Center for Ethics in Society

Professor John Cooper delivers the second of two lectures in the Tanner Lecture Series. This second lecture focuses on some of the philosophies of Plontinus and how they apply to life today. (January 26, 2012)

John Cooper gives the first of two lectures in the Tanner Lecture Series. This first lecture focuses on some of the ancient philosophies of Aristotle and how they apply to life today. (January 25, 2012)

Eric Posner, Professor of Law University of Chicago, Colonel Steven Kleinman, Senior Intelligence Officer U.S. Air Force, and Mark Danner discuss Danner's April 14th talk about the 'state of exception.' (April 15, 2010)

Mark Danner discusses the use of torture and interrogation techniques at the Abu Ghraib prison by the United States government. Professor Danner touches upon the ethical and human value dilemmas that have occurred in recent years. (April 14, 2010)

Elaine Scarry of Harvard University and Stephen Holmes of New York University discuss the ethical and human values associated with how the United States of America has approached terrorism, interrogation, and torture. (April 16, 2010)

Mark Danner discusses the impact that the attacks of September 11, 2001 had on civil liberties and legal rights within the United States, particularly a "state of exception" that imposed "soft martial law" on citizens of the United States. (April 15, 2010)

Elinor Ostrom, Professor of Political Science at Indiana University and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics, discusses her work studying the cooperative regulation of public or common goods. (April 8, 2010)

Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University Director of the Earth Institute, discusses the need to find paths to sustainability in three parts: financial, institutional and instilling human values that will make sustainable development feasible. (February 18, 2010)

David Schmitdz, Professor of Philosophy, joint Professor of Economics and founding director of Arizona's Freedom Center, speaks about what children need from an educational system. (October 18, 2008)

Paul Weithman, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, uses a philosophical perspective to talk about the necessity of education and equality. Rob Reich then responds to Paul's arguments. (October 18, 2008)

Eric Hanushek, the Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, discusses the gap of achievement levels between white and black students, the reasons for it and what can be done to solve this problem of American society. (October 18, 2008)

Daniel Weinstock, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Montreal, uses the health-care system debate to draw parallels to the justice debate of the education system. Susanna Loeb provides a response to Mr. Weinstock. (October 18, 2008)

Caroline Hoxby, Professor of Economics at Stanford and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute, speaks about what needs to be done to effectively redistribute education among the poor. She goes on to talk in detail about charter schools. (October 17, 2008)

Jennifer Hochschild, Professor at Harvard University, speaks about the accessibility and achievement of immigrants in educational systems around the world. (October 17, 2008)

John Hennessy, President of Stanford University, speaks about just admission and need-based financial aid programs. Michael McPherson, President of the Spencer Foundation, goes on to elaborate on these issues faced by leading (October 17, 2008)

Lesley Jacobs, Professor of Law & Society and Director of the York Centre for Public Policy & Law at York University in Toronto, speaks about stakes fairness in educational policy and necessity for educational adequacy and equal opportunity. (October 17, 2009)

Despite large samples, genome wide association studies can only detect 2-3% of the genetic component of height, which is known to be close to 90% from twin studies.  What does that mean? (September 8, 2008)

A leading proponent of an institutional approach to political ethics, Dennis Thompson discusses campaign ethics in the midst of one of the most contentious presidential elections in recent history. (May 8, 2008)

In Animal Liberation, a book sometimes credited with starting the modern animal rights movement, Peter Singer argued that "all animals are equal."  The claim is often misunderstood, and sometimes used to caricature the animal movement. (April 23, 2008)

This panel examines a host of ethical and social concerns generated by the evolving culture of social networking, particularly by internet users' habits and web 2.0 sites' practices. (February 14, 2008)

A lecture by Samantha Power as part of the Ethics Center's Arrow Series on Ethics and Leadership. Power discussed themes related to her new book, "Chasing the Flame." (February 25, 2008)

Marion Nestle teaches at NYU in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health. She is the author of numerous books, including What to Eat, which was released in 2006. (February 27, 2008)

How does Title IX affect future college athletes and those looking to continue their careers beyond the classrom? The panel members discuss this and related topics with the moderator, Marcia Greenberger. (April 28, 2007)

Tara VanDerveer, David Black, Carole Oglesby, and Judy Sweet discuss personal and professional perspectives on current methods and challenges of gender equity assesment including interest surveys. Moderated by Deborah Rhode. (April 28, 2007)

Mary Jo Kane, Dick Gould, Eric Pearson, and the moderating journalist and author Welch Suggs discuss the challenges of maintaining men's opportunities in collegiate athletics while continuing to increase them for women. (April 28, 2007)

One of the nation's most well-respected reseachers, Linda Jean Carpenter, provides a snapshot on the demographic shifts during the first 35 years of Title IX, outlining remaining challenges for the future. (April 28, 2007)

Sandy Barbour and Bob Bowlsby discuss with leading women's rights advocate Donna Lopiano, the rocky road to gender equity amidst the current "arms-race" for salaries, facilities, and more at the Division 1-A level. (April 28, 2007)

Focusing on Glenn Loury's lecture, discussants further explore the ethics of punishment in a "divided society" (elaborating a social scientific and an ethical critique of the "politics of personal responsibility").

Lecture 2 focuses on the ethics of punishment in a "divided society" (elaborating a social scientific and an ethical critique of the "politics of personal responsibility" that emerged out of the culture wars of the 1980s).

Focusing on Glenn Loury's lecture, discussants delve further into the historical, political and sociological study of the role race has played, and continues to play, in the remarkable post-1970 transformation of America's punishment policies.

Lecture 1 is a historical, political and sociological study of the role race has played, and continues to play, in the remarkable post-1970 transformation of America's punishment policies.

Discussion topics include: what people have found to be the advantages and disadvantages of a charter school; are charter schools actually performing more effectively then traditional schools; how funding of charter schools affect funds available for public schools.

Ethics in Society sponsors a series of weekly conversations, led by invited faculty members and students on topics of their own choosing. Ethics at noon is a brown-bag forum whose purpose is to provide an informal and ongoing forum for discussion of ethical issues.

Dr. Robinson talks about the Gay Movement in America from the 1960s to the present, relying mainly on two books that he has written, (1999), which examines autobiographies written by gay men, and (2005).

Ethics in Society sponsors a series of weekly conversations, led by invited faculty members and students on topics of their own choosing. Ethics at noon is a brown-bag forum whose purpose is to provide an informal and ongoing forum for discussion of ethical issues.