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Kenan Institute for Ethics

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Kenan Institute for Ethics

Good pursuits are passionate arguments about what it means to be human—about who we are, what we are doing, and what we ought to do.

The Kenan Institute for Ethics is a home for faculty, students, and staff dedicated to understanding the moral challenges of our time through the energetic and capacious pursuit of good. Good judgment, good character, good citizens, good government, the greatest good, the common good … We speak often of good, but in the absence of agreement about what we mean when we deploy the word.

05/20/2026

Welcome to Season 8: The News. Just about everyone is mad at the media, and Americans seem helpless to solve our problems, in large part because we have no shared narrative and few shared facts. Producer...

04/24/2026

Cultures of consumption and disposability are normalized on campus and beyond. Students advocate for a more sustainable, community-oriented alternative.

04/22/2026

Thrilled to share that our upcoming Scene on Radio season, The News, is an Official Selection at the Tribeca Festival this June! The series, launching in late May, is the newest collaboration between myself (John Biewen) and the great Chenjerai Kumanyika (of Empire City, Unruly Subjects, Uncivil, SoR's Seeing White, etc), along with story editor Diane Hodson and assistant producer Arlene Arevalo.

We'll explore the overlapping crises facing America's news and information system, and the relationship between the state of our media and the other deep crises we keep on failing to solve. Can't wait to get this series out to y'all.

Kenan Institute for Ethics PRX

01/09/2026

What if gun violence were a problem we could actually solve?

Join the Kenan Institute for Ethics and host Adriane Lentz-Smith for a conversation with professor and Crime Lab director Jens Ludwig on the causes of gun violence — and the policy changes that can help us prevent it.

Jens Ludwig uses behavioral economics and data science to understand why people commit crimes. In his most recent book, “Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence,” Ludwig writes that gun violence isn’t just a burden our society must bear — it’s a problem that we can actually solve.

With insights informed by decades of research and fieldwork in the South Side of Chicago, Ludwig discovers that most shootings happen in the heat of the moment, driven more by circumstances than by calculation. He argues that finding ways to intervene in the “unforgiving places” that spur gun violence could effectively stop crimes before they happen, giving both potential victims and potential perpetrators another chance at life.

Jens Ludwig is a behavioral economist and Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. His current work focuses on how behavioral science and data science can help solve social problems, particularly in the areas of urban poverty, crime, and education. He helped found the Crime Lab and the Education Lab at the University of Chicago to work closely with government agencies to turn these insights into social change out in the real world.

Ludwig received his BA in economics from Rutgers College and his MA and PhD in economics from . He continues to collaborate with his advisor and friend from Duke, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy Phil Cook.

This event takes place at 7pm on Friday, January 23 at the Durham County Main Library. A reception and book signing will follow the event. Copies of “Unforgiving Places” will be available for purchase, courtesy of the Regulator Bookshop.

01/08/2026

Happy return to Duke! We hope the start of the spring semester is going well.

Unfortunately, we will not be seeing any students in the West Duke Building any time soon. The entire building is closed for the foreseeable future due to damages from a burst water coil on December 15, 2025, when temperatures were extremely low.

Flooding mainly affected the northern side of the building, including KIE offices in West Duke 103 suite. Other KIE office suites, including the Fortin Family Foundation Director’s Suite, did not appear to sustain any damages.

While West Duke is expected to open again during the spring semester, the entire building will remain closed while damages are being evaluated and restoration plans assessed.

All classes in the West Duke Building, including Ethics courses, have been reassigned to other spaces on East Campus. KIE staff will work remotely or in the East Duke Building, where the Kenan Institute for Ethics holds additional office space.

We look forward to seeing you in the West Duke Building when it’s shipshape again!

12/22/2025

Happy holidays from the Kenan Institute for Ethics! May you find love and light during the winter’s darkest days. 🌟

Illustration by 🎨

(The inspiration for this card comes from an annual solstice lantern walk in nearby .)

11/19/2025

Can comic books change the way we think about American Indian cultures?

This fall, “American Indians Go Graphic,” an exhibit in , features a collection of graphic art and comic books by American Indians about American Indians.

Along with Lee Francis, a fellow Ph.D. and comic book enthusiast, Courtney Lewis curated the exhibit.

Lewis, Crandall Family Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, says that “American Indians Go Graphic” shows that American Indian cultures are not simply a historical phenomenon — they are a vibrant and current way of life.

“One of the most important elements of comic books is that they inherently humanize American Indian peoples. This is incredibly important because American Indians are often portrayed only in the past, as if we are not active players in today’s society. Bridging this gap greatly increases the discussions we can have about American Indian lives and impacts on society, from economics to community responsibility.”
— Courtney Lewis

Lewis says she hopes that visitors will get a glimpse of Native cultures, heroism, and humor through this exhibit.

Lewis launched the Native American Studies Initiative soon after arriving at Duke in 2023. In 2025, she expanded that initiative into a research program called RISE-US, or Research for Indigenous Studies and Engagement in the United States, at the Kenan Institute for Ethics.

Photo credit: Jared Lazarus/Duke University

11/14/2025

What if your favorite comic book could change the way you see the world?

This Native American Heritage Month, the American Indians Go Graphic exhibit highlights Indigenous superheroes and storytellers who are reshaping how we see identity and representation.

Learn why these stories matter from Professor Courtney Lewis, then see them come to life at IndigiPopX: https://today.duke.edu/2025/10/going-graphic-six-questions-duke-professor-courtney-lewis-her-superpowered-library-exhibit

Duke University Native American/Indigenous Student Alliance | Duke University Libraries | Kenan Institute for Ethics

11/05/2025

What’s the matter with merit?
In October, leading political philosopher and Michael Sandel visited Duke University to put meritocracy on trial. After Sandel’s address, former U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon and professor Jed Purdy joined him for a discussion and debate.
In his 2020 bestseller “The Tyranny of Merit,” Sandel’s main argument revolves around globalization’s role in deepening wealth inequality in the United States. He assigns some blame to higher education, saying it claims to be an engine of social mobility while top schools continue to admit a disproportionate number of students from wealthy backgrounds. Instead, Sandel proposes a lottery system of admissions that selects students randomly after narrowing down the applicant pool to qualified candidates.
Sassoon pushed back against Sandel’s critique of meritocracy, blaming the erosion of national unity and civic duty for deepening class division in America. Purdy admitted that there is a need for more cohesion and solidarity between classes, but agreed with Sandel about the flaws of so-called meritocratic systems.

10/09/2025

When people take care of nature ethically and responsibly, the environment can thrive and function how it is supposed to. When the environment thrives, crops can grow and support human life.

But Diane Wilson says that this relationship is threatened by humanity’s current control over nature — and that we overprioritize people when we should be seeking balance.

Author, memorist, and environmental activist Diane Wilson joined host Adriane Lentz-Smith at for Kenan’s Ethics of Now series on Friday, October 3.

Wilson explained that Dakota culture emphasizes humanity’s codependent relationship to nature, and said the introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms shifted this power dynamic, causing an imbalance. Wilson urged the audience to consider the negatives of GMOs, especially in relation to biodiversity.

In her novel “The Seed Keeper,” Wilson employs multiple narrators, navigating their relationship with nature across different time periods. The book ends with the narrator in the midst of this decision — which represents how readers, we ourselves, are also facing this choice.

During her time at Duke, Wilson also met with students from for a lunch discussion at and visited .

Photo credit:

Address

102 West Duke Building
Durham, NC
27708

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm

Telephone

+19196603033

Website

http://kenan.ethics.duke.edu/

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