Kenan Institute for Ethics

Graduate Instructorship Award applications accepted until 2/17

cl228 — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:19:58 +0000

The Kenan Institute for Ethics invites advanced graduate or professional school students to apply to design and teach an ethics seminar in their areas of expertise. One graduate instructorship (which includes a $20,000+ stipend) will be awarded, and the recipient will teach his or her course during the Spring 2013 semester. For more information, click here.

Do Lunch with Anne Cubilie, Feb. 1

cl228 — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:15:41 +0000

Team Kenan hosts the first installment of the new year in its new lunchtime series, Do Lunch, February 1st with a discussion featuring Anne Cubilié. For the past decade, Dr. Cubilié has worked in humanitarian and development policy at United Nations headquarters while maintaining a consistent interest in bridging the gap between academic research and the political and policy considerations of international aid. Her book, Women Witness Terror: Testimony and the Cultural Politics of Human Rights, reads testimony by women survivors of war and human rights abuse through critical frameworks of ethics, trauma and witnessing.

Wednesday, February 1, 12-1:30pm
101 West Duke Building (map)
Lunch will be provided for the first 25 to RSVP by January 31st at noon. Click here to RSVP.

Identity, Satire and Responsibility–Postponed until Feb. 7

cl228 — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:15:08 +0000

Due to travel delays, Dr. Avishai will now be joining us February 7th at 5pm in room 100 of the West Duke Building

In 1969 Philip Roth’s novel Portnoy’s Complaint became infamous almost as soon as it was published, due to its coarsely sexual imagery as well as the deeply satirical portrayal of an American Jewish family. Many felt betrayed, suggesting that Roth’s book reflected poorly on the entire American Jewish community. The book is now recognized as a classic, though Roth described it in a recent interview as a “youthful indiscretion.”

When a community suffers from discrimination, do its members have a special responsibility to avoid adding fuel to the fire? Does great art get a pass for being greatly offensive? Dr. Bernard Avishai will join us for a discussion of Roth’s most famous book and the social and culture whirlwind that received it.

Monday, February 6, 5-6:30pm
101 West Duke Building (map)

2012 Ethics Film Series kicks off Jan. 17 with a free public screening of Defiance

cl228 — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:01:53 +0000

The Kenan Institute for Ethics kicks off its 2012 Ethics Film Series with a free public screening of Defiance (2008) on January 17 at 7pm in the Griffith Theater, Bryan Center, Duke University. Starring Daniel Craig and directed by Edward Zwick, Defiance tells the story of the Bielski partisans, three Jewish brothers who helped save Jewish refugees from the Nazis in 1941.

Taking the theme “condemned to be free,” each of the films in this series in some way explores how individuals – even in the most restrictive, oppressive circumstances – claim their existential freedom by taking responsibility for their decisions and actions. The consequences of these claims, and the weight of their responsibility, may appear overwhelming, but it is this acknowledgement of freedom that enables authentic ethical action.

Co-sponsored by the Center for Documentary Studies and the Program in Arts of the Moving Image.

Free and open to the public.
Tuesday, January 17, 7pm
Griffith Film Theater, Bryan Center, Duke University (map).
Parking is available in the Bryan Center parking deck.

Team Kenan presents the Censored 11, Jan. 18

cl228 — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:59:19 +0000

In 1968, United Artists removed eleven Looney Tunes cartoons from syndicated distribution due to their racist portrayals of Africans and African Americans. Nearly fifty years later, cartoon historians are calling for the end of the ban, arguing that their artistic value overrides the negative effects of the outdated stereotypes depicted in the cartoons. Can art transcend a nasty past? Is it ever okay to overlook some aspects of a work of art? Can we understand contemporary racism without understanding its roots in popular culture, like these cartoons?

Join us for a screening of two of the most critically lauded cartoons followed by a discussion with Duke History Professor Adriane Lentz-Smith.

Tuesday, January 18, 6-8pm
101 West Duke Building (map)
Light refreshments will be provided.
Free and open to the public.

Little Town of Bethlehem screening, Feb. 20

cl228 — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:50:35 +0000

Documentary film Little Town of Bethlehem (2010) tells the story of three men of three different faiths living in Israel and Palestine. Writer and director Jim Hanon explores each man’s choice of nonviolent action in the face of constant violence, and in so doing, finds the humanity common to all three.

A panel discussion (panelists to be named) will follow the screening.

Co-sponsored by the Center for Documentary Studies and the Program in Arts of the Moving Image.

Free and open to the public.
Monday, February 20, 7pm
Griffith Film Theater, Bryan Center, Duke University (map).
Parking is available in the Bryan Center parking deck.

KIE Advisory Board member Jimmy Soni (T’07) named managing editor of Huffington Post

cl228 — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:36:25 +0000

Congratulations to KIE Advisory Board member and Duke alum Jimmy Soni on being named managing editor of the Huffington Post. Forbes and the Atlantic Wire have more information on his appointment.

Barak Richman comments on Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC decision

cl228 — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:18:23 +0000

KIE Senior Fellow and Duke Professor of Law Barak D. Richman, who submitted a “friend of the court” brief urging the Supreme Court to take a narrow view of the ministerial exception in employment discrimination cases, commented on it in this Chronicle of Higher Education article.

Winter Forum Community Celebration, Jan. 10

cl228 — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:02:03 +0000

A free public event in Refugees, Rights, Resettlement, the 2012 Winter Forum. The closing reception serves as a reflective and celebratory reminder that the issues raised during this two-and-a-half-day conference permeate the lived experience of people across many walks of life in the Duke/Durham community. We highlight the contributions refugees make to their communities, using as an example the creation of appetizers inspired by refugees’ home cultures. The process of creating the appetizers will have connected refugee cooks with local restaurant chefs, which also demonstrates the need refugees have for professional development opportunities. Accompanying the reception will be music by Amikaeyla Gaston, a singer who has worked with refugee children to help them use music to express their feelings.

The overarching theme of this session is a focus on ways we can work with refugees to learn from them and to help them find a place in their new home. This event will celebrate local refugees, Durham’s thriving food culture, and the achievements of Winter Forum.

Free and open to the public
Tuesday, January 10, 5:45-7pm
Kirby Winter Garden, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University (map)
Parking will be available in the Fuqua gated lot off of Towerview Road. If coming from Erwin Road, turn right at the stop sign and then continue to bear right.

No Place Like Home explores issues faced by Iraqi refugees, Jan. 8

cl228 — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:59:17 +0000

A free public event in Refugees, Rights, Resettlement, the 2012 Winter Forum. Actress Kim Schultz performs her one-woman show about Iraqi refugees, the product of a three-week trip to Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria during which she interviewed hundreds of people. An exercise in verbatim theater (featuring in-character monologues based on interview transcripts), No Place Called Home has been praised for “gaining our sympathies for a people who many people automatically suspect are our enemies. That alone is no small achievement.” An Intersections International production, with music by Amikaeyla Gaston.

Sunday, January 8, 7pm
Geneen Auditorium, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University (map)
Parking will be available in the Fuqua gated lot off of Towerview Road. If coming from Erwin Road, turn right at the stop sign and then continue to bear right.