The goal of the Ethics Certificate Program is to provide students with an opportunity to pursue a rigorous cross-disciplinary study of ethics. Such a course of study requires familiarity with systematic ethical theories and traditions of moral wisdom and reflection such as those found within the disciplines of philosophy and theology, as well as a sense of how ethical issues have been framed across history and cultures, and how ethical challenges are being conceptualized and negotiated in practice by policy-makers, researchers, doctors, journalists and others.

The Kenan Institute for Ethics evaluates the program and the central goal to increase the student’s understanding and appreciation for moral and ethical reasoning by assessing student experiences, learning, competence, and civic engagement through a variety of forms, including written and on-line surveys, in-person observation and interviews, focus groups and content analysis of course syllabi and faculty curriculum vitas.