Issues covered in class include child labor, population control and assisted reproductive technology, organ donation and the international organ black market, and varying international norms about business ethics, to name just a few. Each case study is presented in a historical and cultural context, then analyzed through the lens of different worldviews, including both secular and religious frameworks. Students also are given the opportunity to respond to each from their own ethical perspective; in doing this, they acquire skills and experience for learning to skillfully articulate and communicate their ideas and convictions to others.

Information about, and discussion of, case studies is complemented by lectures which include overviews of major philosophical approaches to ethics, overviews of major world religions as well as less well known indigenous religions, basic conflict resolution and mediation, analysis of linguistic semantics and how language use affects understanding of situations and controversies, and psychological approaches to ethical decision-making, including work by experimentalists such as Milgram and Kohlberg.