The Ethics Colloquium’s goal is to support, highlight, and enhance conversations around ethics, and to give our broader Northern Colorado community a window into all that is going on at CSU. To that end, while themes and topics will be broad-based, the Colloquium emphasizes ethical issues in professions and disciplines, particularly when such issues have larger social, civic, political, and economic implications.

To pursue these goals, the Colloquium launched a series of events featuring CSU and external speakers. The first event was a conversation on “The End of The University” by then-Provost Rick Miranda and University Distinguished Teaching Scholar and Professor Matt Hickey. They described some of the issues that university faculty could/should consider in designing curricula that could equip students to have a values-based approach to their education. Subsequent talks in the series have addressed a range of topics, including but not limited to media ethics and religious ethics, the ethics of how laboratory animals are treated, and the intersections between ethics and diversity issues in community-based research and teaching.

Below are archived invitations to past events hosted or supported by the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium.

 

Mental Health in Higher Education – 2024 

Please mark your calendars for 9-11 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29 in the Lory Student Center Theatre. The focus of the colloquium will be Mental Health in Higher Education, with a keynote address followed by a panel discussion.

Keynote Address:
Dr. Katie Rose Guest Pryal
University of North Carolina School of Law

Dr. Katie Rose Guest Pryal, a nationally renowned speaker and author on mental health and neurodiversity, will provide the keynote address: “A Light in the Tower: A Reckoning with Mental Health in Higher Education.” Her book of the same title earned her the 2024 IPPY Bronze medal in Education. A panel discussion with CSU faculty and staff will follow Dr. Pryal’s address.

A Light in the Tower: A Reckoning with Mental Health in Higher Education by Dr. Pryal is available as an e-book through the CSU Libraries to unlimited readers. Access the e-book here.

Mental health is a foundation for student success and well-being. We must provide education to our faculty, staff, and students to help the entire community learn how to foster students’ mental health, how to recognize those who are suffering, and what to do every day to promote mental health in our community. 

CSU Panelists:
Mendy Smith
Chair, Faculty Council
Professor, Department of Biology

Sue Doe
Executive Director, The Institute for Learning & Teaching
Professor, Department of English

Adam Sargent
Director & Licensed Psychologist, General Counseling Services at CSU Health Network

Justin Dove
Director, Student Disability Center

Prior registration is not required, but seating will be limited. 

Watch the Mental Health in Higher Education event recording. 

 

Generative AI and Higher Education – 2023

Please mark your calendar for 4 p.m. on Wednesday, November 8, in the Lory Student Center Theatre. The focus of the colloquium will be Generative AI and Higher Education, with a keynote address followed by a panel discussion.

Keynote Speaker
Abram Anders, Ph.D.
Interim Associate Director, Student Innovation Center
Associate Professor of English
Iowa State University

Dr. Anders’ presentation is titled “Generative AI and Higher Education: Ethics, Opportunities, and Emerging Applications.” The panel discussion following Dr. Anders’ presentation will afford an opportunity to showcase the range of scholarly work at CSU that leverages AI approaches to study problems of broad impact to people and communities. We hope the discussion will encourage conversations about the promise of AI, the range of ethical concerns that accompanies its application, and how these ethical concerns might vary across disciplines.

Panelists

Tim Amidon, Associate Professor
Department of English, CSU
Director, Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacy Programs

Meena Balgopal, Professor
Department of Biology, CSU
University Distinguished Teaching Scholar

Laura Sample-McMeeking
Executive Director, CSU STEM Center

Wade Troxell, Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, CSU

Prior registration is not required, but seating will be limited. This session is co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Center for Ethics and Human Rights at Colorado State University, and the Data Science Research Institute.

Watch the Generative AI and Higher Education event recording.

 

The Academic Impact of ChatGPT – 2023

You are invited to the Spring 2023 Provost’s Ethics Colloquium on The Academic Impact of ChatGPT. Please mark your calendar for Thursday, February 16, 4-6 p.m., Lory Student Center Theatre for a robust discussion of the opportunities and challenges this remarkable technology poses for higher education.

Though ChatGPT and other emerging AI software have the potential to disrupt numerous industries, there also has been great curiosity and widespread speculation around its impact in educational settings. The colloquium will focus on the ethical concerns of ChatGPT, including as a sophisticated avenue for academic dishonesty as well as the opportunities it presents for innovative pedagogical applications. We also will examine ChatGPT from cybersecurity and privacy perspectives, and implications for research conduct.

Panelists

Lumina Albert
Associate Professor, Department of Management
Executive Director, Center for Ethics and Human Rights

Dan Baker
Teaching Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Master Teaching Initiative Coordinator, Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering

Joseph Brown
Director, Academic Integrity Program
The Institute for Learning and Teaching (TILT)

Kim Cox-York
CSU Research Integrity Officer
Responsible Conduct of Research Coordinator

David Dandy
Professor and Department Head, Chemical and Biological Engineering

Paul DiRado
Senior Instructor, Department of Philosophy

Nikhil Krishnaswamy
Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science
Data Science Research Institute

Steve Lovaas
CSU System
Chief Information Security Officer

Prior registration is not required, but seating will be limited. This session is co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Center for Ethics and Human Rights at Colorado State University, and the Data Science Research Institute.

Watch the Academic Impact of ChatGPT event recording.

“Thrown to the Wolves? Animal Ethics and Predator Reintroduction” – 2023

From wolves to jaguars, from sea-eagles to lynx, predator reintroduction is an important plank of conservation policy and practice. Such reintroductions are often contentious, especially when seen as prioritizing ecosystem restoration or species protection over important human interests. But recently, new objections to predator reintroduction have emerged from within animal ethics, maintaining that predator reintroduction is ethically unacceptable because of its impacts on the animals (rather than the humans) affected by it. Clare Palmer (Texas A&M) will explain these objections and argue that predator reintroduction shouldn’t be ruled out, even from views on which individual animals have ethical priority. 

Bernie Rollin Memorial Lecture in Animal Ethics
featuring Clare Palmer, Texas A&M University

Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023
4:00-5:30 p.m.
Longs Peak Room, Lory Student Center

The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence – 2022

We are excited to announce the relaunch of the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium and encourage you to attend this important lecture series presented for the University community. Please mark your calendar for Monday, November 28, 4-6 p.m., Lory Student Center Theatre. The focus of the colloquium will be The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence with a keynote address and panel discussion. 

Keynote Speaker

Matthew DeCamp, MD, PhD
Center for Bioethics and Humanities
Anschutz Medical Center

The panel discussion following Dr. DeCamp’s presentation will afford an opportunity to showcase the range of scholarly work at CSU that leverages AI approaches to study problems of broad impact to people and communities. We hope the discussion will encourage conversations about the promise of AI, the range of ethical concerns that attend its application, and how these ethical concerns might vary across disciplines.

Panelists

Jude Bayham, Associate Professor
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Department of Epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health
Data Science Research Institute

Elizabeth Barnes, Professor
Department of Atmospheric Science
Data Science Research Institute

Chris Becker, Clinical Professor
Department of Accounting
Faculty Affiliate, Center for Ethics and Human Rights

Nikhil Krishnaswamy, Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Science
Data Science Research Institute

Michael Kirby, Professor
Department of Mathematics
Department of Computer Science
Director, Data Science Research Institute

Prior registration is not required, but seating will be limited. This session is co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Center for Ethics and Human Rights at Colorado State University, and the Data Science Research Institute

Watch the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence event recording.

“Echo Chambers, Fake News, and Social Epistemology” – 2020

The Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, in conjunction with the Bodaken Philosophy Symposium and the Department of Philosophy, hosted Dr. Jennifer Lackey (Wayne and Elizabeth Jones Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University and Director of the Northwestern Prison Education Program) presenting “Echo Chambers, Fake News, and Social Epistemology” on March 3, 2020 in the Smith Alumni Center Event Hall. Please contact Moti Gorin at [email protected] with questions regarding the event.

Intense political polarization, the spread of fake news, and the degradation of democracy often are said to be caused or exacerbated by echo chambers — the term given to “one-sided” sources of information. Lackey will discuss why she does not think echo chambers are the real problem. Using social epistemology — a field devoted to understanding the social dimensions of knowledge creation — Lackey will analyze the harms of fake news and other distorting influences like social media bots.

More information on the Bodaken Philosophy Symposium.

Northern Colorado Human Trafficking Symposium: Joining Forces on the Frontlines – 2020

The Richardson Foundation, the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, and other sponsors hosted the 2020 Northern Colorado Human Trafficking Symposium at Colorado State University on February 6, 2020. The Northern Colorado Human Trafficking Symposium is an annual event hosted at Colorado State University to engage and educate participants on the issue of human trafficking through research, training, and collaboration. The theme for the 2020 symposium was Joining Forces on the Frontlines.

Keynote Speakers

Sean Reyes
Attorney General of Utah

Megan Lundstrom
Founder and Executive Director of Free Our Girls

Ruth Dearnley
CEO of Stop the Traffik

as well as presentations by survivors of domestic human trafficking, professionals, academic researchers in the field, and influential allies against modern slavery.

The 2020 symposium offered three tracks: a ‘101’ Awareness Track which has FREE registration for community members, a ‘201’ Professional track for professionals who seek advanced training, and a ‘301’ research track for researchers and academics highlighting cutting-edge research in the field.

The ‘201’ Track included survivor presentations on a variety of important topics including: “Intersections of Trauma, Vulnerability & Trust” (by Kelly Dore), “Familial Trafficking: Survivors in our neighborhoods” (by Christine Cesa), “A Survivor Shares Her Whole Heart Recovery Model” (by Angela Clark), “Is it Really a Choice?” (by Tina Sonnie), “Addressing HT in Healthcare Systems” (by Christine Cesa), and others.

The ‘301’ Research Track aimed to be the largest gathering of its kind in terms of research paper submissions and seeks to highlight cutting-edge and rigorous quantitative and qualitative research that will a) inform policy and practice and b) contribute to the ongoing development of theory and research in human trafficking and modern slavery.

For more information please visit the NoCo Human Trafficking Symposium website

If you have any questions, please email Professor Lumina Albert.

Meet the Founders: Curt Richardson – 2019

The CSU College of Business, in conjunction with the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium and the OtterBox Ethics Initiative, hosted Curt Richardson, founder of OtterBox and Blue Ocean Enterprises, as part of the College’s Meet the Founders Distinguished Leadership Series on Dec. 5 at in the Bohemian Auditorium, Room 116, Rockwell Hall West.

Serial entrepreneur Curt Richardson was running his first successful business at the age of 21. He created the first OtterBox waterproof case in his garage in the early ‘90s, and in 1998, Otter Products was born. In the following decade, he started and grew multiple ventures. Richardson currently leads innovation and culture initiatives as founder, chairman and Chief Visionary Officer for Otter Products. Additionally, he’s co-founder and chairman of Blue Ocean Enterprises Inc. and Blue Ocean Holdings LLC. In these roles, he discovers, creates, and invests in business opportunities and makes strategic investments in commercial real estate.

If you have questions, please email Prof. Lumina Albert.

Gnosticism, Progressivism, and the (Im)possibility of an Ethical Academy

The Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, in conjunction with the School of Education, are pleased to sponsor Gnosticism, Progressivism, and the (Im)possibility of an Ethical Academy, presented by Matthew Carlin. Carlin is a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University in Manchester, England. His writing and research focus on the philosophy of education with a specific focus on ethics in formal education; progressive ideology; the relationship between manual work and learning; and place-based education.

There is growing concern today with the state of ethics in higher education as it relates to everything from increasing corporate influence and widespread use of questionable research methods, to cheating and plagiarism committed by students and faculty alike. Multiple studies, from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, have recently approached the question of academic ethics in the hopes of identifying some of  the fundamental problems confronting universities while advancing possible solutions for improving conduct across the academy. This presentation seeks to contribute to this discussion by analyzing the current state of ethics in higher education through an engagement with the concept of gnosticism – a term that refers most notably today to the modern compulsion to ‘fix’ an inherently fractured and malformed world.

The talk was held Monday, Nov. 18th at 10:00 a.m. in the Lory Student Center, Room 324. The talk was recorded and may be viewed at this link: Carlin.

Beyond Partisan Politics 2019: Bridging Divides by Overcoming Our Echo Chambers

The Provost’s Ethics Colloquium and CSU’s Center for Public Deliberation hosted a discussion and community conversation, Beyond Partisan Politics: Bridging Divides by Overcoming Our Echo Chambers, on Friday, November 8th in the Lory Student Center Theater. The event was recorded may be viewed at this link: Beyond Partisan Politics.

Participants represented a diverse set of perspectives. While Joan Blades, founder of MoveOn.org and MomsRising.org, takes a progressive view, she advocates dialogue across difference through Living Room Conversations. Similarly, John Gable, who works in Silicon Valley and earlier worked for Sen. Mitch McConnell, takes a conservative view, yet urges us to engage  a full range of perspectives on issues through his start-up AllSides, designed specifically to address the biases caused by “filter bubbles.” Pedro Silva is a USAF Veteran and trained linguist who currently serves as an Associate Minister at the First Congregational Church Boulder, UCC. He has a passion for using expansive conversational models such as Living Room Conversations to engage subjects such as race, ethnicity, and political discourse.

The speakers engaged with each other, telling their stories of working to create connection across differences that diminish the filter bubbles we all so naturally inhabit. They discussed the tools they have developed to support that important work. After the panel discussion, the audience had an opportunity to participate in a Living Room Conversation. Trained student facilitators from CSU’s Center for Public Deliberation facilitated. Conversations introduced strategies for respectful yet substantive exploration of differences and for considering how to overcome our echo chambers.

 

Meet the Founders: Dick Monfort

The College of Business, in conjunction with the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium and the OtterBox Ethics Initiative, hosted Dick Monfort, Owner, Chairman and CEO of the Colorado Rockies, as part of the College’s Meet the Founders Distinguished Leadership Series on October 24th. Dean Beth Walker, College of Business, introduced the speaker. The event was live-streamed to the Bohemian Auditorium (overflow room), Rockwell West 116.  A link to a recording of this event will be posted on the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium website, ethics.colostate.edu.

Monfort was the 2008 recipient of the United Way of Weld County Humanitarian of the Year Award, an award his father, Kenny Monfort, received twenty years earlier. Monfort is currently the Chairman of the University of Northern Colorado Board of Trustees and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of University of Colorado Health. The Monfort family supports the Monfort School of Business at the University of Northern Colorado and the Monfort Excellence Fund at Colorado State University; both impact students, faculty and the Northern Colorado community through scholarships for exceptional students and support of outstanding faculty. Other organizations that have benefited from the Monfort family’s years of philanthropic work include CU Cancer Center, Craig Hospital, United Way, the Denver Art Museum and Habitat for Humanity.

If you have questions, please contact Lumina Albert, Associate Professor and Daniels Ethics Fellow, College of Business, at [email protected]. Please click here to view a flyer for the event.

 

Living Together Online: Social Epistemology, Ethics, and the Internet

The Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, in conjunction with the Bodaken Philosophy Symposium and the Department of Philosophy, are pleased to announce the first annual Bodaken Philosophy Symposium Workshop, held October 15-16th, 2019, at the Lory Student Center, room 376-378. This year’s theme is Living Together Online: Social Epistemology, Ethics, and the Internet.

The Internet has altered social life in many ways, from making it easier to keep in touch with family and friends to making it more difficult to avoid forming false, conspiratorial beliefs. There are fewer barriers to the acquisition of knowledge and ignorance, as well as fewer barriers between governments, technology firms and advertisers and our private mental states. Over two days, twelve presenters will address some of the conceptual puzzles and practical challenges of social life in the information age.

Keynote Speakers:

“Democracy and Social Media are Incompatible – Now What?”
Regina Rini, Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of Moral and Social Cognition, York University
3:00 p.m. Oct. 16th

“The Gamification of Public Discourse”
Thi Nguyen Associate Professor, Utah Valley University
3:00 p.m. Oct. 15th

“Epistemic Injustice and the Challenges of Online Moderation” 
Karen Frost Arnold, Associate Professor, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
10:30 a.m. Oct. 15th

“Time Out of Mind”
James Williams, Oxford Internet Institute, Co-Founder, Time Well Spent
10:30 a.m. Oct. 16th

There is no charge to attend the workshop and attendance is open, but please contact Moti Gorin ([email protected]) if you plan to attend. 

Meet the Founders: J.C. and Josh Richardson, founders of Angel Armor

We are pleased to announce that the College of Business, in conjunction with the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium and the OtterBox Ethics Initiative, hosted J.C. and Josh Richardson, founders of Angel Armor, as part of the College’s Meet the Founders Distinguished Leadership Series. With global business development experience, the Richardson brothers are the next generation in a family that has been building businesses for decades, including OtterBox™ and LifeProof™. They will shared their journey of entrepreneurship, ethics, values, and vision for the future with CSU faculty, students, and staff on Oct. 10th at 12:30 pm in Room 213, Rockwell Hall West. If you have questions, please contact Lumina Albert, Associate Professor and Daniels Ethics Fellow, College of Business, at [email protected]

Meet the Founders: Kim Jordan, New Belgium Brewing

The OtterBox Ethics Initiative, CSU College of Business and the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium invite you to a talk given by Kim Jordan, Co-Founder, Executive Chair of the Board and former CEO of New Belgium Brewing. She will share her story, values and journey at the College of Business ‘Meet the Founders’ Distinguished Leadership Series on Thursday, April 25th at 11:00 a.m. in the Bohemian Auditorium, Rockwell West.

Kim developed expertise at the intersection of business, the environment and community to create one of the most respected craft breweries and innovative businesses in America. Now as the Executive Chair of New Belgium, Kim serves as a link between New Belgium’s highly competent and engaged management group and its Board of Directors. She champions foundational aspects of New Belgium that make it a business role model with fresh thinking about progressive business practices and the marketplace of the future. Her lifelong commitment to developing healthy communities has informed New Belgium’s culture through progressive policies like employee ownership, open-book management and philanthropic giving. Kim and her two sons launched the New Belgium Family Foundation in 2013 as a way to continue to express their commitment to social and environmental impact through mission-aligned investing and philanthropy. She has served on many boards including The Brewers Association, 1% for The Planet and The Governor’s Renewable Energy Authority Board. She currently serves on the Board of Governors for Colorado State University and the Advanced Energy Economy. To view the event flyer, please click here: Kim Jordan Flyer.

Please write Prof. Lumina Albert, [email protected], with any questions. 

“Finding Authentic Relationships in a Shallow World: An Ethical Journey”

The Provost’s Ethics Colloquium and the OtterBox Ethics Initiative, CSU College of Business, presented a talk given by Dr. Dick Foth entitled, Finding Authentic Relationships in a Shallow World: An Ethical Journey, Thursday, March 28th at 11:00 a.m. in the Bohemian Auditorium, Rockwell Hall. Dr. Foth’s  career has focused on mentoring young people and the practice of relationship building. He has mentored some outstanding young international leaders including the Richardson Brothers–Co-Founders of Angel Armor (and Co-owners of OtterBox), Jeremy Vallerand, CEO of Rescue Freedom International, and many others.

He lives in northern Colorado and speaks to civic groups and weekend retreats and hosts young leaders in mini-retreats. He is co-author, with his wife Ruth Foth, of the book KNOWN: Finding Deep Friendships in a Shallow World. 

“Can We Fix Institutional Injustices Like Racism, Sexism, and Poverty?”

The Department of Philosophy and the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium are pleased to announce the 2019 Bodaken Philosophy Symposium Spring Lecture. The theme of the 2018-2019 Symposium is “Economic Inequality, Well-Being, and Democracy.” Professor Jonathan Wolff from the University of Oxford will deliver a lecture entitled, Can We Fix Institutional Injustices Like Racism, Sexism, and Poverty? was held March 6, 2019. The talk was recorded and will be posted to the Bodaken Symposium page of the Department of Philosophy website, https://philosophy.colostate.edu/bodaken-philosophy-symposium/

For questions, please contact [email protected].

Jonathan Wolff is the Blavatnik Chair in Public Policy and Governing Body Fellow at Wolfson College at the University of Oxford. His interests include questions of equality, disadvantage, and social justice as well as topics such as poverty, health care policy, public safety, disability, gambling, and the regulation of recreational drugs. Wolff explores these themes in dozens of articles and books. He also has been a member of several influential advisory committees in the United Kingdom and writes a regular column on higher education for The Guardian. 

“Finding courage from personal journeys to make a difference in the world: A personal reflection and call to action”

The College of Business Diversity and Inclusion Committee in conjunction with Provost’s Ethics Colloquium and the Multicultural Staff and Faculty Network at CSU present CSU Vice President for Student Affairs, Blanche Hughes. Dr. Hughes talk, entitled, Finding courage from personal journeys to make a difference in the world: A personal reflection and call to action, will be held Thursday, February 28th, from 12:30 pm to 1:45 pm in the Bohemian Auditorium of Rockwell Hall. Refreshments will be served.  Questions may be directed to [email protected].

Dr. Blanche Hughes received her bachelor’s degree from Earlham College, a master’s of education degree in student affairs and doctorate degree in sociology from Colorado State University.  She is currently in her 12th year as the Vice President for Student Affairs at CSU.  In this role, she works with a Division that includes 21 departments that collaborate with other units in the University community to help our students and staff be successful.  She is also a member of the President’s leadership team. Dr. Hughes teaches a KEY Community undergraduate course, as well as teaching and advising in the Student Affairs in Higher Education graduate program. Before becoming Vice President, Blanche spent six years as the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, eleven years as the director of Black Student Services at Colorado State University and also served as a professor of the Sociology Department at Pikes Peak Community College for two years, one of those years as chair of the department. 

“Using the Scales of Justice to Create Business for a Better World”

In conjunction with the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, the College of Business presents the inaugural event in the Dean’s Distinguished Leadership Series. Attorney Ray Boucher will present a talk entitled, “Using the Scales of Justice to Create Business for a Better World,” addressing corporations’ increasing influence on public health and private opportunity,  Feb. 21st at 11:00 a.m. in the Bohemian Auditorium of Rockwell West. Please register for the event at this link: Event Registration.

A 1981 graduate of the Colorado State University College of Business Masters in Management program, Boucher has tried more than 50 cases focusing on protecting consumers and the environment and defending human rights. He has earned many awards, including Consumer Attorney of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys of California and Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles. A founder and senior partner of Boucher LLP, he is best known for landmark decisions defending abuse survivors against the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego for settlements totaling $860 million. 

“Ethics and Technological Convergence: Regenerative Medicine, Whole Genome Sequencing and CRISPR”

As part of the State of Innovation speaker series, and in conjunction with the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium Series, CSU Ventures and the Vice President for Research presented an all-campus seminar,  Ethics and Technological Convergence: Regenerative Medicine, Whole Genome Sequencing and CRISPR, featuring, Debra Mathews, Assistant Director for Science Programs, John Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. The seminar was held Thursday, January 31, 2019 from 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm in the Lory Student Center, Longs Peak Room #302.

Event link: Mathews Event.

Registration link: http://bit.ly/MathewsCRISPR.

As the Assistant Director for Science Programs, Dr. Mathews is responsible for overseeing the Stem Cell Policy and Ethics program and the Program in Ethics and Brain Sciences, as well as other bench research-related endeavors in the Berman Institute. She is also a member of the steering committee of The Hinxton Group, an international collective of scientists, ethicists, policymakers and others, interested in ethical and well-regulated science, and whose work focuses primarily on stem cell research. Dr. Mathews has been an active member of the International Neuroethics Society since 2006 and has served on the Society’s Board of Directors since 2015.

Dr. Mathews’s academic work focuses on ethics and policy issues raised by emerging biotechnologies, with particular focus on genetics, stem cell science, neuroscience and synthetic biology. In CRISPR: A path through the thicket, a paper in Nature, Dr. Mathews and colleagues discuss the ethical questions of genome editing and present recommended actions for continued research.

https://bioethics.jhu.edu/people/profile/debra-mathews/

 

“The Power of Entrepreneurship: From Selling Roadside Strawberries to Managing a $2 billion Real Estate Empire” – 2018

The College of Business, in conjunction with the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium and the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative, hosted Troy McWhinney, who co-founded McWHINNEY, a fully integrated real estate development, investment and management company, with his brother in 1991. Today the company manages a diverse portfolio of real estate valued over $2 billion, which includes multi-family, hospitality, office, industrial, retail, land, water and mineral rights. As co-founder and chief investment officer, Troy leads the development, strategy and implementation plans for McWhinney. In addition, he is responsible for developing new capital opportunities and managing all new and existing investor relations.

McWhinney’s talk,  The Power of Entrepreneurship: From Selling Roadside Strawberries to Managing a $2 billion Real Estate Empire was held November 15th in the Bohemian Auditorium.

For more information, please see the flyer by clicking here: McWhinney Flyer, or visit the event notice. If you have questions, please contact Prof. Lumina Albert, Daniels Ethics Fellow and Associate Professor, Department of Management, [email protected]

“How Ethics and Integrity Move Business Forward” – 2018

The College of Business, in conjunction with the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium and the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative, will host Mr. Jim Parke, CEO of Otterbox and Blue Ocean Enterprises. Mr. Parke’s talk will launch the Otterbox Ethics Challenge and Initiative, a partnership between Otterbox and CSU’s College of Business. He will speak with CSU faculty, students, and staff on How Ethics and Integrity Move Business Forward. He will also share his story, leadership philosophy, and secrets of motivating high-performing teams. He will speak at 3:30 pm on Thursday, November 8th in the Bohemian Auditorium, Rockwell Hall West. In addition, the event will be live streamed to an overflow room, Room 213, Rockwell Hall West.

If you have questions, please contact Prof. Lumina Albert, Daniels Ethics Fellow and Associate Professor, Department of Management, [email protected]

The Medical Definition of Death: Ethical, Social, and Cultural Concerns – 2018

The Provost’s Ethics Colloquium hosted Alexander Capron for a panel discussion entitled, The Medical Definition of Death: Ethical, Social, and Cultural Concerns, and a public lecture,  Ethical Reflections on Organ Transplant Tourism and Organ Trafficking. The panel discussion took place at 2:00 p.m. on Nov. 2nd in the Lory Student Center theater. The lecture was held the same day at5:00 p.m. in the Lory Student Center Ballroom D. To watch a recording of the panel discussion, please click here: panel discussion. To watch a recording of the public lecture, please click here: public lecture.

Alexander Capron is a globally recognized expert in health policy and medical ethics. He teaches Public Health Law, Torts, and Law, Science, and Medicine. He also teaches at the USC Keck School of Medicine and is co-director of the Pacific Center for Health Policy and Ethics, a campus-wide interdisciplinary research and education center. He returned to USC Gould School of Law in fall 2006 after four years on leave as director of Ethics, Trade, Human Rights and Health Law at the World Health Organization in Geneva.

Capron’s publications include Ethical Issues in Governing Biobanks: Global Perspectives (with others, Ashgate, 2008), Law, Science and Medicine 2nd ed. (with others, Foundation Press, 1996), Treatise on Health Care Law (with others, Matthew Bender, 1991), and Genetics, Ethics and Human Values (edited with Z. Bankowski, Geneva: CIOMS, 1991).

Climate, Inequality, Democracy (Unchained) – 2018

Professor David Schweickart (Loyola University Chicago) specializes in social and political philosophy and the philosophy of economics. He has written several books exploring economic alternatives to capitalism and defending an alternative economic order he calls “Economic Democracy,” which is “a form of market socialism featuring workplace democracy and social control of investment.” Professor Schweickart presented  Climate, Inequality, Democracy (Unchained) on October 11th in the Cherokee Park Room of the Lory Student Center.

The lecture will discuss how a capitalist class that restricts robust democratic processes is obstructing our capacity to addressing the threat climate change poses to species survival, asking, “Is sustainable capitalism an oxymoron?”

Moral Science 2.0 – 2018

In conjunction with the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, the Department of Philosophy is pleased to announce the following two events as part of the ongoing Bodaken Philosophy Symposium. The theme of this year’s Symposium is Economic Inequality, Well-Being, and Democracy.

Professor David Schmidtz (University of Arizona), a leading figure in ethics and in social and political philosophy who has written on the limits of markets, rational choice theory, entrepreneurship, individual responsibility, environmental ethics, justice, and more, presented:

Moral Science 2.0 on October 4th in the Cherokee Park Room in the Lory Student Center.

Experiments in social science are notoriously hard to control.  There are always variables that are not properly controlled.  Moral science—what David Hume, Adam Smith, and other moral philosophers were groping toward in the 1700’s—is the parent of everything we call social science today. Moral science was never going to be any more scientific than the best of its social science progeny today.

College of Business Meet the Founders Distinguished Leadership Series – 2018

The College of Business, in conjunction with the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, hosted Mr. Ryan Houdek, Oct. 2nd, in the Bohemian Auditorium, Rockwell Hall West as part of the College’s Meet the Founders Distinguished Leadership Series.

Mr. Houdek owns several venues in Old Town Fort Collins, including Social, an underground cocktail bar; UNION Bar and Soda Fountain; the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant; and Rodizio Grill, a Brazilian steakhouse. In addition to discussing leadership skills and how to nurture high-performing teams, Mr. Houdek will address the role of ethics, values and integrity in business.

For more information, please open the flyer at this link: Houdek flyer or view the information at this link: Houdek event.

If you have questions,  please contact Dr. Lumina Albert, Daniels Ethics Fellow and Associate Professor, Management Department, [email protected]

College of Business Meet the Founders Distinguished Leadership – 2018

The College of Business, in conjunction with the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, hosted the first speaker in a premier, Distinguished Leadership Series sponsored by the College, the ‘Meet the Founders’ Distinguished Leadership Series, which brings to campus outstanding global business leaders. The College hosted Dr. John Elstrott on September 25th, in the Bohemian Auditorium, Rockwell Hall West. The event was a fireside chat between Dr. Elstrott and Dr. Thomas J. Dean, Kemble Family Fellow and Professor of Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Enterprise in the College of Business (Management Department) and the School of Global Environmental Sustainability.

Dr. Elstrott is the founder of the Tulane Family Business Center and the former Executive Director of the Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship at Tulane University. An entrepreneur, investor and board member for companies across industries, from natural foods to financial services, wetlands mitigation, banking, technology and pharmaceuticals, he served as chairman of the board for Whole Foods Market for the 20 years prior to the company’s sale to Amazon. Over 30 years at Tulane, Elstrott taught courses in entrepreneurship and conducted academic research.

For questions, please contact Dr. Lumina Albert, Daniels Ethics Fellow and Associate Professor, Management Department, [email protected].

Transnational Ethics and the Refugee Crisis – 2018

The Provost’s Ethics Colloquium and the Department of Philosophy hosted Robert Audi, Ph.D., from the University of Notre Dame Department of Philosophy. Dr. Audi’s talk, entitled, Transnational Ethics and the Refugee Crisis, was presented Friday, May 11th, at 4:00 p.m., in Eddy Hall Room 200.

If we are patriots, and especially if we are nationalists, we may reasonably take ourselves to have obligations to our fellow citizens. But if we believe that every person matters, or that persons are equal in moral status or in natural rights, and especially if we believe that all human beings are in some sense children of God—or in some other way equally “citizens” in this globalized world—we will likely also think that we have transnational obligations. These include obligations concerning resistance to global warming, support of international charities, and, in perhaps more direct ways, preserving world peace. On these and other counts, the refugee crisis is a major concern. It threatens the stability of the entire Middle East and it extends to countries in Europe, Africa and Asia as well. Other international concerns include dangers posed by failed states and “rogue regimes.” With these and other problems in view, this paper considers the extent to which some version of nationalism or, by contrast, cosmopolitanism, is morally justified. Our answer to this question will have major bearing on how conscientious citizens should respond to the global problems now confronting humanity.

A Story of Ethics and Values: Dick Monfort, Owner/Chairman and CEO of the Colorado Rockies – 2018

As part of the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, the College of Business presents a “Meet the Founder” event featuring Dick Monfort, Owner/Chairman and CEO of the Colorado Rockies. With the start of the 2018 baseball season, Dick Monfort enters his 21st season with the Rockies franchise and continues in his role as owner/chairman and chief executive officer for the club. A Colorado native, Monfort and the Colorado Rockies Ownership Group have established the Colorado Rockies Baseball Club as a leading organization in the Rocky Mountain Region in both sport and business. Monfort’s talk, A Story of Ethics and Values, was held on April 19th.

Doing Well by Doing Good: Curt Richardson, founder of Otter Products and Blue Ocean Enterprises – 2018

As part of the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, the College of Business presents a “Meet the Founder” event featuring Curt Richardson, founder of Otter Products and Blue Ocean Enterprises. Richardson created the first prototype of an OtterBox waterproof case in his garage in the early 90’s. In 1998, Otter Products, LLC was born. The Fort Collins-based company innovates protective cases under the OtterBox and LifeProof brands. A serial entrepreneur, Curt is also the co-founder and chairman of Blue Ocean Enterprises, Inc., and Blue Ocean Holdings, LLC. Through these organizations, he discovers, creates and invests in business opportunities and makes strategic investments in real estate.  Doing Well by Doing Good, was held April 12th.  To watch or listen to a recording of the talk, please click on this link: Doing Well by Doing Good

Why I (Still) Hope to Die at Age 75: Why the American Drive to Live Forever is Misguided – 2018

The Department of Philosophy presented the inaugural Bodaken Philosophy Symposium lecture featuring health policy adviser, oncologist, bioethicist, author and professor, Ezekiel Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D. The talk, titled, Why I (Still) Hope to Die at Age 75: Why the American Drive to Live Forever is Misguided, was held in the Lory Student Center Theater on Monday, March 26th.

To watch a recording of this event, please click here: Why I (Still) Hope to Die at 75.

To access a transcript of the talk, please click here: Bodaken Philosophy Symposium Dr Ezekiel Emanuel.

Northern Colorado Human Trafficking Symposium – 2018

As part of the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, the Richardson Foundation presented the first annual Northern Colorado Human Trafficking Symposium on Thursday, Feb. 22nd in Lory Student Center, along with Platinum sponsor, U Count, Gold sponsors, the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative and CSU’s College of Business, Silver Sponsor, Colorado State University, Bronze sponsors, Life for the Innocent, Zonta and Soroptimist. The symposium will feature keynote speaker, Rebecca Bender, the founder and CEO of Rebecca Bender Initiatives and author of Roadmap to Redemption. The symposium offered two tracks, the 101 Track for community members, CSU students and faculty, and the 201 Track for service providers who are ready to take their training to the next level, by learning from trauma specialists, expert interviewers and survivor leaders.

Human Side of Data: From the Societal Impacts to Everyday Practice – 2017

The CSU Research Integrity Compliance & Review Office hosted this year’s National Data Integrity Conference. The conference theme this year was the “Human Side of Data: from the societal impacts to everyday practice.”  The conference brings together a diverse group of researchers, technologists, administrators, funding agency representatives, librarians, research integrity officers, students, and faculty to share ideas on data integrity issues, projects, and solutions. The event included two outstanding Keynote speakers, Dr. Kathy Partin, past CSU Associate Vice President for Research and current Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Research Integrity, and Dr. Safiya Noble, recent author of The Intersectional Internet: Race, Sex, Class, and Culture Online (2016, Peter Lang, Digital Formations). The conference took place October 5th and 6th, in the Lory Student Center North Ballroom, with a pre-conference Data Carpentry Workshop held October 3rd and 4th, in the Morgan Library Event Hall. For more information, please visit http://www.ndicannual.com/. This event was not recorded. 

Making Hard Calls in Health and Medicine – Engaging the Public in Ethical Deliberation – 2017

Some of the toughest questions in life are those faced by people with serious illness and by the health professionals who care for them. In this interactive discussion, Dr. Matthew Wynia, will explore models for ethical decision making in health care, using a story from the Hard Call® podcast to illustrate the tensions that can arise. Dr. Wynia is a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. This event took place at on Oct. 27th, in Health and Exercise Science Training Facility.

Aging, Stigma and Disgust – 2017

2:00 p.m., Nov. 10th, Lory Student Center Theater

To watch a recording of this event, please click this link: Livestream Nussbaum 2 p.m.

Anger, Powerlessness and the Politics of Blame – 2017

5:00 p.m., Nov. 10th, Lory Student Center Theater

To watch a recording of this event, please click this link: Livestream Nussbaum 5 p.m.

Prof. Martha Nussbaum presented two talks on Nov. 10th as part of the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium: Aging, Stigma and Disgust at 2:00 p.m. and  Anger, Powerlessness and the Politics of Blame at 5:00 p.m.

Martha C. Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, appointed in the Law School and Philosophy Department, at the University of Chicago. She was named the 2017 Jefferson Lecturer in Humanities and a 2016 Kyoto Prize Laureate in Arts and Philosophy. She received her bachelor’s degree from New York University and her master’s and Ph.D. from Harvard, and has taught at Harvard, Brown, and Oxford universities. From 1986 to 1993, while teaching at Brown, Nussbaum was a research advisor at the World Institute for Development Economics Research, Helsinki, a part of the United Nations University. She has received honorary degrees from 56 colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. She is an Academician in the Academy of Finland, a Fellow of the British Academy, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. Among her awards are the Grawemeyer Award in Education (2002), the Centennial Medal of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University (2010), and the American Philosophical Association’s Philip Quinn Prize (2015).

Her books include Love’s Knowledge (1990), For Love of Country (1996), Sex and Social Justice (1998), Women and Human Development (2000), Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions (2001), Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, Species Membership (2006), Liberty of Conscience: In Defense of America’s Tradition of Religious Equality (2008), From Disgust to Humanity: Sexual Orientation and Constitutional Law (2010), Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities (2010), The New Religious Intolerance: Overcoming the Politics of Fear in an Anxious Age (2012), and Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity, Justice (2016). Aging Thoughtfully: Conversations about Retirement, Romance, Wrinkles, and Regret, co-authored with Saul Levmore, will appear in November, and The Monarchy of Fear: A Philosopher Looks at Our Political Crisis will be published in 2018. She has also edited 21 books.

In pursuit of Freedom: The Fight Against Human Trafficking – 2017

The Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, Richardson Foundation, and the College of Business are excited to announce the presentation In Pursuit of Freedom: The Fight Against Human Trafficking, by Jeremy Vallerand, President & CEO of Rescue: Freedom International, a non-profit organization that works around the world to empower the rescue and restoration of those in sexual slavery. Human Trafficking is the second largest, and fastest growing, criminal enterprise on the planet. Slavery is all around us, touching our lives in ways we don’t even realize. Vallerand will discuss the factors driving this global injustice and explore how individuals, organizations, and businesses can play a role in combating slavery. Vallerand is the President & CEO of Rescue:Freedom International, a non-profit organization that works around the world to empower the rescue and restoration of those in sexual slavery.  He has an undergraduate degree in Business from Trinity Western University in British Columbia, Canada and a graduate degree in Diplomacy from Oxford University in the UK.  The event took place February 13, 2017 in Rockwell West 116 (Bohemian Auditorium). To view a recording of the talk, please click on this link: In Pursuit of Freedom: The Fight Against Human Trafficking.

Everyday Ethical Ambiguity and Freedom to Do the Right Thing – 2017

As part of the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, Dr. Cori Wong, Special Assistant to the President, Director of the Women & Gender Collaborative, and Special Instructor in the Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research at Colorado State University, will present Everyday Ethical Ambiguity and Freedom to Do the Right Thing. As a trained philosopher working in university administration, Dr. Wong appreciates how even a shallow dip into the intricacies of ethical questions and moral obligations can leave one feeling stuck, overwhelmed, and breathless. Competing systems of values and principles – an endless array of hypothetical (or very real) consequences – complicate deceptively straightforward questions like, “What should I do? How should I act?” This talk highlights how tough moral questions are not reserved for controversial, “hot-button” issues; they are inherent to our daily lives as we interact with one another as researchers, educators, supervisors, and colleagues. Dr. Wong draws on feminist frameworks to help us navigate the inherent ambiguity of what it means to act ethically in the context of our concrete, everyday lives. The talk took place Feb. 16, 2017.

To view a recording of the talk, click here: Everyday Ethical Ambiguity and Freedom to Do the Right Thing

Perspectives on Information, Ethics, and Globalization – 2017

As part of the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, Fedro S. Zazueta, Associate CIO and Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Florida will present: Perspectives on Information, Ethics, and Globalization. Information technology evolved rapidly in the past few decades. The convergence of computer technology, networking and telecommunications has resulted in information systems that affect us as in many ways, as single individuals and as members of a global community. Today, information is generated at incredibly high rates of speed, in enormous quantities, in many cases without structure, and is coupled with unprecedented advances in data science. Terms like BigData, the Internet-of-everything, analytics, sentiment analysis, and many others, have entered into our common vocabulary. In parallel, public awareness is increasing on the possible implications of these large amounts of data and the science and technology to analyze them. These advances raise ethical issues that demand deliberation. What are the implications to existing ethics codes? What is an individual’s ethical behavior in this context? What is the balance between individual rights and public interest?  Are there acceptable differences in ethical norms and behavior for individuals from difference cultures? The presenter does not pretend to answer these and other complex questions, but will set a framework for deliberation. The talk took place March 7, 2017.

To view a recording, please click on this link: Perspectives on Information, Ethics, and Globalization

Bridging Interfaith Tensions through Dialogue – 2017

Faith communities and/or how we participate in them can give us purpose, meaning, and connection but can sometimes divide us from people in different faith communities. Join us for an evening of dialogue about faith and ethics. We’ll hear the views of committed practitioners of different faiths. We’ll also discuss the key ethical commitments of our own and others’ faith communities, the ethical tensions that can arise in interactions with people from different faith communities, and case studies that raise fundamental questions about the ethical issues involved in maintaining our own faith commitments while interacting with people who hold different commitments.

March 23, 2017, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Lory Student Center Ballroom 350A

Back to the ‘Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia’: Ethics, Law, and Death with Dignity – 2017

Courtney Campbell, Ph.D., Oregon State University, presented Back to the ‘Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia’: Ethics, Law, and Death with Dignity. President Trump’s nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the open seat on the U.S. Supreme Court has raised the prospect that state laws allowing for physicians to prescribe a drug to hasten the dying of a terminally ill patients, such as Colorado’s End of Life Options Act, may be subject to federal judicial review. My talk will provide a critical examination of Judge Gorsuch’s writings on the subject from his book The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia, and situate his position relative to the ethical arguments on and current status and utilization of laws enacted previously in Oregon (1994) and Washington (2008).  This presentation will also offer some lessons acquired from the Oregon and Washington experience with these laws that may be relevant for its practice in Colorado. The talk took place April 6th at 4:00 p.m. in Clark A 201.

To view a recording, please click on this link: Back to the ‘Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia:’ Ethics, Law, and Death with Dignity

Understanding Weight Stigma: Epidemiology & Ethical Considerations – 2017

Daniel S. Goldberg, J.D., Ph.D., CU-Anschutz Medical Campus, first surveyed the empirical base of weight stigma as it is commonly understood in the social scientific and epidemiologic literatures as a means to exploring some of the ethical implications of such stigma in the U.S.  Although stigma has widely shared colloquial meanings, it is also the subject of a rich and diverse scholarship within the health humanities, sociology, and epidemiology in particular.  The presentation defined stigma in health contexts, explained the connections between (weight) stigma and broader social inequalities in the US, and also explored the difficult question of why (weight) stigma is so common in the U.S.  The presentation looked to an ethical analysis, explaining how and why (weight) stigma contravenes basic principles of justice.  The presentation  evaluated both general categories of potential remedies and specific interventions for weight stigma.

The talk took place on April 7, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. in the Health and Exercise Sciences Teaching Facility.

Biohacking, Open Source Biologics and the Open Insulin Project – 2016

As part of the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, Anthony Di Franco, of Counter Culture Labs, a biohacker collective in Oakland, California, gave a talk titled “Biohacking, Open Source Biologics and the Open Insulin Project.” He discussed the history and the personal, philosophical and economic motivations of the biohacking and hacking communities generally and of the Open Insulin project community specifically. In particular, he discussed how the high cost of insulin puts it out of reach for roughly 50% of the 100 million worldwide who need it, often leading to severe health consequences, including nerve and kidney damage, cardiovascular disease, amputations, coma, and death. He described the technical aims of the project and the progress to date, invite participation, and suggest related work concerning insulin, diabetes treatments, decentralized research, and open collaboration across institutional boundaries. The event took place at Monday, Sept. 12, 2016 in Behavioral Science 103.

To view a recording of the event, please use this link:

Biohacking, Open Source Biologics and the Open Insulin Project.

Nudging toward Better Health – 2016

As part of the Health and Exercise Scie

nce Seminar Series and the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, Prof. Moti Gorin, Director of CSU’s Jann Benson Ethics Center and Assistant Professor of Philosophy, presented, “Nudging toward Better Health.” His presentation discussed the ethics of using behavioral economic interventions to influence health-related behaviors. The event was held Sept. 16, 2016 in the Health and Exercise Teaching Facility.

Welfare Rights in the UN’s Declaration: Are They Universal Rights? – 2016

The Department of Philosophy presented the Ron Williams Memorial Lecture, which given by Dr. Rex Martin, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kansas. Dr. Martin spoke on “The Welfare Rights in the UN’s Declaration: Are They Universal Human Rights?” His talk addressed the two main lines of analysis that have been raised to support the claim that the welfare rights in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) cannot literally be rights of everybody. Dr. Martin will counter both of these lines of argument. The event was held Sept. 16, 2016 in Eddy 200.

To listen to a recording of the event, please use this link:

Welfare Rights in the UN’s Declaration: Are They Universal Rights?

Student Evaluations (Mostly) Don’t Measure Teaching Effectiveness – 2016

Philip B. Stark, Professor of Statistics and Associate Dean of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, presented his research in a talk titled, “Student Evaluations (Mostly) Don’t Measure Teaching Effectiveness.” Student evaluations of teaching (SET) are widely used in academic personnel decisions as a measure of teaching effectiveness. Compelling observational evidence shows that student ratings vary with instructors’ gender, ethnicity, and attractiveness; with course rigor, mathematical content, and format; and with students’ grade expectations. This talk took place on Oct. 3, 2016 at 4:00 p.m in Engineering 100.

To view a recording of the event, please use this link:

Student Evaluations (Mostly) Don’t Measure Teaching Effectiveness

What we need to Flourish: Rethinking External Goods and the Ecological Systems that provide them – 2016

Dr. Ken Shockley, recently named the first Holmes Rolston III Endowed Chair in Environmental Ethics at CSU, presented his inaugural lecture as the endowed chair, titled, “What we need to Flourish: Rethinking External Goods and the Ecological Systems that provide them.” The talk addressed balancing the need for development with the need for environmental protection. Shockley argues that too often development and environmental protection are thought of as being at odds. Just as development requires supporting robust social systems, so it requires supporting robust ecological systems. Rather than being at odds with one another, development requires robust environmental protection. Prior to accepting the Holmes Rolston Endowed Chair in Environmental Ethics, Shockley was an associate professor of philosophy and the academic director of the Sustainability Academy at the University at Buffalo-SUNY.

The talk was held on Oct. 14, 2016 in Eddy 200. 10_14_16-shockley-flyer

Should We Choose Our Politicians by Lottery, Rather than Election? – 2016

Dr. Alexander Guerrero, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and of Law at the University of Pennsylvania, presented a lecture titled, Should We Choose Our Politicians by Lottery, Rather than Election?  At the beginning of the 18th Century, there were no electoral democracies. By the end of the 20th Century, there were more than 120. This is a remarkable world transformation. Electoral democracy is a clear improvement over much of what had come before. But it is not perfect, particularly given certain widespread features of modern political societies. Unfortunately, much contemporary political philosophy and even the broader culture treats electoral democracy as some combination of (1) the best we can do and (2) morally required by norms of political legitimacy, autonomy, and equality. One alternative to electoral democracy is a political system that uses lotteries, rather than elections, to select at least a significant portion of our political officials. There are many different ways of implementing this kind of system. The paper discusses several possibilities, and concludes by considering–and attempting to respond to–some of the natural concerns about such a system.  The talk was held on Oct. 20, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. in Clark A 201.

To view a recording of the event, please use this link:

Should We Choose Our Politicians by Lottery, Rather than Election?

Earlier in the day, Dr. Guerrero discussed with a panel of CSU faculty members the implications of the lottocratic approach for promoting greater equity in faculty service assignments and for faculty governance. Discussants will include Mary Stromberger, (Chair, Faculty Council; Soil and Crop Sciences) and several members of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women Faculty (SCSWF): Alexandra Bernasek (Chair, Economics); Mica Glantz (Chair, Anthropology); and Erica Suchman (Associate Department Head for Undergraduate Education, Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology). The discussion was held on Thursday Oct. 20th from 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. in Anatomy/Zoology W 205.

To view a recording of the event, please use this link: Panel Discussion

The Neenan Company; Overcoming an Ethical Crisis – 2016

The Daniels Ethics Initiative at the College of Business, in conjunction with the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, is excited to announce the session The Neenan Company; Overcoming an Ethical Crisis, presented by Founder of the company, David Neenan and President of the company, David Shigekane. The Neenan Company, based in Fort Collins, CO, originally began as a traditional construction company. After a few years of operating in this traditional fashion, the company successfully transitioned into an integrated design and construction approach. The company had been founded on the values of excellence and innovation by David Neenan. Yet, after years of apparent success in their transition, cracks began to form in the internal processes of the company as well as the buildings that they had built. Structural problems were discovered in several of their buildings and their reputation was at stake. The session highlights a true-life account how the company overcame the crisis! The objectives of the session are: 1) to inspire the audience to learn from the Neenan experience, 2) to highlight the complex nature of a real-world ethical crisis, 3) and most importantly, to encourage the audience to “do the right thing” in the midst of a crisis.

Nov. 9, 2016 in the Grey Rock Room at Lory Student Center.

To view a recording of the event, please use this link:

The Neenan Company; Overcoming an Ethical Crisis

Ethics, Agriculture and the Environment – 2016

As part of the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, Dr. Robert Zimdahl, Professor Emeritus of Weed Science in the Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management of the College of Agriculture and recipient of CSU’s Oliver P. Pennock Distinguished Service Award, will present a talk titled, Ethics, Agriculture and the Environment. Agricultural scientists have assumed that as long their research and the resultant technology increased food production and availability, we and the end users were somehow exempt from negotiating and re-negotiating the moral bargain that is the foundation of the modern democratic state.  We have been so certain of the moral correctness of the pursuit of increased production that we failed to listen to and understand the positions of other interest groups (e.g., environmental groups, organic practitioners). Agriculturalists have not articulated any value position other than the value of production and have not offered reasons why production ought to retain its primacy. Agriculturalists must see agriculture in its many forms — productive, scientific, environmental, economic, social, political, and moral. It is not sufficient to justify all agricultural activities on the basis of increased production.

Nov. 10th at 4:00 p.m. in Clark A 201.

To view a recording of the event, please use this link:

Ethics, Agriculture and the Environment

The Spring 2016 Ethics Colloquium Speaker Series:

The End of the University

Provost Rick Miranda and University Distinguished Teaching Scholar and Professor Matt Hickey held a public conversation titled, “The End of The University” They discussed some of the issues that university faculty could consider in designing curricula that equip students to have a values-based approach to their education:  How can our students learn to deal both ethically and effectively with the civic, social, political, and economic implications of our changing world – and how should we provide those learning outcomes? Stephanie Clemons, vice chair of Faculty Council, moderated the conversation, which generated engaged participation by many attendees.

February 17, 2016

To view a recording of the event, please use this link: http://colostatecoe.adobeconnect.com/p8hyek09gqb/

Learning Analytics:  Risks, Benefits, and Ethical Issues

Several experts on digital learning, learning analytics, and research ethics discussed “Learning Analytics: Risks, Benefits, and Ethical Issues.” Gene Gloeckner, professor in the School of Education and member of the Institutional Review Board, CSU; George Siemens, professor and director of the Learning Innovation and Networked Knowledge Research (LINK) Lab, University of Texas at Arlington; Sharon Slade, senior lecturer and regional manager of the online Certificate in Management, The Open University, United Kingdom; and Mitchell Stevens, associate professor, Sociology and Graduate School of Business, and director, Scandinavian Consortium for Organizational Research (SCANCOR), Stanford University. Anton Betten, chair of the CSU Committee on Teaching and Learning, moderated the discussion, which generated substantive discussion among face-to-face and virtual attendees.

To view a recording of the event, please use this link: http://colostatecoe.adobeconnect.com/p95cmko2fjc/

Keeping the Pool Clean:  Prevention and Management of Misconduct Related Retractions (sponsored by CSU and the DHHS Office of Research Integrity)

The goal of this conference is to assemble key stakeholders affected by misconduct-related retractions in order to provide a forum to discuss retractions and propose potential actions, interventions, and solutions.  Specifically, we propose to bring together authors/researchers, university leadership, Research Integrity Officers, journal editors, and those from the ORI, NSF, and watchdog groups to discuss how to identify fraudulent submissions, whistleblowing, responsibility and ethics, retraction notices, and relevant forensic tools.

Website:          https://vprnet.research.colostate.edu/oriconference/

Date/Time:      July 20 – 22, 2016

Location:          Fort Collins Hilton

How clean is the pool in your own backyard and how would you know?  Assessing Organizational Climates for Research Integrity using the SOuRCe

Research integrity on the part of individual researchers is partially predicated on their working in organizational settings that similarly evince integrity.  We believe that providing researchers and institutional leaders with systematic information about their local organizational climates can inform, motivate, and help to evaluate efforts to improve those climates and to promote responsible research.  Yet tools for assessing the integrity of research climates have generally been lacking, until recently.  The Survey of Organizational Research Climate (SOuRCe) is the only validated instrument specifically designed to empirically measure the climate of research integrity in academic organizations.  We believe that this innovative approach to providing tailored and comparative information to institutional leaders will contribute to improving research integrity in organizations and for individual researchers.  While one-size-fits-all solutions have been the norm in ethics education efforts, the SOuRCe moves beyond such limited and costly responses, by drawing attention to the local and specific, focusing attention on what needs strengthening, and where, by providing locally tailored informational feedback about mutable aspects of local organizational environments.

If you’d like to view a recording of the event, please use this link:

https://echo.colostate.edu/ess/echo/presentation/39a44aba-0969-419b-afab-75b4719f06e9?ec=true