We are an interdisciplinary association of scholars, academic programs, and research centers drawn from the eight campuses of Indiana University.
We support the Religion and Ethics seminars and sponsor events relating to religion, ethics, and values.
Join us for the 17th Annual Thomas H. Lake Lecture with special guests David Brooks and Anne Snyder. Together they will discuss faith, philanthropy and community.
St. Luke's UMC
100 W. 86th Street, Indianapolis
David Brooks is an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times, a position he began in September 2003, as well as an Executive Director at the Aspen Institute. He is also currently a commentator on “The PBS Newshour,” NPR’s “All Things Considered” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Anne Snyder is the editor-in-chief of Comment magazine. Since 2016 Anne has directed The Philanthropy Roundtable‘s Character Initiative, a program seeking to help foundations and business leaders strengthen “the middle ring” of morally formative institutions. Her path-breaking guidebook, The Fabric of Character: A Wise Giver’s Guide to Renewing our Social and Moral Landscape, was published in 2019. Anne is also a Fellow at the Center for Opportunity Urbanism, a Houston-based think tank that explores how cities can drive opportunity for the bulk of their citizens, and a Senior Fellow of The Trinity Forum.
Associate Curator for American Art; Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library
543 Indiana Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Morgan will introduce several big ethical questions as a way to think about contemporary public art.
Hosted by the Public Art and Ethics seminar
Fall 2019-Spring 2020
Effects and Echoes: The Impacts of White Nationalism on Religious Communities
Our nation finds itself in an ethically troublesome situation as white nationalist and far-right extremist groups have become more brazen and violent in the past several years. This seminar will provide a frame and grounding for emerging research into and a platform for community education around the resurgence of activities by hate groups with a special focus on the impacts on minoritized religious communities.
A Faith Leader and a Scientist Walk into a Bar: Building Productive Conversations about Faith and Science
The seminar’s main objective is to encourage empathy between scientists and members of faith communities, as empathy is a critical component of collaborative relationships and productive conversations. Seminar activities are designed, in part, using techniques from applied improvisational theater to connect and engage participants. These experiential learning games have been used by the series organizers to build empathy and communicate more effectively across differences in discipline and expertise.
Krista Hoffman-Longtin; Communication Studies, Liberal Arts, IUPUI
Religious Persecution & Religious Pluralism in the Early Modern World
Bringing together specialists in history, religion, language, and literature, this seminar explores on a global scale the phenomena of religious persecution and religious pluralism from 1500 to 1800. The conflicts between Protestants and Catholics and the missionary encounter with non-Christians and non-theists provoked a rich literature of ideas about religious accommodation, integration, pluralism, and syncretism at the same time as nation states and religious orders attempted to enforce orthodoxy and to convert heretics and heathens. These conflicts drew urgent attention not only to the ethical question of freedom of conscience but also to the presumed but contested relationship of religion and morality. Can ethics survive and thrive without religion?
Eric MacPhail; French and Italian, College of Arts and Sciences, IUB
Daniella Kostroun; History, School of Liberal Arts, IUPUI
Educated: A Common Read on Ethics, Education, and Society
Incoming freshman will take part in a Common Read program on Tara Westover’s Educated. The seminar uses the book discussion as a springboard to bring together faculty and learning communities from the Kelley School of Business and the College of Arts and Sciences to explore a number of interrelated questions: What are the obligations of community and society to children? What is the value of education? What is the role of religion in education and educational access?
Kelly Eskew; Business Law & Ethics, Kelley School of Business, IUB
Josua Perry; Business Law and Ethics, Kelley School of Business, IUB
Edward P. Comentale; English, College of Arts and Sciences, IUB
The Lasting Effects of the Nazi Regime on Medical Research
The year 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. To commemorate that milestone, we are exploring the lasting impact of the Nazi regime on medical research. This series features experts in medical research, medical ethics, Nazi history, and anatomical sciences who will discuss critical topics such as the ethical violations that occurred during the Nazi persecution of the Jewish people, the use of Nazi produced anatomical knowledge, and the prospect of medical ethical violations, such as those experienced by the prisoners of Auschwitz, occurring again.
Amber Comer; Assistant Professor IU School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Health Sciences, IUPUI
Jason Organ; School of Science, Anatomy and Cell Biology, IUPUI
