In the spirit of an opportunity for mutual outreach, the Executive Committee of the Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum (SEAC) has approved entering into an agreement with the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) to (a) publish a special issue of its journal, Teaching Ethics, on the “Ethics of Ethics Centers,” and (b) provide digital access to same.  

As a result of the agreement, SEAC members will receive the same discount (members’ discount) that APPE’s members receive on the registration fee for APPE’s annual conference. The registration fee for attendance at the Ethics Director’s Summit regularly held at APPE’s annual conference will be waived for SEAC members, beginning with the Summit at the 2022 APPE conference.

Ethics Centers have been addressing ethics questions for other organizations for over four decades–writing about them, hosting public events, providing direct consulting. Rarely, however, has that same scrutiny been directed inward, toward understanding and managing the myriad ethics problems endemic to running a center. 

In a bid to help ethics center directors and other interested persons make better sense of this aspect of their work, the Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum (SEAC) and the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) have undertaken a unique collaboration. Together we’ll explore questions like:

Should ethics centers accept donations from companies or persons with ethically questionable histories?  Should they hold events that feature politically or ethically controversial speakers? If so, should they always also host persons with competing perspectives? Should they take public stands on politically contentious issues? What about perceived campus injustices?   Should they provide financial or other benefits to center officers? Should they host expensive meals or cocktail parties for board members or other donors? 

As a result of this collaboration, SEAC is devoting the Spring 2022 issue of Teaching Ethics to “the ethics of ethics centers.” The issue will feature 12 essays, all written by persons whose primary work is in ethics education and most of whom are current or former center directors–some relatively new to the work, others who have been doing it for decades. Thanks to a one-year partnership between SEAC and APPE, APPE members will have free access not only to this special issue, but to all issues of Teaching Ethics for an entire year.  

The agreement will allow SEAC members to attend the APPE conference at the member’s rate.  It will also allow SEAC members to attend the Ethics Center Summit free of charge.  

Access to the journal on the Philosophy Documentation Center’s site will be provided for APPE members via a link on a members-only page on the APPE site (coming prior to the spring 2022 issue). 

We hope you enjoy this new APPE member benefit. If you have questions, please reach out to Elaine E. Englehardt, President SEAC Elainee@uvu.edu or Kristen Fuhs Wells, APPE Executive Director, at kristen@appe-ethics.org.