Weinberg College
of Arts & Sciences

FD-EET: Ethical & Evaluative Thinking

NOTE: Students who started taking classes at Northwestern in Spring 2023 or earlier should refer to the Area V: Ethics and Values page. The information below pertains to students who start at Northwestern after Spring 2023.

ABOUT ETHICAL AND EVALUATIVE THINKING

All human cultures have produced systems of thought and belief concerning ways of being in the world and relating to one another. Courses in this foundational area equip students to engage these systems and wrestle with central human questions. Courses explicitly consider questions concerning values or teach students to think within, appreciate the resources of, and critically reflect upon a particular tradition of thought. Completing this foundational area will help students recognize and reflect on ethical and evaluative questions, become aware of what standards they bring to bear in answering them, appreciate and respect their own and other cultural systems, and work through disagreements with others.

Choosing courses

Students may complete the ethical and evaluative thinking foundational discipline by completing two approved courses with a grade of D or higher. Courses are approved by the Weinberg College faculty committees and can be identified in the Undergraduate Catalog and the quarterly CAESAR class listings. Each year some courses are added to the list and others are deleted; a course must be on the approved list for the year you take it to be applicable to the requirement.

A course that is applied to the ethical and evaluative thinking foundational discipline may at the same time be applied towards a different requirement (such as a major requirement, minor requirement, advanced expression, or perspectives on power, justice and equity) but may not double-count in a second foundational discipline area.

2024-2025 FD-EET Courses

See Ethical and Evaluative Thinking in the Undergraduate Catalog for learning objectives and a list of courses. Some courses on the list will not be offered in 2024-25, but in a future year. Some courses on the list have prerequisites.

Mid-year updates will appear below as they become available.

¹ Also Overlay 1: U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity

² Also Overlay 2: Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity