Ethics Initiative
We are living through a century of unprecedented technological, economic, and social change. And each new development poses significant ethical questions that we must study and decisively respond to. The Notre Dame Ethics Initiative will establish Notre Dame as a premier global destination for the study of ethics, offering superb training for future generations of ethicists and moral leaders, a platform for engagement of the Catholic moral tradition with other modes of inquiry, and an opportunity to forge insights into some of the most significant ethical issues of our time.
Status Update
The Ethics Initiative has made early and important strides in working with campus units to develop strategies to grow Notre Dame’s research infrastructure in foundational and applied ethics. These efforts include integrating the ND Tech Ethics Center and IBM-Ethics Lab under the Initiative, launching a $3M John Templeton Foundation grant to develop signature courses in human flourishing, and recruiting faculty from across the country for an interdisciplinary, residential research fellowship year focused on ethics and the good life.
The Ethics Initiative executive committee held a kickoff meeting in November 2023 to discuss goals, objectives, and future plans. With the help of Institutional Research, Innovation, and Strategy, the Ethics Initiative also led a multi-day retreat with the Department of Philosophy to identify hiring priorities in moral philosophy. It continues to convene a sub-area faculty committee focused on technology ethics, is collaborating with the Department of Sociology and the Keough School of Global Affairs on two new joint hires in applied ethics, and is coordinating with other departments, centers, and the graduate school to develop strategies to grow ethics-related research opportunities across campus.
University of Notre Dame to establish Jenkins Center for Virtue Ethics
The new Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Center for Virtue Ethics will be a signature element of the Notre Dame Ethics Initiative.
March Ethics Initiative event draws a big crowd
Approximately 175 members faculty, staff, students, and postdocs attended the Connect with the Ethics Initiative event on March 5 to learn more about this new University-wide endeavor.
Learn more about the Ethics Initiative
Executive Committee
Partners
- Department of Philosophy
- Department of Theology
- Department of Sociology
- John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values
- Keough School of Global Affairs
- Mendoza College of Business
- Nanovic Institute for European Studies
- Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study
- The Graduate School
- The Lucy Institute for Data & Society
- Notre Dame-IBM Technology Ethics Lab
Additional partners will be added as work on the initiative continues in the coming months and years.
