LA 400 American Vision and Values_Citizens as Agents of Moral Change
Citizens as Agents of Moral Change
Learning Objective: The impact and influences of values: A Case Study
This week’s assignment is a case study about people who were agents of moral change. For either of this week’s assignment options, students are instructed to engage in their own research. One or more primer articles have been provided to start your research. However, students are to include a minimum of two unique, external articles which pertain to their study subject. Students may use Wikipedia as a reference for this assignment.
Specifically, for either of these assignments, students are to use and cite two external documents, at least one Primer (or provided article), the article by Oldenquist, or Kluger, or Tomasellos, and an assigned reading article from a previous week. If you have questions, please ask.
Subject to the note above, research the life and accomplishments of one of the following moral agents of change: Malala Yousaf Zai, Standing Bear, W.E.B. Du Bois, Mitsuye Endo, Hannah Arendt, or Cesar Chavez. For this assignment, examine the life and actions of one of these individuals and then answer the following questions:
- What value(s) did your research subject demonstrate?
- How did this value help them become a moral agent of change?
- What can we learn from this model citizen?
- How can we use our choices and behaviors to set positive examples for others?
- How might ordinary citizens become extraordinary moral agents of change?
Each Assignment requires:
- 600 words min
- double spaced
- a thesis statement,
- an APA style bibliography,
- use of APA style in-line citations, and
- adherence to the 3+1 Rule.
The 3+1 Rule requires students to use a minimum of three assigned readings from the current week and one from a previous week. This rule encourages students to review and connect the assigned readings from week to week.
this week content
required readings
- On the Nature of Citizenship, Andrew Oldenquist, Educational Leadership
- What Makes Us Moral, Jeffrey Kluger, Tiffany Sharples, Alexandra Silver, Time Magazine, 2007
- How We Learned to Put our Fate in One Another’s Hands, Michael Tomasello, Scientific American, 2018
optional readings
Meet the Hero: Mitsuye Endo, Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes
- Malala Yousafzai’s Address to the United Nations, CommonLit, 2013
- Diary of a Pakistani schoolgirl (v), BBC News, 2009
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior on the Operations of the Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1877, Chief Standing Bear Organization
- The Story of Chief Standing Bear, Chief Standing Bear Organization
- Statement by Cesar Chavez at the End of His 24-Day Fast for Justice, California Department of Education
last weeks content
- Globalization is Good for You, Ronald Bailey, Reason, 2015
- Tracing the Impact of Globalisation on a Restaurant Menu Card, Arundhathi Baburaj, Women’s Era, 2018
- Fortnite’s Digital Goods Are Key to the Future of Global Trade, Shawn Donnan, Bloomberg Businessweek, 2019
- World Order 2.0 – The Case for Sovereign Obligation, Richard N. Haass, Foreign Affairs, 2017
- Nationalism Gains Momentum, Trend Magazine, 2018
- Teaching Globalization in the Time of Trump, Jane Elizabeth Hughes, BizEd, 2019
- Population Bulletin Update: Immigration in America 2010, Population Reference Bureau, 2010
- Immigration by the Numbers, Elaine Kamarck, John Hudak, Christine Stenglein, The Brookings Institution, 2017
Answer preview
Any citizen can be an agent of moral change regardless of their age to make a difference in society. When talking of such agents, Malala Yousafzai is a perfect example who has gone out of her way to advocate for girls’ education (Yousafzai, 2013). As a Pakistani activist, a step she took at the age of 11, she has encountered diverse challenges. Among them, Yousafzai has survived a bullet from the Taliban extremist group, who despised her courageous step of seeking human rights for women. From Yousafzai’s actions, the objective is establishing the values that have helped her become a moral agent. In the process, this will uncover lessons that people can learn from her and also understand how individuals can use their choices to promote positive change. Generally, moral agents of social change show empathy and a will to serve the oppressed people regardless of their cultural background just like Yousafzai.
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