Faculty
Research Interests
My basic mission is to contribute to "applied" ethics education and research. One vehicle is interactive multimedia technology. The mission, in terms of what ethics education demands and how technology can help, can be characterized as follows. Ethical wisdom is born of the crucible of moral experience in which ethical theory is ultimately tested. Ethical judgment requires more than a capacity for abstract reasoning; inter alia: empathic skills and a rich imagination; practiced confrontation with complex facts, unforeseen consequences and strong feelings; active deliberation under the duress of emotion, hard choices and irreducible uncertainties.
Ethics education must therefore afford students the opportunity to experience the rigors of ethical judgment under the duress of these conditions as well as the opportunity for studious reflection. Each of our interactive multimedia environments poses questions about which there is general and intense controversy. Each presents compelling case studies, 'rabbit holes' leading into a complex warren of issues. Each provides an experiential odyssey in conflicting perspectives amongst which explorers, like Alice in Wonderland, must struggle to maintain their own bearings. Each provides a database of relevant research resources for charting controversial terrain. In these ways, interactive multimedia can present the affecting realities of 'real life' situations as well as the reflective opportunities afforded by academic study, and thereby enhance two ancient and complementary modes of ethical inquiry: engagement and detachment.
In my applied research, I seek personal and professional engagement with ethical controversies in 'real world' settings. Currently, I research themes in conflict and dispute resolution, law-enforcement training standards and polarized social controversy on the causes, effects and instrumentalities of violence. On the practical side, I have completed 500 hours of certified training in lethal threat management in order to train law enforcement officers in the law, ethics and practical realities of lethal encounters. I serve as Pennsylvania Regional Director for the National Institute of Law Enforcement Ethics, co-teach a professional course on "The Judicious Use of Deadly Force," and I am developing a multimedia training kit entitled Think Worst Case! One-Handed Weaponcraft for Officer Survival. On the academic side, my interdisciplinary interests embrace the American Society of Criminology, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, the Institute of Criminal Justice Ethics, the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution, the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers and the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors. I am researching three books: Gun Control: Trying the Facts, Weighing the Values; Tactical Team Training Standards; and Alternatives to 'War by Other Means': Dispute Resolution & Social Controversy.
Selected Publications
Covey, P. (1993) "The Crucible of Experience" in The Turn to Applied Ethics, R. Heeger and T. Willigenberg (Eds.), Kampen, the Netherlands: Kok Pharos Publishing House.
Covey, P. (In press) "Multimedia Designs and Ethics: Bringing Reality to the Ivory Tower," Chapter VII in The Challenge of Interactivity: Instructional Design for Multimedia Technologies, J. Buckley and W. Milheim (Eds.), Trenton N.J.: Educational Technology Publications.
Covey, P. (Ed.) (1993) The Standards & Practices Reference Guide for Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors (Edition 0.2), Laconia N.H.: The International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors.