Ethics Training and the Graduate Student

My comments will address my experiences with ethics training as a graduate student as well as my thoughts on incorporating practical examples into teaching. I will offer suggestions for better integration within existing graduate coursework, and then make a few remarks about the professional responsibility for institutions and departments to train their graduates for careers within and outside of academia. As a student, I have participated in exercises discussing the ethical responsibility of dealing with source material (or lack thereof) in making arguments and constructing a narrative. Outside of this example, however, not much was done to reinforce other ethical issues that can plague a historian – much of which was assumed as common sense. As such, I argue that ethics training should be better woven into the “methods” or “historiography” courses. Teachers hold much influence in class, necessitating a responsibility to balance academic freedom, speech, and influence when interacting with students.

In an age of easily accessible information, many have lost sight of how to translate “facts” into knowledge – especially in today’s environment of “echo chambers” and “alternative facts.” Graduate students need to be well-versed in ways to convey the dangers of plagiarism in the classroom. Another area that needs attention is how to address issues in class when students protest or question the validity of material presented. One method is through correcting or expanding what was learned at the secondary level, especially by sharing current research that may contradict prior, long-standing paradigms.