Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions

04/30/2026

Building Inclusive Ethical Cultures in STEM: Call for Proposals


Workshop Date: April 23-24, 2021

Proposals Due: November 20, 2020

A Virtual Workshop hosted by the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions, Illinois Institute of Technology, and the University of Texas San-Antonio.

This workshop seeks to share best practices to effectively engage students and faculty working in research labs and lab-based classrooms in building inclusive ethical cultures. This training moves beyond traditional research ethics training into frameworks and approaches to strengthen the ethical culture in research labs.

The two-day workshop will feature a series of short presentations and panel discussions that showcase best practices and approaches to embedding educational interventions in research labs and lab-based courses. These short presentations and panel discussions will be followed by a workshop where effective frameworks for implementing recommendations made by the panelists are discussed, best practices and potential hurdles are shared, and participants are guided through the development of personalized plans for implementing some of these educational interventions in their labs, courses or departments.

The short presentations, panel discussions, and workshops are aimed at

Young principal investigators/junior faculty who are in the process of building their own research groups;

Instructors from both four-year and two-year colleges who teach lab-based STEM courses;

Departmental chairs interested in programmatic approaches to improving mentoring, research ethics education, and the research culture of their department.

Topics for contributions may include but are not limited to:

How can meaningful discussions about ethics be effectively integrated into research labs?

What are approaches and tools to effectively integrate research ethics education among research group members?

How do we build more inclusive research environments?

How can junior faculty/young principal investigators begin to form strategies for building inclusive, ethical lab environments?

How can we better support and empower graduate students to effectively handle ethical questions that arise in research - especially international students and underrepresented students?

We invite presentations from instructors, principal investigators, faculty, and administrators working at two and four-year educational institutions in the STEM fields. Please submit an abstract of up to 500 words. Abstracts for 10-15 minute presentations are due by November 20, 2020. Please send your abstracts and questions about the event to [email protected].

This workshop will be held virtually and there will be no charge for participation.

The workshop is part of the NSF funded project “A Bottom-up Approach to Building a Culture of Responsible Research and Practice in STEM”. The workshop is being organized by Elisabeth Hildt (Illinois Institute of Technology), Kelly Laas (Illinois Institute of Technology), Eric M. Brey (University of Texas at San Antonio), and Christine Miller (Savannah College of Art and Design).

04/30/2026

Call for Proposals: Association for Practical and Professional Ethics 2021 Virtual Conference

30th Annual APPE
International Conference

FEBRUARY 25 - 28, 2021

VIRTUAL EVENT!

Call for Proposals

The Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) seeks proposals for its 30th anniversary virtual annual international conference to be held 25-28 February 2021.

APPE is a multidisciplinary, international organization advancing scholarship, education, and practice in practical and professional ethics. We facilitate and support scholarly and professional collaborations among teachers, scientists, business practitioners, engineers, government officials, researchers, the media, and all professionals concerned with the practical application of ethics and values.

We invite individuals from every discipline and profession interested in advancing scholarship, teaching and a general understanding of applied ethics to submit proposals based on their work. Our meeting will have sessions in many discipline areas including business, engineering, government, law, media, and science, and on a wide variety of subject areas such as agricultural ethics, bioethics, business ethics, compliance, education, environmental ethics, media ethics, and technology. Proposals can be on ethical issues within or cutting across disciplines and professions.


SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL HERE

Submission Categories
We invite proposals in the following categories: 1) Individual presentations; 2) Case studies; 3) Pedagogical demonstrations; 4) Creative arts; 5) Posters; 6) Panel discussions; 7) Author meets critics; 8) Breakfast with an author; 9) Pecha Kucha/Rapid fire session; 10) Graduate student Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition; 11) Paper competitions and awards (see below for more information). Submissions associated with current events and emerging topics are encouraged.

Submission Deadline: September 18, 2020

Generally, no more than one individual presentation per person will be accepted. There is no limit to participation in co-authored presentations and panels.

Submission Guidelines and Instructions

Special Interest Sections
In addition to papers and sessions on topics of general interest in applied and professional ethics, APPE has Special Interest Sections and program tracks in the following areas:

Bioethics, Health & Medical Ethics

Business Ethics

Early Career Scholar

Education Ethics

Engineering, Science and Technology Ethics (STEM)

Law, Government & Military Ethics

Media & Journalism Ethics

Moral Theory

Research Integrity

Social & Societal Ethics

If you wish your submission to be considered for a particular program track, you may indicate this in your submission form.

Paper Competitions and Awards
Best Formal Paper by an Early Career Scholar: $500 prize
Best Formal Paper by a Graduate Student: $500 prize
Clifford G. Christians Ethics Research Award: $250 prize
Best Formal Paper by an Undergraduate Student: $250 prize

In addition, there is a $250 prize given to the winner of the Graduate Student Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition which takes place and is awarded at the conference.

See Submission Guidelines and Instructions for paper competition guidelines and submission instruction.

For more information about the 30th Annual APPE International Conference, please see the APPE website at: https://appe-ethics.org.

04/30/2026

When Is It Not Unethical For AI to Lie to Humans? Trust-based Theory and Empirical Evidence

Please join the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions for a guest lecture by Tae Wan Kim, Associate Professor of Business Ethics at Carnegie Mellon titled "When Is It Not Unethical For AI to Lie to Humans? Trust-based Theory and Empirical Evidence."

Date: Monday, March 2, 2020

Time: 3:30 to 5 p.m.

Light refreshments will be provided from 3 p.m.
onwards.

Location: Hermann Hall Alumni Lounge

As businesses increasingly utilize artificial
intelligence (AI) to make important decisions for humans, there is growing
concern about the compatibility of AI and human values. Researchers today are
examining how to make AI learn ethical principles in addition to calculative
and strategic intelligence. We’ll explore:

Conversational AI
agents' behavior and ethical values

Conditions under which
it is unethical and conditions under which it is not unethical for AI to lie to
human users

How the ethical status
of conversational AI in part depends upon cultural norms

Implications for AI
companies’ ethical duties on how to program AI

This guest lecture is sponsored by the Center
for the Study of Ethics in the Professions and the Coleman Foundation.

Please join the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions for a guest lecture by Tae Wan Kim, Associate Professor of Business Eth...

04/30/2026

New Publication on Ethical Issues in Brain-to-Brain Interfaces Dr. Elisabeth Hildt, director of the Ethics Center, has a new publication out exploring ethical issues raised by brain-to-brain interfaces. Check it out!

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2019.01177/full

Multi-Person Brain-To-Brain Interfaces: Ethical Issues

Elisabeth Hildt*

Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, United States

While the idea of a network of brains directly communicating via brain-to-brain interfaces (BBIs) may sound like science fiction to some, it actually is not. BBIs allow for technology mediated direct communication between two brains without involving the peripheral nervous system. They consist of two components: a brain-computer interface (BCI) that detects neural signals from one brain and translates them to computer commands, and a computer-brain interface (CBI) that delivers computer commands to another brain....

04/30/2026

Invitation to Participate in a Study on Emotional Attachment to Virtual Assistants

The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions would like to invite Illinois Tech students who are interested in participating in an interview study regarding the investigation of the perceptions and emotional attachments to commercially available virtual assistants. The interview will take approximately 30 minutes and participants will receive a $10 gift card for taking part in this study.

If interested, please email us at [email protected] for more information.

The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions would like to invite Illinois Tech students who are interested in participating in...

04/30/2026

Call for Applications: Training STEM Faculty New to Teaching Ethics

The National Academy of Engineering Online Ethics Center (OEC) of the Center for Engineering Ethics and Society will hold a 1½-day workshop on Training STEM Faculty New to Teaching Ethics. Applications are invited from STEM faculty who wish to identify opportunities to integrate ethics and responsible conduct of research (RCR) guidance in their courses and research environments. Workshop presenters and participants will explore a variety of hands-on tools and approaches, both formal and ad hoc, including the use of the OEC as both a teaching tool and resource for materials. Participants will consider their own classes and research projects as well as the approaches and materials presented to create or enhance a learning activity, such as a class plan, course syllabus, or laboratory practice. This workshop is designed to help faculty and others seeking to fulfill (a) NSF and NIH requirements for providing RCR instruction and (b) ABET ethics education expectations.

The OEC is looking for faculty, researchers, and/or administrators who are eager to develop strategies and plans for incorporating ethics in their courses or research environments. Some spots will be reserved for individual attendees. Applicants are sought who will broadly represent a range of STEM disciplines, including the social sciences; graduate and undergraduate instructors; and a variety of academic institutions (e.g., liberal arts colleges, large public universities, institutions serving underrepresented populations, private research institutions).

The workshop will be held October 22–23, 2019, at the National Academies’ Keck Building in Washington, DC. There is no fee for workshop registration. Participants are expected to cover their travel costs. Limited funds are available for travel assistance in cases of financial need.

Please share this announcement with those you think would be interested.

The application deadline is Monday, July 15, 2019.



To apply and for more information:
https://www.onlineethics.org/Workshop-Application.aspx

04/30/2026

Lori Andrews and Ethics and the Double Helix: April 1, 2019, Wishnick Hall Room 113

Please join QED: The Ethical Debaters for a fantastic talk by Lori Andrews titled Ethics and the Double Helix on April 1, 2019, 12:45-1:45 in Wishnick Hall, Room 113

Genetic technologies make
it possible to assess and even alter a person’s genome, raising a wealth of
ethical questions. Should insurers be
able to deny coverage to a healthy person whose genome indicates he or she will
be at a higher risk of cancer later in life?
Should police be able to use ancestry DNA databases to find suspected
criminals? Should parents be able to
edit their embryo’s genome, possibly added traits from other species, such as
to give their future child the running speed of a cheetah? What are our responsibilities as scientists,
ethicists, and members of the public in the design of the next generation?

Lori
Andrews is a University Distinguished Professor of Law at IIT Chicago-Kent
College of Law and Director of IIT’s Institute for Science, Law and Technology.
She’s written 14 books, including three mysteries involving a female
geneticist. Her latest non-fiction book is I Know Who You Are and I Saw
What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy.
She chaired the federal advisory committee to the Human Genome Project, advised
the Chicago Historical Society on the ethics of testing Abe Lincoln’s DNA, and
counseled the science ministers of twelve countries on the issues of embryo
stem cells, gene patents, and DNA banking. Lori’s path-breaking litigation
about technologies caused the National Law Journal to list her as
one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America.” The American Bar
Association Journal describes Lori as “a lawyer with a literary bent
who has the scientific chops to rival any CSI investigator.” She received
her B.A. summa cm laude from Yale College and her J.D. from Yale Law School.

04/30/2026

Invited Speaker: Responsible Research Practices, April 5, 2019

The Office of Research Compliance, in partnership with the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions, has announced that it will offer a lecture titled “Responsible Publication Practices” on Friday, April 5 from 2–4 p.m. A brief abstract of the lecture is included below. The lecture is a part of Illinois Institute of Technology’s Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Policy, and will feature a presentation by Associate Professor Emily E. Anderson, Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics & Healthcare Leadership, Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago. Anderson earned a Ph.D. in health care ethics from Saint Louis University and an M.P.H. in community health sciences (health education/health promotion) from the University of Illinois at Chicago. The event will take place at Wishnick Hall, Room 113, and will include light refreshments.

Abstract: “Publication of your scientific work is not just necessary for career advancement, it is a professional ethical obligation. While writing and submitting a paper for publication may seem straightforward, there are many challenges, and potential missteps that may ultimately result in research misconduct. This session will review best practices for determining authorship, citing references appropriately, avoiding plagiarism, and navigating the process of selecting a journal and peer review process.”

The RCR is a required program for all sponsored researchers. Federal regulations require researchers supported by a funding agency to complete RCR training. In order to ensure that RCR requirements have been fulfilled, all Illinois Tech-sponsored projects, regardless of funding source, must follow the university policy.

Illinois Tech’s RCR policy comprises three distinct parts: (1) completing one RCR training course through the CITI Program, (2) attending at least one in-person RCR lecture/workshop, and (3) participating in face-to-face RCR instruction led by the faculty investigator for the project.

Ongoing lectures and workshops covering topics in ethical research with a focus on RCR themes will be offered. All researchers on an Illinois Tech-sponsored project must attend at least one lecture or workshop. Check the Office of Research Compliance website for upcoming lectures and workshops.

The Office of Research Compliance, in partnership with the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions, has announced that it...

04/30/2026

Registration open for Informed Experiences, Designing Consent Symposium on April 6th Designs, whether implicitly or explicitly, cite core values that
drive their development and marketing. Efficiency and profit are two
common principles that push design.

Informed Experiences,
Designing Consent offers a space to consider centering consent as a core
value of design. We invite creative individuals, researchers,
ethicists, and designers, especially those with burning questions,
critical theories, and insightful projects about design practices and
consent, to join us for this one-day event on April 6, 2019 at Illinois
Tech’s Downtown Campus (565 W. Adams). While we are talking about design
and consent, we welcome people working on theoretical, reflective, and
reception/audience perspectives of these concepts and encourage
interested people to register for this event!

This symposium will use a “Learn, Make, Reflect” Model
to interrogate the intersections of consent and design of interactive
media and technologies. Here, we use panels, workshops, and discussion
for attendees to prototype designs that center on consent and iterate on
this process. We will provide simple prototyping materials for groups
to collaborate on exploring the intersections of theory and practice in
our maker-sessions.

Informed Experiences, Designing Consent is
hosted by the Illinois Institute of Technology Center for the Study of
Ethics in the Professions and the HASTAC Scholars fellowship program. It
is organized by Michael Anthony DeAnda, Elisabeth Hildt, Kelly Laas,
and Leilasadat Mirghaderi with generous sponsorship from the Coleman
Foundation.

Designs, whether implicitly or explicitly, cite core values that drive their development and marketing. Efficiency and profit are two comm...

04/30/2026

CSEP receives NSF Funding for Ethics Education Library The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions has received funding from the National Science Foundation to continue its collaboration with the National Academy of Engineering's Center for Engineering, Ethics, and Society as part of the project, "Transforming Ethics Education: Connecting STEM Faculty, Research Administrators, and Ethics Education Resources through the Online Ethics Center." As a partner, CSEP will receive $145,000 over the next three and a half years to both improve the Ethics Education Library and the Ethics Codes Collection,as well as continue to assist in expanding and improving the Online Ethics Center.

The goal of this project is to update and improve the Online Ethics Center (OEC). The investigators will do so by better engaging faculty and administrators who are new to teaching ethics, and by conducting a series of workshops with the user community that will enable them to gather multiple types of social science data and systematically assess how the OEC can better meet the needs of its constituents. Grant funds will also be used for regular site maintenance and to hire an expert external evaluator to formally assess OEC's activities and aid the investigators in improving site usability and updating the resource collection that they provide. Together, these efforts will help improve the quality of STEM ethics education and encourage and equip U.S. researchers to engage in ethical scientific practice.