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Preparing Students for Lives of Purpose

An Integrated Approach to the Study of Ethics

At national and local levels and on college campuses, we find ourselves challenged by divisive times. Ethics initiatives do not prescribe the answers but they can help students understand the moral issues at stake, talk about issues with intellectual sophistication, live lives of purpose and consequence, and assume positions of ethical leadership. In business, politics, science, law, and leadership, the need for an education in ethics is profound and employers increasingly recognize this need.

Ethics Working Group Events

The Ethics Working Group hosts events throughout the year to discuss research and developments in the field and provide professional development opportunities.

Sept. 20 Paper presentation
Javier Hidalgo, Associate Professor of Leadership Studies
“A Dilemma for Buddhist Reductionism,”
Comments by Will Reckner

Oct. 4 Paper presentation 
Colin Kielty, Visiting Lecturer in Political Science
“The Disenfranchisement Complaint”
Comments by Claudio Lopez-Guerra

Oct. 17 Paper presentation
Will Reckner, Assistant Professor of Philosophy
“Problematizing Personhood”
Comments by TBA

Nov. 7 Paper presentation
Nancy Schauber, Associate Professor of Philosophy
“Mind Your Own Business”
Comments by Kevin Cherry

Dec. 5 Paper presentation
Marilie Coetsee, Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies
“The Moral Case Against Epistemic Dogmatism”
Comments by Miriam McCormick

Upcoming Ethics-Related Events

Ethics Fellow Events
Idealism and Realism in the Practice of Environmental Law
Cory Briggs, Attorney (J.D., LL.M, M.A. in Philosophy)
Nov. 11 • 4:30 p.m. • Location: TBA

Fieldnotes on Law in the Public Interest
Cory Briggs, Attorney (J.D., LL.M, M.A. in Philosophy)
Nov. 11 • 4:30 p.m. • Location: TBA

Ethics Bowl
Southeast Regional Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl
Team Members: Eliana Fleischer, '20, Sara Messervey, '20, Jagger Boussuge '21, Abhi Ruparelia, '21
Nov. 9 • University of North Florida

Jepson Leadership Forum Series
Algorithms, Austerity, and Inequality
Virginia Eubanks
Associate Professor of Political Science at the University at Albany - State University of New York
February 13 • 7 p.m. • Jepson Alumni Center

Philosophy Speaker Series
Does Law Exist?: Eliminativism in Legal Philosophy
Hillary Nye
Assistant Professor of Law, University of Alberta
Wednesday, Oct. 9 • 4:30pm • Whitehurst Living Room

Justified Desire
Allan Hazlett
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Washington University in St. Louis
Wednesday, Nov. 6 • 4:30pm • Whitehurst Living Room

Marshall Center Lecture Series
Arthur Ashe: Courage and Civility
Raymond O. Arsenault
John Hope Franklin Professor of Southern History, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg
Oct. 10 • 4:30 p.m. • Jepson Alumni Center

Contempt in Congress: The Decline of Statesmanship in the U.S. Senate
Sean Theriault
University Distinguished Teaching Professor of Government, The University of Texas at Austin
Nov. 8 • 4:30 p.m. • Weinstein Hall, Brown-Alley Room

Tolerance and Civility
Teresa M. Bejan
Associate Professor of Political Theory and Fellow of Oriel College, University of Oxford
Feb. 6 • 4:30 p.m. • Weinstein Hall, Brown-Alley Room

PPEL Speaker Series
Who Needs the International Criminal Court? Answers from Kenya, the African Continent, and the Global Community
Dr. Susan F. Hirsch
Professor of Conflict Resolution and Anthropology, George Mason University
Monday, November 11 • 4:30pm • Whitehurst Living Room
*Co-sponsored with Sociology and Anthropology