The Devil’s Crop:

Rightness, Wrongness & Appropriateness in an Upside-Down Abyss

Dr. Brian R. Sinclair1
1
University of Calgary & sinclairstudio inc. Calgary Canada

ABSTRACT
Complex conditions demands critical thinking. Turbulent times warrants heightened composure.
Perplexing politics necessitates increased scrutiny. In our modern world the fabric seems to be
unravelling in many ways and over numerous dimensions. An impressive period of relative peace and
an arguably stable global order has been upended through escalating group think, expanding
movements of the masses and an unprecedented vacuum of leadership. Tolerance and respect seems
to be waning while polarization, populism and hatred rises around us. Plurality and diversity are viewed
with growing suspicion while categorization and separation transcend. Thrown into the mix are
mounting fears around political incorrectness, swelling cynicism of government, rising wariness of
globalization and developing distrust of established institutions. People feel under pressure to assume
postures and take sides. Those vastly separated sides demarcate their own boundaries around behavior
and promote their own ideations about utopia. Civility decays and bullying builds. Attacks, whether
physical, psychological or sociological, inflict serious damage. Those who endeavor to harm humanity
in the end harm themselves. Those who spuriously demonize the other ironically assume the part of
demons. In many ways the picture is bleak. However dark the scene it seems imperative for some to
rise up, to challenge the normalization of abuse, and to bring hope. The author contends that higher
education can and should play a more meaningful role in cultivating such hope, and in instilling in
students a sense of right, wrong and appropriate. Universities should not be the harbingers of
‘righteousness’ but should develop in students their critical thinking skills, a willingness to assume risk
and the wherewithal to demonstrate leadership. Recent evolution of institutions of higher learning has
in many cases involved a weakening of common cores, an erosion of liberal arts and a focus on training
before education. The present research considers advanced learning via a case study of architectural
education. Seen through the lens of accredited curricula in North American architecture schools, the
paper argues that limited exposure is afforded to critical thinking, research, governance and ethics.
Without this spectrum of knowledge to complement required professional/technical competencies,
students are often ill-prepared to manage wicked problems, to confront misbehavior and to take up
leadership. In an era of complicity where everyday people are far too willing to turn a blind eye to a
distressing spectrum of evils and atrocities, there is urgent need to educate citizens who are informed,
inspired and equipped to act. Knowledge and wisdom, coupled with courage and confidence, seem
valuable assets to help guide us forward – we need to turn down the volume of the mouthpieces of
movements, to dispel mob mentality and to sharpen society’s pencil concerning the discernment of
right, wrong and appropriate. In our modern ethos our moral compass is haywire at best and abandoned
at worst. The author reasons that one of a university’s central goals, beyond narrow skill development
and limited occupational training, must be to provide students with robust & resilient self & world
views, together with moral compasses that will help them, and their communities, navigate through
impenetrable forests and pilot across tempestuous waters.
Keywords: morality, ethics, critical thinking, higher education, judgement, systems, holism

OPENING
“The longer one listened to him, the more obvious it became that his inability to speak was closely connected
with the inability to think, namely, to think from the standpoint of somebody else. No communication was
possible with him, not because he lied but because he was surrounded by the most reliable of all safeguards
against the world and the presence of others, and hence against reality as such.”i (Hannah Arendt 1977)

Chaos seems increasingly to be the order of the day in our contemporary milieu. Systems of
governance, education, justice and diplomacy, to name but a sampling, in many cases stand under
assault. Confidence, especially by the public, in the institutions that have come to represent order and
foster stability in the post-WW2 era, is eroding. Nationalism internationally is on the rise with growing
suspicion of anything or anyone deemed foreign. Increasing conflict and heightened xenophobia seem
to ascend out of distrust and distain for differing points of view. Rather than a widening embrace of
pluralism and a strengthening commitment to tolerance, many nations confront fragmentation of
populations, marginalization of minorities and burgeoning hate-motivated behavior (as manifest in
speech, writing and actions). While the severity of such decay and descent varies, these troubling trends
and turbulent times should raise concerns for everyone.
Higher education has historically played a fundamental role in society with respect to cultivating
notions of civility and instilling a sense of right & wrong for many who will assume leadership roles.
Whether in the arts & sciences, law, engineering & architecture, or the healthcare professions, for
example, there has conventionally been opportunities and obligations for educators to provoke critical
thinking and construct values around the morality of our actions, our cultures and our communities.
While building discipline-specific knowledge is a key objective within any given curriculum,
overarching such detailed content have been higher aspirations concerning behavior, ethics, equity,
justice and fairness. To possess knowledge is undeniably important. To apply such knowledge in
positive ways and to meaningful ends proves arguably far more important. Despite the decay of many
of our systems and the erosion of many of our values, universities in many instances have migrated
towards training and away from education. While training and skills development are necessary and
valuable, alone they are insufficient. Education involves teaching people how to think, not only about
their immediate reality but hopefully about the bigger world as well. In many schools there have been
shifts to direct entry (i.e., from high school into a narrow subject field) versus engagement in liberal
arts prior to specialization. There has also, in numerous instances, an abandonment of a common core
– that is, a selected diet of mandatory courses that all undergraduate students complete regardless of
major. These two swings, towards direct entry and away from a common core, serve in the author’s
view to diminish the strength & clarity of self and world views in our students.
Students in advanced education, whether at the undergraduate or graduate level, and whether in
disicpline-based or professional programs, need to shape clear and cogent self and world views. In
order to have behavioral integrity and intellectual confidence students need to firmly grasp the world
beyond their doorstep and must have some certainty about the responsibilities and possibilities they
have to effect positive change therein. Higher education has historically been concerned about
developing students not only in the cognitive arena (e.g., gaining knowledge) but also in civic & societal
ways (e.g., gaining values). This was achieved in many ways, and notably via the common core, where
students could study seminal works of literature, explore historical milestones both good and bad,
examine the spectrum of governance models, consider compelling philosophical posturing, and begin
to find their places within such ethos. Higher education must serve higher purposes. We as educators
have a responsibility to help students arrive to a place where they can take and defend a position –
whether personal position, professional position and/or societal position. The present paper argues that
contemporary higher education has wandered away, perhaps inadvertently, from such commitments
and suggests that getting back on course is vital to a healthy, safe, balanced, just and more civil future.

MORAL COMPASS
“Inevitability and eternity translate facts into narratives. Those swayed by inevitability see every fact as a blip
that does not alter the overall story of progress; those who shift to eternity classify every new event as one
more instance of a timeless threat. Each masquerades as history; each does away with history.” ii
(Snyder, 2018)

Seeking the truth is a difficult and daunting task, even in seemingly simple and straightforward
situations. Despite such hurdles pursuing the truth seems paramount. In our modern society we often
falsely equate facts with truth. Facts change based on efficacy of equipment, potency of knowledge
and influence of theories. Getting to the truth is far more complex than measurements alone might
suggest or can reveal. In order to equip students to seek the truth we must teach them to manage a
wealth of information, to be able to critically compare cases, and to connect their analyses to value
systems (including those of a given group as well as individual positions). Our chances of succeeding
in such endeavors are weakened when we limit students’ exposure to diverse ways of knowing, when
we fast-track them into occupational realms, when we reduce cross-pollination and restrict intellectual
wandering, and when we fail to challenge them to challenge themselves and others.
Higher education aims to discover knowledge through research, to instill knowledge through teaching,
and to support & contextualize both research & teaching through service (i.e., internal, professional,
community, etc.). Without question universities prove meaningful and effective in such mandates,
advancing and improving our lives in myriad ways. However, as noted earlier, our modern world is
fraught with unforeseen wicked problems and confronts a cascade of crises (from climate change and
ethnic conflict to global pandemics and political totalitarianism) that demand leaders who can find
solutions. Leadership is a quality that transcends disciplinary knowledge. It is not about memorization.
It is not about formulas and equations. Rather, it involves the ability to process many variables in
unique ways and to see a way out of confusion and contradictions. The author contends that a concern
about leadership is directly related to aspirations around building self and world views, about discerning
right from wrong, and about supplying and operationalizing a moral compass.
For many reasons it could be argued that the university, and its constituent colleges, schools and
programs, have backed away from this moral compass responsibility. As our world expands in
complexity, with greater specialization and more bureaucracy, it is easy to escape to the comfort of
disciplinary silos and avoid bigger issues. Retreating into silos poses major difficulties given that
problems are becoming increasingly multifaceted. In fact, it can be argued that the most effective
means to tackle wicked problems is by deploying interdisciplinary and systems-oriented vehicles
(pedagogical, operational, etc.). In light of mounting calamities and incomprehensible quandaries it
seems urgent to revisit the need for equipping students with heady moral compasses as part of their
university learning. Without question we need to develop disciplinary knowledge and instill
professional competencies in our students. That said, the value-add that has been lost in recent years,
and is now urgently needed, is an ability to see, think and act within ethical frames. In order to explore
some possibilities for rekindling this flame, and fabricating needed moral compasses, the author
considers the case of professional education in architecture.

PEDAGOGICAL POSSIBILITIES
“We do not like being told what to do. We want to enjoy our lives, and we want to enjoy them with a good
conscience. People who disturb that equilibrium are uncomfortable, so moralists are often uninvited guests as
the feast, and we have a multitude of defenses against them.” iii (Blackburn, 2001)

Architectural education is a complicated undertaking – involving art and science, technologies and
humanities, the subjective and the objective – all in the pursuit of an appropriate solution to a one-of-
a-kind problem. Each building is unique – each project is a one-off prototype that must be solved alone
and in its entirety. This stands in stark contrast to the design and production of a car or a television, for
example, where a single prototype is followed by mass production. The task of designing a building is
fraught with landmines and obstacles – each must be carefully considered and intensely explored. The
quest for a building solution involves iterations, refinements and assessments of appropriateness. Each
step in the process has many ‘balls in the air’. The full process is filled with penetrating decision-
making, including those technical, those political, those legal and those ethical. The present paper
explores the latter dimension – that is, the ethical realm.
Typically the study and consideration of ethics has limited explicit play and presence in most formal
curricula in architectural education. Accreditation procedures and conditions in the USA (NAAB iv)
and Canada (CACB v) have limited and very particular references to ethics – that is, pertaining to
professional conduct. For example, the Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB) notes
“The student must have an understanding of the ethical issues involved in the formation of
professional judgment; the architect’s legal responsibility under the laws, codes, regulations, and
contracts common to the practice of architecture; intellectual property rights; and the role of advocacy
in relation to environmental, social, and cultural issues.” While such guidance does appear in select
cases in curricula, such as professional practice courses, it does not stand front and center within the
enterprise. The author suggests this scenario to be lacking given the severity of chaos and the gravity
of concerns in the market and in society beyond. Architects need to be able to navigate the rough
waters of ethics and morality, not only in their direct activities in practice but in their communities,
in their cities and in their countries. Architects are professionals, being conferred legislated rights in
exchange for assurances around competencies and behavior. It is critical that the education of
architects be rich in opportunities to learn about ethics, to consider the search for the truth, to question
breaches in good behavior and to instill a moral compass. This learning needs to find its rightful
place not only in the plethora of courses but crucially in the design studio. As architecture students
consider the potential paths of design, decisions must be informed by deep understanding of ethical
implications. Some implications are readily grasped – such as sustainable aspects of the project
including resource conservation and public realm contributions. Less evident are aspects pertaining
to the marginalization of sectors of society (e.g., excluding the homeless), the impacts of design on
mental health (e.g., windowless workspace), or the repercussions of political influence (e.g.,
campaign finance) on project approvals. While the case of architectural education is arguably quite
specific, the need to build awareness in these students is emblematic of the challenge confronting
advanced education writ large.
In the practice of architecture there are professional codes of conduct that delineate ethical canons &
behavior. For example, the Alberta Association of Architects (AAA) Code of Ethics vi notes
“An authorized entity must discharge, with honesty, courtesy and good faith, the duty that
it owes to its client, to the public and to the profession”. The American Institute of Architects
(AIA), in a similar vein, underscores that their Code of Ethics vii “… addresses responsibilities to the
public, which the profession serves and enriches; to the clients and users of architecture and in
the building industries, who help to shape the built environment; and to the art and science of
architecture, that continuum of knowledge and creation which is the heritage and legacy of the
profession”. While such regulatory posturing within statute is commendable, and provides assurances
to the consumers of architectural services, and to an extent to society in general, it is inappropriate and
insufficient to leave ethics and morality to the workplace to principally oversee. Rather, and
fundamentally, the development of a sound understanding of ethics, and the base construction of the
moral compass, needs to fall in the first instance under the purview of higher education.
Moving ahead it seems timely and strategic to evaluate where and how in the curriculum we build the
moral compass. This charge holds true regardless of major. This aim proves relevant in undergraduate,
masters and doctoral programs. In walking our students down the path to graduation we must consider
not only the boundaries of disciplinary problem-solving, but far more urgently the call to tackle societal
dysfunction, to counter ethical erosion and even to thwart potential collapse. Our courses, our studios,
our service-learning, our study abroad, and our practica, to name but a sampling of possibilities, must
all have aspects of ethics meaningfully embedded. All problems presented to students, in most courses,
should ideally include a response category that covers moral action. While in some programs this might
be challenging, for all students there should be opportunities to learn, apply and build self & world
views encompassing a moral compass.

TOMORROW
“If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies,
but rather that nobody believes anything any longer.” viii (Hannah Arendt, 1974)

Contemporary society, in manifold ways, has tipped out of balance. Motivators such as greed, power
and prestige often eclipse matters of the heart, concern about the other and the pursuit of justice.
Over the spectrum of spheres, from government and education to corporations and the professions we
see an increasing willingness to surrender the quest for the common good in exchange for personal
advancement and individual reward. Control and money slip into the hands of the few while the vast
majority work harder to make ends meet and to make sense of an upside down world. While no
system or society is perfect there is no doubt we can do better. Higher education has a vital role to
play in raising awareness, in developing critical thinking, in fostering an understanding of history, in
cultivating a sense of justice and in shaping self and world views that can help society keep on track
and keep an even keel. The current paper argues that constructing a moral compass in students must
be core to the university’s mission. In order to achieve this outcome we need to consider pedagogical
vehicles that hold promise, such as a common core, ethics residing across the curriculum and
opportunities to exercise leadership. Rather than retreating to narrowly defined subject areas, based
on perceived market needs or external accreditation, higher education must ensure a balance of
specialization and general education. Specialization provides disciplinary and professional
competency while general education (e.g., liberal arts) opens eyes, minds and hearts. Both
specialization and generalization need to consistently challenge students to ponder ethical
implications of actions and to pursue moral posturing. University education at all levels and of all
stripes should task students to take a stand and to delineate a position with regard to their own values
and vision as well as situating themselves within the broader spheres of philosophy, governance,
culture and community. Students need to be equipped with moral compasses that provide the
capacity to assess right versus wrong, to pursue the truth, to determine the appropriate and to fight for
justice, fairness, integrity, equity and happiness.

i Arendt, Hannah. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. English version of the 1965
edition. Penguin: Harmondsworth. 1977. Pages 48-49.
ii Snyder, Timothy. The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America. Tim Duggan Books: New York. 2018.

Page 8.
iii Blackburn, Simon. Ethics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press: Oxford. 2001. Page 6.
iv https://www.naab.org/accreditation/program-resources/current-conditions-and-procedures/
v http://cacb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/2017-CACB_Conditions_and_Terms_for-Accreditation.pdf
vi https://www.aaa.ab.ca/getattachment/The-Association/Who-We-Are/AAA-Ethics-and-Legislation/AAA-

CodeofEthics.pdf?lang=en-US
vii https://aianova.org/pdf/codeofethics.pdf
viii Arendt, Hannah. 1974 Interview as quoted in “Why the world is turning to Hannah Arendt to explain

Trump. See https://m.dw.com/en/

All photographs by the author © Brian R. Sinclair 2019