Center for Ethics and Community

Ethics for the Private and Public Sector

University of Colorado, Denver

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The Center for Ethics and Community is dedicated to strengthening ethics in the community,in schools and universities, and in the professions. Through education and research, dialogue and cooperation with other programs, the Center encourages ethics as an alternative to destructive patterns in our community.

As we are confronted with ever new responsibilities of unprecedented proportions, there has been a dramatic rise in the concern for ethics. The new scope of ethics makes it essential that research and education establish fruitful avenues for dialogue with the general community and the professions.

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Principal Center Activities

• Community Outreach
  
• Academic Programs
  
• Research in Ethics
  
• Ethics and the Professions

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Community Outreach

The Center for Ethics and Community offers a variety of initiatives based on interests and concerns expressed by the community.

Retreats and Seminars

The Center offers ethics retreats as well as topical seminars for businesses and institutions on such themes as Ethics on

the Job or Corporate Responsibility in the Community. The Center also offers public forum discussions, such as the highly successful panel discussions Journalism and Ethics in Our Community and Business and Ethics in Our Community.

Ethics in Education

In cooperation with parents, teachers, and administrators, the Center offers programs which facilitate the enhancement of schools' ethical climate. Members of the school community are given a basic description of the current state of ethics, and are guided in exploring their own present opinions about ethics in a thoughtful atmosphere of informed discussion.

Community Advisory Board

The Board advises the Center faculty and staff on the needs of the community and on future directions of the Center.

Round-Table Discussions

Members of the community are invited to form small groups to discuss ethical topics of their choice with a Center Fellow as facilitator. For example, for over a year the Center has sponsored a series of round-tables on Ethics, Genetics, and Social Policy, in cooperation with the Eleanor Roosevelt Institute.

Ethics in Family Life

Community organizations can sponsor Center workshops for families in which participants work together to strengthen ethical elements in family dynamics. The workshops consist of a brief overview of ethics, an explanation of the main elements of ethics in family life, small discussion groups, and designing a brief written plan for each family on how to strengthen ethics at home.

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Academic Programs

Through the Department of Philosophy the Center offers an Ethics Certificate and an Ethics Minor.

The Ethics Certificate is offered to individuals outside the university. The Certificate program encourages community members from all walks of life to further their ethics education.

The Ethics Minor is offered primarily to students enrolled for regular course work

Research in Ethics

Research in ethics plays an important role in an increasing number of professional and civic endeavors. Not only is the general area of theoretical ethics expanding at an unprecedented rate, but many specialized areas of ethics are demanding increasing research about such issues as the appropriate use of new technologies, privacy and autonomy in health care, interpersonal interactions in an increasingly complex and changing business environment.

In addition to topical research activities the Center for Ethics and Community will:

• Establish an up-to-date research library
  
• Provide internships for students interested in practical applications of ethics
  
• Establish research fellowships

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Ethics and the Professions

The Center for Ethics and Community serves as a focal point for dialogue, cooperative research and learning among members of all professions. Many professions now have their own ethics programs, yet there is relatively little connection among them. Professionals from areas such as Law, Health Care, Education, Business and Government can benefit greatly from becoming Associates in a Center which is designed to support interest in all areas of ethics.

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