The Center for the Study of Ethics and Human Values is a collaborative, interdisciplinary initiative with active participation from faculty, students, and practitioners in all major disciplines and professions. Our mission is to advance knowledge of human values through scholarship and an understanding of the practical application of values in human affairs. Our approach is to facilitate and engage genuine dialogue on the critical issues of our time. Toward this end, the Center fosters research, education, and community outreach and service in the study and greater appreciation of ethics and human values.

Education

The Center works with faculty and students throughout the University to develop and implement innovative approaches to teaching ethics and human values. The Center sponsors a series of student led programs on topics of special interest, and provides individual research support to undergraduates and graduates through the Student Awards in Ethics Program.

Research

The Center functions as a catalyst for the development of new research, and as a stimulus for collaboration across and among academic disciplines. A primary objective of the Center is to create forums which enable faculty from different schools to work together and to focus their unique contributions on understanding complex ethical issues. The Center’s Faculty Grants in Ethics annually provides both financial and administrative assistance to faculty for research in ethics and, more broadly, to the study of human values.

Outreach

The Center’s programs are designed to encourage all sectors in the community—business leaders, professionals in the clergy, law, medicine, social services, government—to become involved in an open and thoughtful discussion of the practical application of values. The Center actively promotes the ongoing examination of fundamental problems in ethics and values among practitioners, scholars, researchers, and the general public.

Service

The Center facilitates the application of values through service projects. Where values can make a real difference the Center provides educational and organizational guidance that address specific community needs. Our services target defined tasks and particular industry applications. We work with groups, businesses, and institutions to design solutions that meet service needs and accomplish organizational goals.

Letter from the Director

In 2003, Washington University launched an exciting initiative: the Center for the Study of Ethics and Human Values. This new Center was designed as a forum for examining some of the most controversial issues of our time, and to serve as a resource for the support of faculty, students, and the community who undertake projects dealing with essential human values.

Unlike ethics centers at other institutions, ours does not focus on a single topic or discipline, but engages all students, scholars, business professionals, government leaders, and members of the larger community. This inclusive perspective creates a rare and comprehensive approach to the study of ethics and human values.

Since our founding, we have witnessed a groundswell of interest from across the country in the work the Center is doing. Our efforts have been featured in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the St. Louis Business Journal, The Record, Outlook Magazine, and the BJH Foundation’s Cornerstone. The Center’s director and executive officer have been interviewed on KMOX Radio and KMOV Television. The Center has organized over 200 programs, with presentations by more than 300 faculty and guest speakers. More than 15,000 people have attended our events. We have awarded 38 faculty grants in ethics totaling more than $160,000 for faculty research, and 24 student fellowship awards totaling $42,000.

The Center has received extraordinarily generous support from individual and institutional donors, the Chancellor, and the Dean’s of each school of Washington University. These dedicated donors have enabled the Center to establish an endowed lectureship, an endowed Center fund, provide support for lectures, workshops, debates, and support faculty and student research projects. As donors and friends of the Center, they not only provide the financial underpinning for the Center’s work and participate in Center programs, but also provide valuable feedback and share their ideas for future programs. The Center’s success would not be possible without their involvement and contributions.

Thanks to all who have taken part in our efforts during these formative years. We are grateful for your help, and look forward in the future to working with you and many others who are passionate about the role that values and ethics play in shaping our lives and our society.

Sincerely,

Ira J. Kodner
Director of the Center
Solon and Bettie Gershman Professor of Colon and Rectal Surgery