SGSI 2026: Ethics & the Academy

• Course will take place on Tuesday - Friday, September 8-11 from 9AM-1PM
• Full attendance is expected
• Expect to spend about 1 hour per day completing the readings 

Brief Course Overview

Ethical questions arise in all aspects of campus life. This course will examine some of these perennial questions and the foundational values that underlie them (e.g., justice, merit, equality). We will explore these values by considering current debates on campuses about issues like the societal consequences of research, inclusive educational practices, university finances, and what work is valued in the academy. We will draw from short readings and hear from guest speakers to learn about relevant campus norms and their rationales— and we will discuss these value-laden issues together in the seminar.

Course Format

This course will include guests for brief presentations and Q&A; it will also include seminar-style discussions of the topics.

Intensity Level 🔥

Multiple topics are covered at a steady pace, with in-class activities requiring some preparation. Some out-of-class work is required, and regular in-class participation is expected. 

Audience

Open to incoming* and returning graduate students as well as postdoctoral scholars (if space allows). Postdoctoral scholars will be invited to apply during the final/postdoc application period starting July 6th.

*MSx Class of 2027 and first year MBA students are ineligible to participate due to mandatory program requirements.

Detailed Course Description

Ethical questions are all across higher education. For example: What should we expect of members of the campus community given people’s varied roles (e.g., as learners, researchers, mentors, and employees)? What principles and policies should be used to ensure research is conducted in an ethical manner—and who should be responsible for the downstream effects of research? Who should benefit from university resources? How can classroom practices, and university norms more broadly, more widely promote equality and advance inclusive learning and research environments? How can students, scholars, and educators navigate ethical tensions in their lives and careers? When controversies erupt about these and myriad other issues, what values should guide their resolution? Potential answers to these questions involve foundational values like justice, merit, and equality. We will explore these values by considering debates on campuses about issues including: the societal consequences of research; university policies on free speech, academic freedom, and institutional neutrality; inclusive educational practices; university finances; and what work is valued, incentivized, and rewarded in the academy. We will draw from short readings and hear from guest speakers to learn about campus norms and their rationales. In our seminar discussions, students will be able to collectively reflect on these issues based on their experiences and intuitions in their fields, from the sciences to the arts and humanities. Through these conversations they will have opportunities to consider their own values as learners, researchers, educators, and members of both the University and the academy—and build a network of peers who share these ethical interests.

Objectives

In this course, you will:

• Candidly reflect on ethical issues that arise in all facets of campus life
• Analyze how the values that underlie ethical issues on campus (e.g., equality, justice, fairness) may be in tension with each other, and with competing ideas about the purpose of a university
• Learn about Stanford policies that bear on your experience as researchers, students, and instructors
• Connect with guest scholars and leaders influencing research on ethical issues in higher education
• Engage in ethical reflection about your roles and commitments within the academic community
• Cultivate an interdisciplinary and supportive network of peers

Instructors

• Anne Newman, executive director, McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society
• Caitlin Murphy Brust, lecturer, Civil, Liberal, and Global Education Program