Ethics & the Academy Course
This free course is open to graduate students (and postdocs, space permitting) through the Stanford Graduate Summer Institute. SGSI courses are interdisciplinary and sponsored by the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education.
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 discuss short readings and hear from guest speakers to learn about relevant campus norms and their rationales.
SGSI 2026: Ethics & the Academy:
The course will take place on Tuesday - Friday, September 8-11 from 9AM-1PM
Instructors
Anne Newman, Executive Director, McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society
Caitlin Murphy Brust, lecturer in the COLLEGE Program
Audience & Capacity
Open to all graduate students in any discipline, as well as postdoctoral scholars, if space allows. Space is limited to 25.
*MSx Class of 2027 and first-year MBA students are ineligible to participate due to mandatory program requirements.
Objectives
By participating fully in this course, you will:
- Candidly reflect on ethical issues that arise in all facets of campus life.
- Analyze how values that underlie ethical issues on campus (e.g., equality, justice, fairness) sit in tension with competing ideas about the purpose of the university.
- Engage in ethical reflection about students’ roles and commitments as members of the academic community.
- Learn about Stanford policies and norms that bear on students' experience as researchers, students, and instructors.
- Cultivate an interdisciplinary and supportive network of peers.
Summary
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.
Additional Course Expectations
Students will complete about 1 hour of reading per day outside of class.
Full attendance is expected.
To learn more and apply, visit the SGSI course listing.