Each spring, the Kenan Institute for Ethics sponsors a film series in conjunction with Duke’s Screen/Society, the Center for Documentary Studies, and the Arts of the Moving Image Program. The films provide popular and accessible vehicles for talking about ethics around a particular theme. Each series as a whole offers rich opportunities for debate and discussion on ethical issues for audiences from both the Duke and Durham communities.

The screenings and post-film discussions are free and open to the public. Free parking is provided in the Bryan Center parking deck (you’ll receive a validated parking pass at the screening). Refreshments and snacks are provided at the screenings as well.

The Institute’s 2011 Ethics Film Series features four films that touch on the theme of “community,” addressing the tensions that arise between individual rights and the common good and examining how individuals become members of and valued by their communities. The series kicks off on January 25 (all films will be shown at 7:00 pm in the Griffith Film Theater).

“When Darnellia was a freshman, she wasn’t really into being a team player. She was a marvelous, gifted athlete, but not about the team.”
—from The Heart of the Game, screening January 25

“The best guy we have out here just got killed. What’s gonna happen to me? What’s gonna happen to the guy to my left and my right?”
—from Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington’s Restrepo, for which Hetherington himself will join us here at Duke for the post-film discussion, screening February 15

“As parents, we want people to look upon our children with special needs like anyone else…And yet because we want to protect them so much, we are typically the first ones who treat them poorly by subconsciously denying them their rights to have a normal life.”
—from Monica & David, screening March 15

“You grow up when you decide to do what’s right…and not what’s right for you, what’s right for everybody.”
—from Lars and the Real Girl, screening April 5

More information available here.