Wimberly School of Religion
& Graduate Theological Center

VIVIAN WIMBERLY CENTER FOR ETHICS AND SERVANT LEADERSHIP

Established in 2002, The Vivian Wimberly Center for Ethics and Servant Leadership oversees the Oikos Scholars Program for Social and Ecological Responsibility and OCUServes, the service-learning program at Oklahoma City University. The Center hosts a number of lectures and workshops each year on a variety of ethical issues and provides co-curricular support for the university’s ethics minor, which is offered through the department of philosophy. Dr. Mark Y. A. Davies is Founding Director of the Center, and Prof. Dann May serves as Assistant Director.


Click on Events for a listing of upcoming events.


SERVICE-LEARNING

Since the inception of the service-learning program in the 2002 fall semester, OCU has offered 133 service-learning courses. Starting in fall of 2003, a service-learning course was made part of the general education requirement for all undergraduates.

Congratulations to Dr. Brooke Hessler who recently received a Campus Compact grant in support of her spring 2008 service-learning course ENGL 1213: Honors Composition II.


MINOR IN ETHICS

Requirements: Total Credit Hours: 19
Required Course Credits: 7
PHIL/REL 2213 Introduction to Moral & Social Philosophy: 3
PHIL 3114 History of Philosophy I or
PHIL 3214 History of Philosophy II or
PHIL 3314 History of Philosophy III: 4 credits
Electives (select three): 9 Credits
PHIL/REL 2163 Moral Issues in Contemporary Culture –
Variable Topics (may be repeated with different content)
PHIL 2203 Business Ethics
PHIL/REL 2703 Introduction to Christian Ethics
PHIL 2513 Ethics of Communications
Upper-division elective (select one): 3 credits
PHIL/REL 3613 Problems and Issues in Christian Ethics
PHIL 3763 Topics in Ethics–Variable Topics
Other 3000- or 4000- level courses in philosophy and/or
religion with sufficient content in ethics (to be determined by the chair of the philosophy department)


OIKOS SCHOLARS PROGRAM

The Oikos Scholars program aspires to be a premier liberal arts program for preparing students to engage in lives of social and ecological responsibility. Oikos is the Greek word for house. The root word for both ecology and economics, it points to those dual responsibilities that are central to the mission of the Oikos Scholars Program. All Oikos scholars participate in service learning projects each year, complete courses addressing issues of peace, justice, and ecological sustainability, and are required to complete at least one approved international education experience while at Oklahoma City University. Up to twenty first-year students and up to five sophomores will be selected each year to participate in the Oikos Scholars Program.

OIKOS SCHOLARS CURRICULUM

PHIL/REL 2162 & 2161: Moral Issues in Contemporary, Culture: Peace & Non-Violence
This course will investigate various perspectives on peace and non-violence. Special emphasis will be placed on the cross-cultural approaches to these issues, including an analysis of peace and non-violence in the major world religions. The course is taught over the course of the fall and spring semesters, and the spring semester includes a service learning component. This course satisfies the first year requirement for the Oikos Scholars Program and the Values and Culture, Cross-Cultural, and Service Learning requirements of the General Education Curriculum. (Number of Credits: 3. Two credits in the fall and one credit in the spring.)

PHIL/REL 2162 & 2161: Moral Issues in Contemporary Culture: Social Justice
This course will investigate various perspectives concerning social justice with special attention on strategies for positive social change. The course is taught over the course of the fall and spring semesters, and the spring semester includes a service learning component. This course satisfies the second year requirement for the Oikos Scholars Program and the Values and Culture and Service Learning requirements of the General Education Curriculum. (Number of Credits: 3. Two credits in the fall and one credit in the spring.)

BIOL/CHEM/PHYS 1002 & 1001: Science, Technology & Society: Ecological Sustainability
This course will investigate various perspectives concerning ecological sustainability. Special emphasis will be placed on the roles of ethics, science, and technology as they relate to issues of ecological sustainability. The course is taught over the course of the fall and spring semesters, and the spring semester includes a service learning component. This course satisfies the third year requirement for the Oikos Scholars Program and the Science, Technology and Society and the Service Learning requirements of the General Education Curriculum. (Number of Credits: 3. Two credits in the fall and one credit in the spring.)

BIOL 1314: Environmental Science
This course emphasizes biological aspects of the environment, including the effect of humans on other organisms (and vice versa), and their role in biological ecosystems. This course is designed for students who have little or no training in science and does not count toward a biology major. Three hours lecture and three hours laboratory each week. This course satisfies the Lab Science requirement of the General Education Curriculum (Number of credits: 4). BIOL 3314: Principles of Ecology (4 credits) can be taken in place of BIOL 1314 in order to satisfy the lab science requirement in the Oikos Scholars Program.

INDP 4892 and 4891: Oikos Senior Project
Each Oikos scholar will develop a senior project that will integrate two of the following three areas: peace and nonviolence, social justice, and ecological sustainability. Students will meet weekly for faculty guidance in relation to this project. The project will include a written reflection component. The course will take place over the course of the fall and spring semesters, and the spring semester will include a service learning component, i.e. the implementation of the senior project. This course satisfies the senior year requirement for the Oikos Scholars Program. (Number of Credits: 3. Two credits in the fall and one credit in the spring.)

International Education Experience
Each Oikos Scholar is required to have at least one international education experience while a student at Oklahoma City University.

Other Important Features of the Oikos Scholars Program
All Oikos courses may be contracted for Honors credit.

The Oikos Senior Project will be more practical in its focus so as not to duplicate the senior thesis experience that students will have in their respective majors.