Honors Program Students Tackle Ethical Issues in Society
The McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society is excited to highlight our graduating Honors Program students and the completion of their theses. Exploring topics ranging from lethal autonomous weapons to the consequences of segregated neighborhoods to the ethics of conservation movements, our eight Honors students enjoyed both the camaraderie and the challenges of the Honors process.
Undergraduate students from any major have the opportunity to join the Honors Program in Ethics in Society if they are interested in writing a thesis that applies moral and political philosophy to a practical, present-day problem.
Ethics in Society Honors students interrogate contemporary social issues and the fundamental human values that inform them. To do so, students are encouraged to ask normative questions — ones that ask what should be or what is best — and research and consult normative frameworks when pursuing their research. Such an approach moves students beyond simply describing a problem to developing an argument that provides compelling moral reasons to support their position.
Finally, the Honors Program in Ethics in Society is designed as a research community, wherein students work closely with faculty and postdoctoral advisors, and their peers. Students and advisors meet with each other formally and informally and are invited to talks and dinners hosted by the Center.
We asked members of this year’s cohort to describe their Honors program journey prior to graduation.
Focused on the consequences of residential segregation, Henry Hill-Gorman’s Honors thesis analyzes Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the most residentially segregated city in the U.S., through the lenses of political theory and public policy. Hill-Gorman graduates with bachelor’s degrees in economics and philosophy.
While physical borders are the most obvious sites of U.S. immigration policy issues, in her Honors thesis, Ananya Karthik examines digital borders — immigration technologies — and their negative effects on migrants’ rights. She graduates with bachelor’s degrees in political science and computer science, and a minor in human rights. Karthik is the recipient of a John Gardner Public Service Fellowship.
In her Honors thesis, Liana Keesing discusses the hidden costs of smart home surveillance technology on American neighborhoods and on interpersonal relationships within a democracy more broadly. Keesing graduates with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and with a minor in physics.
Using normative frameworks for exploitation and intergenerational justice, as well as the market characteristics of housing, Ethan McAvoy’s Honors thesis investigates housing accessibility and home ownership in the U.S., especially for young adults. McAvoy graduates with a bachelor’s degree in political science, a minor in history, and a master’s in sociology.
Ashwin Pillai’s Honors thesis explores the doctrine of legal standing, which determines whether someone is able to bring a lawsuit into U.S. federal court. Pillai graduates with a double major in philosophy and political science and a minor in music.
Applying just war theory and examining public opinion, Catherine Sarkis surveys the use of lethal autonomous weapons in her Honors thesis. Sarkis graduates with bachelor’s degrees in economics and philosophy and a minor in data science.
In her Honors thesis, Tori Qiu explores whether Stanford students should consider their moral principles when deciding where to work, especially with technology companies that enable migrant abuses. Qui graduates with a bachelor’s degree in symbolic systems and a master’s in philosophy.
With the effects of global climate change becoming increasingly tangible in our environments and to the humans and animals that inhabit them, Willoughby J. Winograd’s Honors thesis interrogates what he regards as the flawed ethics of contemporary environmental conservation. Winograd graduates with a bachelor’s degree in political science.
Donna Hunter is a freelance writer, editor, and tutor living in San Francisco. She has a Ph.D. in English from UC Berkeley and was an Advanced Lecturer in Stanford’s Program in Writing and Rhetoric.