Included are human motivation and preferences, the market, the function of prices, supply, demand, perfect and imperfect competition, selected policy questions. Also studied are Christian views on the nature of humanity, human motivation, and the market. A study of economic aspects of Christian stewardship in relation to the environment and use of natural resources. Major topics include biblical norms on creation, property rights, economic justice, the economic dimensions of current environmental problems and trends in resource use, institutions and social structures that affect environmental policy, economic theories related to resource use and environmental quality, and evaluation of current and proposed policies from a Christian point of view. This course provides a general introduction to the public policy process in the United States, including an exploration of the socio-economic and cultural context, the defining characteristics of the political system, and various phases in the policy process.
Special attention is given to selected policy issues.
A second level ecology course emphasizing population ecology and parameters that are involved in endangered and threatened species. This will be studied in the context of Christian environmental stewardship principles. During the first half of the course a Christian philosophy of technology is carefully studied and application is made to such problems as the role of the computer, technocracy, appropriate technology, and the historical two-cultures dualism. During the second half, the course focuses on the question of engineering ethics, with particular emphasis on questions of safety and risk, professional responsibility and authority, whistleblowing, responsible salary structures, and morality in career choice. This course requires the student to write and orally present a significant research paper.