basis to pursue specialized applied ethics expertise; the concentration course for each concentration introduces the students into basic concepts and practices of their field.
There are five concentrations in the AEP for this M.A. degree: 1) Leadership, Management, and Ethics; 2) BioMedical and Health Ethics; 3) Science, Technology and Ethics; 4) Ethics and Emerging Technologies; 5) Pastoral Care Ethics and Spirituality.
General Admission Requirements
General admission requirements are as follows:
- All documentation must be submitted electronically via the ASU Graduate College online application
- 3.0+ undergraduate GPA
- Resume
- Personal Statement of interest & qualification
- Two letters of recommendation
- International students: Toefl score or comparable proof of English Proficiency
Note: No GRE is required, except for Eng/Emerging Technology. Required unless requirement has been waived by Director.
For more information on the specifics, please visit the ASU Graduate College.
Please also refer to the college of the Concentration/track you are interested in for additional details.
Graduate Degree Requirements
The Master of Arts in Applied Ethics and the Professions requires the completion of 30 credits of graduate course work in approved courses. The coursework should be distributed as follows:
- 6 credits of required Core courses
- 3 credits required course in Concentration
- 15 credits of Electives from Concentration courses
- 6 credits of a required Capstone Course and Independent Study
MA AEP Contact Information
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CORE COURSES
The two required courses in ethics will provide the students with the theoretical and historical foundation to pursue applied ethics expertise.
Required:
- AEP 501 Foundations of Ethics I
- AEP 502* Foundations of Ethics II
A graduate level study of primary texts of classic ethical theories and their applications to various issues in daily life and the professions. Ethical traditions studied in the course will include some of these frameworks: virtue ethics and natural law ethics, consequentialism and contractualism, deontology and critical communitarianism. The course will pay attention to the shifting nature of the relation between ethics and religion. In the applied, activity-portion of the course, students will investigate real life ethical issues and examine them from several normative perspectives studied in the course. (3 credits)
A graduate level study of contemporary moral philosophy and social ethics and their applications to the pressing issues of the present age. The course will consider some of these sources for ethical thinking in the twentieth century and their relation to classic traditions: existential ethics, critical theory, race and gender theory, postmodern ethics, and post-Holocaust ethics. An important aspect of this course will be to examine the possibility of an ethic suitable for the global coexistence among secular, spiritual, and post secular perspectives. In the applied, activity-portion of the course, students will investigate real life ethical issues with a global significance and examine them from several contemporary perspectives studied in the course. PREREQUISITE: AEP 501. (3 credits)
Contact Information:
Inquiries & Assistance w/ Foundations of Ethics Courses I and II: Tosha Ruggles
CONCENTRATIONS
Students select a concentration from the five:
- Leadership, Management, and Ethics | School of Public Programs | Downtown Campus
- BioMedical and Health Ethics | School of Life Sciences | Tempe Campus
- Science, Technology and Ethics | School of Letters & Sciences | Polytechnic Campus
- Ethics and Emerging Technologies | Civil & Environmental Engineering | Tempe Campus
- Pastoral Care Ethics and Spirituality | New School Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences | West Campus
1. Leadership, Management, and Ethics School of Public Programs | Downtown Campus
The Masters in Applied Ethics and the Professions concentration "Leadership, Management, and Ethics" will examine a variety of considerations facing managers and leaders in public, private, and nonprofit organizations and address the question of how ethical judgments might be made in these settings.
Relevant topics would include, though not be limited to, the following issues: Is the manager or leader seeking moral objectives or moral ends, the right policies or outcomes? Is the manager or leader doing the right things for the right reasons and with the proper attention to matters of character and integrity? What is the relationship between managers or leaders and followers, and how, if at all, does the act of leadership itself appreciably alter the values of the group in a positive way? How does management or leadership contribute to the organization’s overall sense of social responsibility?
Course Note: Diversity, Ethics, and Leading Public Change will be taught by Professor James Svara. Lincoln Professor Elizabeth A. Corley will teach The Ethical Leader, once developed and approved.
Required for this concentration:
- PAF 574 Diversity, Ethics & Leading Public Change
Electives for this concentration (15 credits):
- EDA 512 Critical Issues in Educational Leadership
- HED 691 Education Policy Ethics, Diversity, and Leadership
- HED 691 Ethics in Educational PolicyResearch
- JUS 691 Governance, Citizenship, and Justice
- MGT 504 Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (Additional fee of $1000 required)
- MGT 505 Leadership and the Knowledge Economy (Additional fee of $1000 required)
- MGT 514 Entrepreneurial Leaders (Additional fee of $1000 required)
- NLM 598 Nonprofit Leadership and Ethics
- PAF 529 Organization Change and Development
- PAF 548 Women, Politics, and Public Policy
- PAF 575 Ethics and Professionalism in Public Administration
- PAF 591 The Ethical Leader
Other Electives:
Graduate Seminars in other disciplines may be on topics that are relevant to one or more of the concentrations and may be used as electives for the MA in Applied Ethics and the Professions with the approval of the Program of one of the Concentrations and the approval of the instructor of the seminar.
Contact Information:
Professor/Academic Advising: Lincoln Professor Elizabeth A. Corley
General Graduate Concentration & Application Assistance: Jeanne Gushock
2. BioMedical and Health Ethics School of Life Sciences | Tempe Campus
Medicine is infused with moral values, and is deeply embedded in a variety of social and cultural contexts, which significantly determine the effectiveness of medical care in achieving healthy outcomes for patients and populations. The objective of the BioMedical and Health Ethics concentration is to integrate academic and clinical dimensions of moral issues in medical practice and biomedical research. Students from a broad range of backgrounds will be exposed to the internal and external logics of medicine, healthcare and biotechnology, and gain substantive understanding of ethical, cultural, and societal issues in a variety of domains. Through coursework and other experiences, students will deliberate individually and collectively about a wide range of issues and problems in contemporary medicine and the history of medicine, develop advanced critical normative reasoning and judgment capacities, and cultivate effective communication skills for academic, clinical, and policy contexts.
Required for this concentration:
- BIO 516/AEP 520 – Foundations of Bioethics
Electives for this Concentration (15 credits):
- AEP 551 Ethical and Spiritual Approaches to Death and Dying
- ASB/SSH 501 Ethics, Social Justice, and Health Social Science
- ASB 502 Health of Ethnic Minorities
- ASB 509 Health: Social and Biocultural Theory
- ASB 511 Ethics in Health Social Science Research
- BIO 598 Health Systems and Policy
- CSS/FMS 494 Race, Medicine and the Body
- HSD 591 Ethics and Emerging Technologies
- JHR 501 Proseminar in Social Justice and Human Rights
- LAW 652 Bioethics and the Law
- LAW 617 Genetics and the Law
- LAW 791 Neuroscience and the Law
- MHI 550 Healthcare Policy and Innovation
- NTR 598 Topic: Politics, Ethics, and the American Diet
- PHI 591/LAW 791/BIO 591 Research Ethics and Law
- REL 598 Medical Ethics: Religious and Secular
- WST 598 Gender and Global Health Disparities
- WST 691 Women and Health
Other Electives:
Graduate Seminars in other disciplines may be on topics that are relevant to one or more of the concentrations and may be used as electives for the MA in Applied Ethics and the Professions with the approval of the Program of one of the Concentrations and the approval of the instructor of the seminar.
Contact Information:
Professor/Academic Advising: Lincoln Associate Professor Jason Robert
General Graduate Concentration & Application Assistance: Wendi Simonson
3. Science, Technology and Ethics School of Letters & Sciences | Polytechnic Campus
The Science, Technology and Ethics concentration of the Applied Ethics and the Professions graduate degree focuses on the ethical issues arising from the multiple challenges involved in balancing economic, technological, environmental, social, and cultural development in a world increasingly affected by science and technology. It provides the student with a general background in ethics and ethical systems with an emphasis on ethical issues in science and technology, as well as exposing students to new challenges posed by rapidly evolving sociotechical systems in such areas as risk assessment; energy, environment and development; information and communication technology; genetic engineering and biotechnology; technology and security; and nanotechnology.
Required for this Concentration:
- HSD 591 Technology, Ethics, and Society
Electives in this concentration (15 credits):
- AGB 552 International Agricultural Policy
- AGB 591 Ethical Issues in Agribusiness
- ANP 598 Creating Great Communities
- ANP 598 Architecture of Environmentally Responsible Building
- ANP 598 The Cultural Landscape – The Grand Canyon
- ASB 598/ Science, Technology, & Societal Outcomes
- BIO 591 Environmental Ethics and Policy Goals
- BIO/POS/ASB 598 Engineering and Its Social Implications
- CEE 598 Earth Systems Engineering and Management
- GPH 591 Human Dimensions of Global Change
- GTD 501 Global Technology and Development
- JUS 591 Environmental Justice
- JUS 591/691 Globalization and Sustainable Cities
- PAF 546 Environmental Policy and Management
- PAF 591 Social Justice and the City
- POS 598 Governing Emerging Technologies
- REL 598 Religion and Sustainable Development
- SOS 510 Principles of Sustainability
- SOS 512 Sustainable Resource Allocations
- SOS 513 Science, Technology, and Public Affairs
- SOS 598 Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change
- SOS 598 Ethics of Sustainability
- SOS 598 International Development and Sustainability
Other Electives:
Graduate Seminars in other disciplines may be on topics that are relevant to one or more of the concentrations and may be used as electives for the MA in Applied Ethics and the Professions with the approval of the Program of one of the Concentrations and the approval of the instructor of the seminar.
Contact Information:
Professor/Academic Advising: Lincoln Associate Professor Joseph Herkert
General Graduate Concentration & Application Assistance: Irene Rodriguez
4. Ethics and Emerging Technologies Civil & Environmental Engineering | Tempe Campus
The purpose of this program is to examine ethical challenges posed by emerging technologies, including nanotechnology, neurotechnology, biotechnology, robotics, and advanced information and communication technology. Not only are these technologies being developed at an unprecedented pace, they also share several unique characteristics, including system complexity, social embeddedness, and the potential to converge with one another and the possibility of being highly destabilizing to current institutional and social arrangements. Emerging technologies will not only change how humans live and work, but have the potential to alter the very nature of human existence. Questions considered by courses in the program include: promise and perils of emerging technologies; emerging technologies and public policy; ethical responsibilities of professionals engaged in development of emerging technologies; and whether traditional ethical concepts and processes can and should be applied to emerging technologies.
Required for this Concentration:
- CEE 581 Advanced Earth Systems Engineering and Management
Electives in this concentration (15 credits):
- ASB/BIO/POS 598 Science, Technology, & Societal Outcomes
- ASB 598 Engineering and Its Social Implications
- GTD 501 Global Technology and Development
- HSD 504 Analysis of Large-Scale Socio-Technological Systems
- LAW 791 Neuroscience and the Law
- LAW 791 Nanotechnology Law & Policy
- PHI/HTS 591 Technology, Society, and Human Values
- POS 598 Reflexivity in Science and Governance
- SOS 598 Science, Technology, and Public Affairs
- STS/PHL/HTY 480 Technology, Ethics, and Society
Other Electives:
Graduate Seminars in other disciplines may be on topics that are relevant to one or more of the concentrations and may be used as electives for the MA in Applied Ethics and the Professions with the approval of the Program of one of the Concentrations and the approval of the instructor of the seminar.
Contact Information:
Professor/Academic Advising: Lincoln Professor Braden Allenby
General Graduate Concentration & Application Assistance: Elizabeth Moore
5. Pastoral Care Ethics and Spirituality New School Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences | West Campus
Arizona State University West offers an interdisciplinary M.A. Program in Applied Ethics and the Professions with a unique concentration on Pastoral Care Ethics and Spirituality. This M.A. combines the fields of applied ethics, philosophy, social work, spirituality and religion, and trauma and bereavement studies. This concentration is unique among the programs in ethics and spirituality of care in that it prepares its graduates to work in palliative centers and hospices and as trauma and bereavement counselors. The program offers skills needed for professional careers sought in ministry, social and community services, hospital and hospice counseling, veteran affairs, contemplative education, and other services provided by chaplains of diverse faiths as well as by non-religious personnel and bereavement counselors engaged in ethics and spirituality of care.
Recalling the ancient Socratic, biblical and other spiritual traditions of the cura animarum (care for and cure of the soul) and joining contemporary post/secular conversations relevant to the integration of the body-mind-spirit, this program introduces students to the basic concepts and practices of pastoral care ethics and spirituality. The theoretical and practical training pays attention to the irreducibility of existential (ontological), therapeutic (psychosomatic), and spiritual (religious) dimensions of care and cure. The theoretical part of the curriculum is inter-faith and interdisciplinary in approach, holistic in scope, and specialized in content. In the applied, activity-portion of the curriculum students investigate real life issues in care ethics and spirituality and examine them from several theoretical perspectives.
Required for this Concentration:
- AEP 550 Ethical and Spiritual Issues in Pastoral Care
Electives in this concentration each 3 credit hours):
- AEP 520 Foundations of Bioethics
- AEP 551 Ethical and Spiritual Approaches to Death and Dying
- AEP 552 Trauma Studies
- AEP 553 Ways of Spiritual Transformation
- AEP 593 Applied Ethics Capstone Project (required - 6 credit hours)
- AEP 598/MAS 598 Continental Philosophy & Religion
- AEP 598/MAS 598 Studies in Critical Theory
- CTB 598 Trauma and Death
- CTB 607 Group Therapy and Intervention
- CTB 626 Crisis Intervention
- CTB 598 Trauma, Mental Illness, and Psychopharmaceuticals
- CTB 697 Spirituality and the Helping Professions
- CTB 691 Spiritual Assessment
- CTB 605 War and Disaster
- JHR 501 Proseminar in Social Justice and Human Rights
- JHR 511 Problem-Based Seminar in Social Justice and Human Rights
- REL 598 Medical Ethics: Religious and Secular Special Topics
- REL 598 Religion, Violence, and Peace
- REL 598 Studies in Jewish Ethics
- SWG 512 Values and Ethics of Social Work Practice
- WST 598 Gender and Global Health Disparities
Other Electives:
Graduate Seminars in other disciplines may be on topics that are relevant to one or more of the concentrations and may be used as electives for the MA in Applied Ethics and the Professions with the approval of the Program of one of the Concentrations and the approval of the instructor of the seminar.
Contact Information:
Professor/Academic Advising: Lincoln Professor Martin Matustik
General Graduate Concentration & Application Assistance: Tosha Ruggles or PCES@asu.edu
CAPSTONE or INDEPENDENT STUDY
to apply their skills and abilities with identifying, analyzing, and resolving ethical issues
within a professional context. This project will be a summative experience where students will
bring their knowledge of ethics and reasoning about ethical issues to bear in a real life context.
The program committee for the student’s concentration must approve a student’s project and examines the
portfolio the student creates as evidence of completion of the project. The program committee for
the student’s concentration sets the requirements for what must be included in a portfolio for a
student to demonstrate satisfactory completion of the project. (6 credits)
The M.A. requires 6 credits of the following:
- AEP 593 Applied Ethics Project (6 credits)