KALAMAZOO, MI – The Western Michigan University Center for the Study of Ethics in Society will host a series of lectures during the spring 2023 semester. All these events are free and open to the public.
Using Media REsponsibility
The lecture series kicks off Sunday, Feb. 19, with “Special Exhibit Tour: Using Media Responsibly,” led by the creator of the Wonder Media: Ask the Questions! exhibit at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum. Participants will meet at the front desk at 1 p.m. to join Sue Ellen Christian, a 2021-24 Presidential Innovation Professor, for a personal tour focusing on fact-checking and responsible decision-making when sharing content on social media. This event’s co-sponsor is the School of Communication.
The Ethical Considerations of Conducting Research with Forced Migrants
The Ethics Center’s next lecture is on “The Ethical Considerations of Conducting Research with Forced Migrants” on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 5 p.m. in Room 208 at the Bernhard Center. This lecture by Dr. Wa’ed Alshoubaki will discuss the ethical issues that might develop during research on forced migrants focusing on the "Do No Harm" strategy. Alshoubaki is an assistant professor at the University of Jordan and is currently on a visiting Fulbright scholarship at WMU's School of Public Affairs and Administration. This event’s co-sponsors are the Haenicke Institute for Global Education, School of Public Affairs and Administration and Office of Research and Innovation.
Bioethics in the Era of COVID-19 … and Beyond
Dr. Rebecca Weintraub Brendel, president of the American Psychiatric Association and associate director of the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School, will talk about “Bioethics in the Era of COVID-19 … and Beyond,” 1 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1, on Microsoft Teams. Her talk is hosted by the WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine. Brendel will identify the central ethical challenges raised by the COVID-19 pandemic for health care professionals and discuss various theoretical approaches to the work of bioethics and how the COVID-19 experience may shape future work in ethics.
Grasslands, Garbage Islands and Plastic Trees: Working Toward a Future Ecology
Next up is “Grasslands, Garbage Islands and Plastic Trees: Working Toward a Future Ecology,” with Alec Koppers, a second-year master’s student in the Department of Philosophy. This lecture will be presented on Wednesday, March 15, at 6 p.m. in Room 105 at the Bernhard Center. Koppers argues that traditional ecology must be abandoned, and what replaces it must be future-oriented. Instead of attempting to recreate the image of what an environment looked like before human contact, we should focus on restoring its relational-based naturalness and the properties composing them. This talk’s co-sponsors are the Climate Change Working Group and the Department of Philosophy.
Navigating a Health Care System Response to Dobbs
Kayte Spector-Bagdady, interim co-director at the Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, will be speaking in person in the auditorium at the WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine’s Upjohn building at 300 Portage St. in Kalamazoo and online on Microsoft Teams on Thursday, March 16, at noon. Her talk, “Navigating a Health Care System Response to Dobbs,” will focus on the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Check the Ethics Center’s webpage closer to the event for the virtual link.
Is Ignoring Climate Change Akin to Mass Murder?
“Is Ignoring Climate Change Akin to Mass Murder? Troubling Ethical Conclusions about Climate Change and its Effects,” will be on Tuesday, March 21, at 6 p.m. in Room 208 at the Bernhard Center. Jonathan Milgrim, a faculty specialist in the Department of Philosophy, will discuss the thorny ethical issue of how we should attribute responsibility for harms related to climate change. This lecture’s co-sponsors are the Climate Change Working Group and Department of Philosophy.
Between Violence and Resistance: The Challenges of Latin America in the 21st Century
The Ethics Center lecture series will end on Thursday, March 30, with the 2023 Winnie Veenstra Peace Lecture, “Between Violence and Resistance: The Challenges of Latin America in the 21st Century,” at 6 p.m. in Room 208 at the Bernhard Center. Edgar Franco-Vivanco, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Michigan, will address how colonialism and U.S. foreign policy have shaped problematic trends in Latin America, including the erosion of democracy and the prevalence of violent crime. The lecture will also shed some light on the efforts of Indigenous groups and civil society to explore solutions to climate change, resist the encroachment of organized crime and codify women’s rights. This event is co-sponsored by the Haenicke Institute for Global Education, Department of Spanish, Department of Political Science and Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents of War (KNOW).
All Ethics Center events are eligible for WMU Signature credit. To learn more, visit the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society's lecture series webpage.
About the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society
In August 1985, the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society was created after WMU faculty across the curriculum met to discuss their common interests in studying and teaching ethics. Each academic year, the center sponsors a number of public presentations addressing a wide range of ethical issues.
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