Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Last updated
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
Established1986
Budget$3.7 million
DirectorDon Heider
Administrative staff
25
Location, ,
United States
Website www.scu.edu/ethics
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics logo.png

The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics is a department at Jesuit Santa Clara University. It was created by Manuel Velasquez, a faculty member in the School of Business, and funded by early Apple Inc. investor Mike Markkula and his wife, Linda Markkula.

Contents

The Center offers programs in ten major fields of ethics. [1]

Focus areas

Bioethics

The Center partners with area hospitals and hospices, focusing on clinical ethics to develop policies on issues such as organ donation after cardiac death and artificial nutrition and hydration. [2] [3] Partner hospitals also provide internship opportunities in healthcare for undergraduates. The Center's bioethics research focuses on "Medical Decision Making for Publicly Conserved and Unrepresented Patients," "Culturally Competent Care," and "Pandemic Ethics," among other topics. [4]

Business Ethics

The Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership brings together business executives and business ethics scholars from Santa Clara University and other Bay Area institutions. The partnership is a forum to develop the creation of ethical organizational cultures. [5] The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics also offers programs on assessing the ethical culture of their organization for boards of directors.

Campus Ethics

Santa Clara University hosts over 70 faculty members specializing in Campus Ethics across various disciplines, from literature to engineering. The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics provides Hackworth Grants for faculty and students researching on applied ethics. Additionally, it offers Hackworth Fellowships for students keen on developing ethics programs for their peers. Through the Campus Ethics program, they arrange presentations on applied ethics in diverse fields like technology, diversity, immigration, and law. [6]

Government Ethics

The focus on Government Ethics includes conflicts of interest, gifts and bribes, cronyism, lobbying, transparency, and the personal lives of public officials. [7] The Center's Ethics Roundtable enables locally elected officials such as mayors, council people, county supervisors, and members of special districts to meet quarterly to discuss how these issues play out in their work.

Internet Ethics

With a special focus on privacy, Internet Ethics offers presentations and teaching modules on such topics as data, social media, the 'right to be forgotten,' cybersecurity, ethics in video games, search engines, and privacy by design.

Journalism & Media Ethics

The Journalism & Media Ethics focus area addresses the ethical implications of how journalistic 'gatekeeping' has changed in a digital era. It collaborates with journalists, editors, and technologists to help members of the public engage with journalists and journalists equip themselves with in-depth knowledge on complex issues they cover. It also assists stakeholders across the digital ecosystem in defusing the rapid spread of misinformation and disinformation that frequently disguises itself as news.

Leadership Ethics

The Leadership Ethics focus of the center collaborates with businesses, nonprofits, governments, and other organizations to analyze real-world issues in leadership ethics. Its goal is to develop programs and tools that address these issues effectively.

Religious and Catholic Ethics

The ethics center in a Jesuit university has a special interest in the role of religion in ethics and the formation of moral character. They offer dialogue, research, and curriculum across a wide range of religious traditions.

Technology Ethics

The Technology Ethics focus area examines issues in the ethics of emerging technologies, providing teaching resources for universities and corporations, and working with organizations such as the Partnership on AI. [8] Particular areas of focus include AI ethics, space ethics, ethics of human enhancement and transhumanism, and global catastrophic and existential risk.

Related Research Articles

Ethical codes are adopted by organizations to assist members in understanding the difference between right and wrong and in applying that understanding to their decisions. An ethical code generally implies documents at three levels: codes of business ethics, codes of conduct for employees, and codes of professional practice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Clara University</span> Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California

Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asís which traces its founding to 1777. The campus mirrors the Mission's architectural style and is one of the finest groupings of Mission Revival architecture and other Spanish Colonial Revival styles. The university is classified as a "Doctoral/Professional" university.

The ethics of technology is a sub-field of ethics addressing the ethical questions specific to the Technology Age, the transitional shift in society wherein personal computers and subsequent devices provide for the quick and easy transfer of information. Technology ethics is the application of ethical thinking to the growing concerns of technology as new technologies continue to rise in prominence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graduate Theological Union</span> Group of private American theological schools

The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is a consortium of eight private independent American theological schools and eleven centers and affiliates. Seven of the theological schools are located in Berkeley, California. The GTU was founded in 1962 and their students can take courses at the University of California, Berkeley. Additionally, some of the GTU consortial schools are part of other California universities such as Santa Clara University and California Lutheran University. Most of the GTU consortial schools are located in the Berkeley area with the majority north of the campus in a neighborhood known as "Holy Hill" due to the cluster of GTU seminaries and centers located there.

Computer ethics is a part of practical philosophy concerned with how computing professionals should make decisions regarding professional and social conduct.

Armas Clifford "Mike" Markkula Jr. is an American electrical engineer, businessman and investor. He was the original angel investor, first chairman, and second CEO for Apple Computer, Inc., providing critical early funding and managerial support. At the company's incorporation, Markkula owned 26% of Apple, equivalent to each of the shares owned by cofounders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

Media ethics is the subdivision dealing with the specific ethical principles and standards of media, including broadcast media, film, theatre, the arts, print media and the internet. The field covers many varied and highly controversial topics, ranging from war journalism to Benetton ad campaigns.

Information ethics has been defined as "the branch of ethics that focuses on the relationship between the creation, organization, dissemination, and use of information, and the ethical standards and moral codes governing human conduct in society". It examines the morality that comes from information as a resource, a product, or as a target. It provides a critical framework for considering moral issues concerning informational privacy, moral agency, new environmental issues, problems arising from the life-cycle of information. It is very vital to understand that librarians, archivists, information professionals among others, really understand the importance of knowing how to disseminate proper information as well as being responsible with their actions when addressing information.

The College of Information Studies is a school within the University of Maryland, College Park in Maryland, United States. The College offers graduate study leading to the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS), the Master of Information Management (MIM), the Master of Science in Human Computer Interaction (HCIM), and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Information Studies. In addition, it offers an undergraduate degree, the Bachelor of Science in Information Science. The College of Information Studies focuses on creating new designs and addressing issues involving Information Management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research</span> Nonprofit organisation

Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts. The organization was formed in 1974 by a group of researchers who sought to ensure that the concerns and experiences of those working in biomedical research would be reflected in the growing body of federal regulations governing the field.

The Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility serves the campus of Southern Methodist University and the greater Dallas area. The university-wide center supports student and faculty ethics-related education and activities, as well as outreach to community, in both private and public institutions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenan Institute for Ethics</span> Building in East Campus, Duke University

The Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University is an interdisciplinary "think and do" tank committed to understanding and addressing real-world ethical challenges facing individuals, organizations and societies worldwide. The Institute promotes ethical reflection and engagement through its research, education and practice in five core areas: Human Rights, Global Migration, Rethinking Regulation, Moral Attitudes and Decision-Making, and Religions and Public Life.

<i>Business and Professional Ethics Journal</i> Academic journal

Business and Professional Ethics Journal is a peer-reviewed academic journal that examines ethical issues in business encountered by professionals working in large organizational structures. It provides an outlet for original work that contributes to the development of alternative theories and practices within business and professional ethics, and that examines why global ethical issues, such as poverty alleviation and sustainability, emerge and persist. The journal is published by the Philosophy Documentation Center in cooperation with the Institute for Business and Professional Ethics at DePaul University. Members of the Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum have online access to this journal as a benefit of membership.

The Institute for Business and Professional Ethics (IBPE) is a business ethics research and development center within the Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1985 in a joint effort between DePaul University's College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences and Driehaus College of Business to encourage ethical deliberation in decision-makers by stirring their moral conscience, encouraging moral imagination, and stimulating research into business innovation and practices. IBPE programming serves as a forum for exploring and fostering ethical practices by the business community as well as for DePaul students and faculty. The IBPE publishes case studies, books, and journal articles in business ethics, and hosts a series of annual business workshops, conferences and events. It is also the editorial home of the Business and Professional Ethics Journal.

<i>Professional Ethics</i> (journal) Academic journal

Professional Ethics: A Multidisciplinary Journal was a peer-reviewed academic journal that examined ethical issues in the context of the practice of a profession. Established in 1992, the journal published original research on ethics issues in accounting, business, engineering, sports, the military, and other fields. Notable contributors include Carol G. Gould, R. M. Hare, and Daryl Koehn. The journal published special issues in cooperation with professional organizations in several countries, including the Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics, Canadian Society for the Study of Practical Ethics, International Association for the Philosophy of Sport, International Colloquium on Military Obedience, Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility, and the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Professional Ethics was published at the Center for Applied Ethics at the University of Florida until 2003. Members of the Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum have online access to all issues of this journal as a benefit of membership.

John P. Pelissero is a Political Scientist and Higher Education Consultant located in the Chicago metropolitan area. He currently serves as Senior Scholar in Government at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics of Santa Clara University. Pelissero is professor emeritus of political science at Loyola University Chicago, where he was a member of the faculty for 35 years. He was Provost and Chief Academic Officer of Loyola University Chicago from 2010 to 2018. He also served as Loyola's Interim President from July 1, 2015, to July 31, 2016. Pelissero's other Loyola experience includes service as chairperson of the Department of Political Science from 1999 to 2002, associate provost for curriculum development from 2003 to 2005, and vice provost in the Division of Academic Affairs from 2005 to 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannon Vallor</span>

Shannon Vallor is an American philosopher of technology. She is the Baillie Gifford Chair in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. She was at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California where she was the Regis and Dianne McKenna Professor of Philosophy at SCU.

The Trust Project is a complex international consortium involving approximately 120 news organizations working towards greater transparency and accountability in the global news industry, including The Economist,Folha de São Paulo, The Globe and Mail, the Independent Journal Review, Mic, Italy's La Repubblica, Il Sole 24 Ore, and La Stampa. The Project was started in 2014 by Sally Lehrman, a journalist and former director of Santa Clara University's journalism ethics program at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and launched in November 2017.Richard Gingras, head of Google News is a co-founder. The Project is funded by Craigslist founder Craig Newmark’s Philanthropic Fund, Google, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Democracy Fund, the Markkula Foundation and Facebook.

Cansu Canca is a moral and political philosopher, with a Ph.D. specializing in applied ethics, and founder and director of AI Ethics Lab. Formerly, she was a bioethicist at the University of Hong Kong, and an ethics researcher at Harvard Law School, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School, National University of Singapore, Osaka University, and the World Health Organization.

References

  1. "Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University - About the Center". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  2. "VMC Foundation achieves highest certification for nonprofit ethics – VMC Foundation". Archived from the original on 2020-09-26. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  3. Bastian, R., Garner, R., Barron, J., Akowuah, E., and Mase, W (2016). “Georgia’s rural hospital closures: The common-good approach to ethical decision making”. Georgia Public Health Association. 298. Retrieved 10-15-2020
  4. Bennett, Joshua (15 May 2020). "Making Medical Treatment Decisions for Unrepresented Patients in the ICU. An Official American Thoracic Society/American Geriatrics Society Policy Statement". National Library of Medicine. p. 1.
  5. "Ethics by Design: New Report Helps Companies Move Beyond Compliance". Dark Reading. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-03-15. Retrieved 2010-03-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Government Ethics - Focus Areas - Markkula Center for Applied Ethics - Santa Clara University". Scu.edu. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  8. "Ethical Tech and the Responsible Enterprise". deloitte.wsj.com. Retrieved 2020-12-15.