Lecture series abstracts
An Intergenerational Conversation Between Kalamazoo Leaders
This conversation will continue the series’ exploration of the question, “What is a life well lived?” A main component of the series thus far has been intergenerational relationships, and specifically, what is the wisdom that can be shared when a young person engages with an elder member of their community. This conversation brings together two young leaders and two elder leaders from the Kalamazoo community. Each has lived a driven life of service, spirituality, and community. What can be shared from elders who have decades of personal, professional, and reflective experiences that help answer the question, “What is a life well lived?” What can be shared from young leaders who are envisioning the world in which they hope to live a life well lived?
Matthew Miller is the founder and director of the Kalamazoo Lyceum, a community conversation organization that started in early 2023. Matthew was born and raised in Kalamazoo, and recently returned to town after completing his Masters of Social Work from the University of Michigan. He is an avid reader and outdoorsman, while also giving back to his community in a variety of board and volunteer roles.
Tom Beech was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He recently retired from a long career, initially in the business sector and, since 1974, in the field of philanthropy. He has held CEO leadership positions with The Minneapolis Foundation, the Burnett Foundation in Fort Worth, Texas, and the Fetzer Institute in Kalamazoo. He served on the national Boards of Directors of the Council on Foundations, Independent Sector, Funders Concerned About AIDS and the Institute for Community Peace. He has written and consulted extensively on non-profit governance and on resilience and community development. Beech received his undergraduate education at Carleton College and graduate education at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University. He lives in Kalamazoo with his wife, Carol, an artist who creates large abstract oil paintings. Since retiring, Beech has volunteered with a number of local organizations and has followed his longtime love for woodworking, creating abstract sculptures and whimsical fish.
Jeri Love is an award-winning photographer, writer, and a Certified Photovoice Facilitator through Photovoice Worldwide. Her photographic work has been in group and solo exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States. She formerly worked in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago as a journalist and broadcast news executive, followed by a career as a corporate communications executive and ghostwriter. A resident of Kalamazoo for 11 years, Jeri is involved in environmental justice work and community arts projects through her company, Red Bag Arts.
Genesis Symone Griffin is a 22-year-old Kalamazoo native who was raised on the Northside. She is currently earning her bachelor's degree in family sciences and human development from Western Michigan University. Alongside school, she serves in youth advocacy roles at KYDNetwork and Confident SOLE.
Michael Scott II is a high school student at Kalamazoo Central High School who has committed himself to serving his local community. He was the recipient of the Dr. Charles C. Warfield Community Service Award presented at the 2024 Freedom Fund Banquet by the Kalamazoo Metropolitan Branch of the NAACP. Scott was recognized for his local community service and volunteerism at the Kalamazoo Deacons Conference, Dorothy L. Hobbs Food Pantry, South Michigan Food Bank, Kalamazoo County Jail (Chaplain’s Office), working part time as media assistant for Pixel Punch Studios, and for his social Justice work with the Youth Department of the Progressive National Baptist Convention. His parents, Bishop Michael T. Scott Sr. and Dr. Tamara T. Scott, serve as the spiritual leaders of Galilee Baptist Church of Kalamazoo.
Solito's Ethical Imperatives – Policy Reflections on the Global Journeys of Unaccompanied Migrant Youth
Solito’s narrator compels readers to examine how global economic factors and national policies shape and impact the international journeys of unaccompanied migrant youth. This panel engages local professionals in the fields of economics, health, education and law to explore the ethical dimensions of economic, border, health and educational policies that respond to the needs and challenges of unaccompanied migrant youth.
Susan Pozo is professor of economics at Western Michigan University. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from Michigan State University and an A.B. from Barnard College. Although often focusing on Latin America, her research projects are set in all areas of the globe. She has published on refugees, immigration policy, international human capital, undocumented migration, the determinants and impacts of immigrants' remittances, uncertainty, and foreign exchange rates. Pozo’s work has been funded by numerous governmental and non-governmental agencies. She has frequently been consulted by news sources, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and NPR Marketplace. She has held visiting research positions at the Universidad de Montevideo, Universidad de Salamanca and University of Oxford. In 2024, she was recipient of the American Society of Hispanic Economists’ Biannual Academic Achievement Award and in 2018 was named a WMU Distinguished Faculty Scholar.
Kathy Purnell, J.D., Ph.D., is the director and managing attorney of the Human/Civil Rights Law Center. She is a licensed attorney in the state of Michigan (since 2008) and the pro bono chair of the Michigan Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Throughout her career, she has worked as an attorney, fellow or advocate for many human rights agencies and initiatives including Justice for Our Neighbors-Michigan, Immigration Legal Services for Afghan Arrivals (ILSAA), the Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan, Legal Aid of Western Michigan, and the International Human Rights Law Institute (DePaul University). In addition to her work in immigration law, Purnell has taught as a professor in the fields of immigration law and policy, administrative law, non-profit governance and political theory, and has over a decade of experience working as a university administrator. An avid advocate and seeker of new ways to engage with others to strengthen democracy and build inclusive community, she has led “Resilience Retreats” at the GilChrist Center of the Fetzer Institute, is a practitioner of Racial Healing through the Michigan Transformation Collective, and is an affiliate of the American Philosophical Practitioners Association. She is a graduate of Harvard University (A.B.), Cornell University (Ph.D.) and the DePaul University College of Law (J.D.).
Abra Smith is a passionate servant leader, keynote speaker and holistic coach with a master’s degree in clinical nutrition and a bachelor’s of science degree in education. Her journey began in the classroom, where she spent more than a decade inspiring young minds as an educator. She helped to design innovative curricula and foster inclusive, cooperative learning environments. She also spearheaded schoolwide events, after-school programs and family mentorship initiatives—all while raising her two sons, Christian and Carter. As Smith’s vision for teaching grew beyond the boundaries of traditional education, she found her calling in the out-of-school-time sector. At KYD Network, she has worn many hats, from leading family engagement initiatives and coaching quality youth development, to serving as director of wellness initiatives. Today, as co-executive director, Smith is dedicated to creating spaces of healing, liberation and well-being for youth and adults alike. She dreams of a world where young people have the tools to nurture their inner well-being, forge positive relationships, and build innovative communities that shatter harmful barriers. She is the founder and CEO of R.E.A.L. (Renewed Eating and Living), where she inspires health equity, helping individuals and audiences to embrace holistic healing, self-care, nutrition and other wellness practices. Outside of work, Smith loves trying new adventures, jamming to 90s R&B, traveling, and enjoying time with loved ones—especially over good food and games.
Pamela Wadsworth is an associate professor of the Bronson School of Nursing and of the Western Michigan University Homer J. Stryker School of Medicine. She loves being a student more than a professor, and grateful that her job as a professor and nurse practitioner allow her to learn every day from her colleagues, students, patients, and community. She is currently pursuing a post-master's degree at Grand Valley State University to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner. She completed her Ph.D. in nursing and health innovation from Arizona State University, her women's health nurse practitioner master's program from Arizona State University, her B.S.N. from Wayne State University, and her B.A. from Albion College.
Feeling Formation in the Therapeutic Encounter
This paper considers the therapist-client relationship in therapeutic encounters, bringing insights from feminist relational philosophy of emotions to offer new directions for conceptualizing the relationship. It outlines and contest the presumption of individualism in some conceptualizations, which understand the therapist as having the key role of helping clients identify, manage or cope with their feelings. Drawing on feminist philosophy of emotion, and expressivism in particular, the paper articulates the need for a more robust understanding of therapists as sometimes participants in feeling formation.
Many approaches to understanding the function of therapy make it seem as if feelings are formed and waiting to be named, identified, possibly in part by having their somatic dimensions recognized. Less discussed are the ways therapists are and can be necessary participants in the formation of feelings at all.
We might legitimately worry that such a view gives therapists too much power to shape the client’s experience or memories. This concern properly identifies the real vulnerability of the clients to receiving uptake, to being dismissed, or to being responded to in such a way that their experiences will not be recognizable to them. But without a clear understanding of the proper role of therapists in feeling formation, we cannot understand or evaluate the success of such therapies. We need a sufficiently relational account of feeling formation in therapeutic contexts to understand the marks of effective therapy, beyond individualistic presumptions.
Ami Harbin is associate professor of philosophy and women and gender studies at Oakland University. Her research is in moral psychology, philosophy of emotion and bioethics. She is the author of Disorientation and Moral Life (Oxford 2016) and Fearing Together: Ethics for Insecurity (Oxford 2023).
A Life Well Lived – Kalamazoo – Closing Event
This event will feature a talk by Sky Bergman, who made the documentary Lives Well Lived -- the inspiration for this yearlong event series. The talk will be followed by two artistic projects on the theme of the series. A Photovoice exhibit curated by award-winning photographer Jeri Love will feature work produced by students in her Osher Lifelong Learning Institute photography course. There will also be a screening of short documentaries made by video production students under the supervision of Associate Professor of Communication Lusike Mukhongo in collaboration with the WMU Office of Service Learning and the Public Media Network.
Sky Bergman, professor emeritus of photography and Video at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, is in her third act after a 30-year teaching career. Her artwork is in prestigious museum collections, and her commercial work has appeared in renowned magazines like the Smithsonian. Bergman’s passion is creating films and projects that inspire intergenerational connections, emphasizing the power of shared stories. Following her successful PBS documentary "Lives Well Lived," her book "Lives Well Lived — GENERATIONS" distills wisdom from the film, celebrating life's essence across generations.
Toward Excellence: Moral Education in the Virtues
This talk will explore some central features of morality in terms of what are commonly regarded as virtues. A virtue is a disposition that is an important feature of one’s character. A focus of this presentation is explaining how a variety of scholars have made significant contributions to the study of virtue and education. Adam Smith’s notion of virtues was shared in one of his significant works, Theory of Moral Sentiments. This work of Smith will be analyzed in conjunction with the work of John Dewey, who emphasized the importance of recognizing and supporting moral habits, or virtues, at every level of the educational process. The authors will explore how Dewey regards the careful consideration of factors relevant to exercising good judgment. Comparison and contrast between Dewey and Andre Compte-Sponville has enhanced some of Aristotle’s work by identifying, scrutinizing and analyzing as many as 18 virtues. The talk develops exemplars around honesty and friendship as important lifelong assets for children, youth and adults. Reasonableness is addressed throughout as an important moral virtue that should be developed early in one’s life and reinforced when facing daily choices and challenges. Additionally, Martha Nussbaum’s scholarship on the virtues is noted, as well as significant contributions by Randall Curren, Arnold Lobel, Vivian Paley and William May.
Michael S. Pritchard is emeritus professor of philosophy and former co-director and a founding member of the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society, established in 1985 at Western Michigan University. He continues occasionally to teach courses in practical ethics, business ethics, the history of 18th century Scottish moral philosophy (Thomas Reid, Adam Smith, and David Hume), as well as the philosophical thinking of children. He received his B.A. in philosophy from Alma College and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in philosophy in 1968. He was a professor of philosophy for 48 years at Western Michigan University and was the Willard A. Brown Distinguished Professor. He has more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and 15 books including Engineering Ethics: Concepts & Cases with C.E. Harris, Michael Rabins, Ray James and Elaine Englehardt (Cengage: 1995, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2013, and 2018).
Elaine E. Englehardt is the Distinguished Professor of Ethics and a professor of philosophy emerita at Utah Valley University (UVU). She taught philosophy, ethics and communication classes at UVU for more than 47 years. She received the UVU 2021 Wilson W. Sorensen Lifetime Achievement Award. She recently completed her second term as president of the Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum. She is author of 10 books and has written numerous peer-reviewed articles. She served in various administrative positions at UVU including vice president, dean and director. Her B.A. and M.A. are from Brigham Young University, and her Ph.D. is from the University of Utah. She has written and directed seven multi-year national grants. Four large grants are in Ethics Across the Curriculum from the Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), and three are in interdisciplinary ethics from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Her first NEH grant funded the beginning of the Ethics and Values core interdisciplinary course at UVU. From this work, she is considered the founder of the Ethics Across the Curriculum movement.
Former Extremists in Preventing and Countering Violence
It is now common for initiatives aimed at preventing violence to utilize former extremists – not only in the United States but around the globe. Such efforts are largely the result of ongoing threats to public safety, with some of most recent examples including the assassination attempts on President-elect Trump, threats against elected officials, worries about election violence, and the growing approval among the public for political violence. This lecture discusses how researchers, practitioners, and policymakers have utilized the insights and experiences of former extremists to prevent and counter violent extremism (P/CVE), highlighting the strengths, limitations, and ethical concerns associated with such efforts. This lecture concludes with a series of recommendations for involving former extremists in P/CVE initiatives.
Ryan Scrivens is an assistant professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. He is also an associate director at the International CyberCrime Research Centre at Simon Fraser University in Canada and a research fellow at the VOX-Pol Network of Excellence in Ireland. He is the recipient of the 2022 Early Career Impact Award from the American Society of Criminology's Division on Terrorism and Bias Crimes. Scrivens conducts problem-oriented interdisciplinary research with a focus on terrorists’ and extremists' use of the Internet, right-wing terrorism and extremism and hate crime. Scrivens has published more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles, books and book chapters, conference proceedings, and policy notes. In addition, he has presented his findings before practitioners and policymakers at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the UK Home Office, the Swedish Defence Research Agency, the United Nations, and the European Commission, among many others.
Minds, Mirrors and Gods: Decoding Our Humanity in the AI Revolution
Beginning with the example of the AI chatbot, this talk demystifies the gap between AI tools and human minds by explaining the difference between a mirror image and the reality it reflects. Using the mirror metaphor, the talk outlines how the reflective capacity of AI tools explains both their power and their perils. Most importantly, by reproducing the historical patterns of injustice and shortsightedness found in our data, AI mirrors push humanity’s past failures into our future, ensuring that we make the same mistakes, only at ever greater scales. The talk ends by reflecting on how we can reclaim our shared humanity from the AI mirror illusion, as we stand on the brink of an unsustainable past that urgently commands our power to change.
Shannon Vallor serves as director of the Centre for Technomoral Futures in the Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) and is programme director for EFI’s MSc in Data and AI Ethics. She holds the Baillie Gifford Chair in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence in the University of Edinburgh’s Department of Philosophy. Vallor joined the Futures Institute in 2020 following a career in the United States as a leader in the ethics of emerging technologies, including a post as a visiting AI Ethicist at Google from 2018-2020. She is the author of The AI Mirror: How to Reclaim Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking (Oxford University Press, 2024) and Technology and the Virtues: A Philosophical Guide to a Future Worth Wanting (Oxford University Press, 2016). She serves as advisor to government and industry bodies on responsible AI and data ethics. She is also principal investigator and co-director (with Ewa Luger) of the UKRI research programme BRAID (Bridging Responsible AI Divides), funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.