The Kenan Instructorship in Ethics is awarded annually to an advanced graduate or professional school student proposing to design and teach an undergraduate course with a substantial ethical focus in his or her area of expertise.

The 2010-2011 recipient of the Kenan Instructorship in Ethics is Amber Diaz, from the department of Political Science.

Her course, “Ethics in Global Politics,” is offered in Spring 2011. In a world faced with challenges to human security ranging from terrorism and war to natural disasters and pandemics, what are the significant ethical dilemmas faced by scholars, policy-makers, and practitioners? We begin by establishing a basis for ethical reasoning about global politics by engaging several philosophical schools of thought, and from this foundation move into discussion of salient issues including human trafficking, mass killing and genocide, humanitarian relief efforts, migration and refugees, the ethics of war and peacekeeping, climate change and ecological justice, and questions of poverty and distributive justice.

Past courses and corresponding departments include:
“Anthropology and Ethics,” Cultural Anthropology.

“The Poetics and Ethics of Revenge: Themes of Retributive Justice in Literature,” Classical Studies.

“Imagining Immigration: The Ethics and Politics of the Border,” Political Science.

“Romancing the Law: Human Rights, Anti-colonialism, and Late 20th Century Narratives of Global Justice,” English.

“The Ethics and Practice of Altruism,” Philosophy.

“Pluralism, Relativism and Social Reform,” Philosophy.

“Freedom and Moral Responsibility,” Philosophy.

“Democratic Possibilities in a Globalized World,” Political Science.

“Sympathy, Empathy and Morality,” Philosophy.

“The Amoralist’s Challenge,” Philosophy.

“Multiculturalism and Public Policy,” Political Science.

“The Content of our Character: Civic Leadership and Participation,” Public Policy Studies.

“Art and Ethics: U.S. Culture in Context,” Literature.