Parr Center for Ethics
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s central resource for facilitating informed, non-partisan inquiry about ethical matters
Annual Report 2016-2017
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Parr Center for Ethics
207 Caldwell Hall Campus Box 3125 240 East Cameron Avenue Chapel Hill, NC 27599
Tel.: 919-843-5641 Fax: 919-3929 Email: [email protected] Website: http://parrcenter.unc.edu Table of Contents Executive Summary ...... 1 Staff Biographies ...... 2 Description of Programming ...... 4 National High School Ethics Bowl ...... 9 Events ...... 12 Outreach Program Activities ...... 15 Partnerships and Sponsors ...... 17 Appendices ...... 19 Appendix A, Faculty Advisory Council Biographies…………………………………………….20 Appendix B, List of Faculty Fellows…………..24 Executive Summary Established in 2004, the Parr Center for Ethics serves as University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s central resource for facilitating informed, non-partisan inquiry about ethical matters. Housed within the Department of Philosophy, it provides the necessary academic, administrative, and financial resources to advance engagement with both the Big Questions and today’s most pressing ethical issues. The Center is a two-time recipient of the American Philosophical Association/Philosophy Documentation Center Award for Excellence and Innovations in Philosophy Programs (2008, 2014).
The Parr Center for Ethics offers a variety of programs for the University as well as for the broader Carolina community. Our events include talks, panels, workshops, seminars, conferences, and faculty conversations. We are also the founding home and headquarters of the National High School Ethics Bowl, the Center’s largest undertaking, one that has grown exponentially since its inception in 2012. In tandem with UNC’s Department of Philosophy, we also provide an award-winning ethics outreach program for constituencies ranging from elementary school students to juvenile offenders to retirees. The outreach program is probably the largest of its kind and used as a model for philosophical outreach across the country.
The Parr Center underwent a substantial transition over the summer of 2015, with the appointment of a new Director, Dr. Russ Shafer-Landau, and the creation of a new Associate Director position, filled by Dr. Jeff Sebo. Under the leadership of Dr. Shafer-Landau, the Parr Center has elevated its profile within the Carolina community. This year’s programming was the most extensive ever undertaken by the Parr Center, with over 50 events and 176 outreach activities.
With support from Chancellor Carol L. Folt and the UNC College of Arts & Sciences, the Parr Center established the Chancellor’s Lecture in Ethics. The Chancellor’s Lecture in Ethics will be an annual event inviting an influential scholar or practitioner to speak about the role of ethics in our lives. Kwame Anthony Appiah, Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University and better known as author of the New York Times, The Ethicist column, delivered the inaugural Chancellor’s Lecture in Ethics in September. This lecture also served as the kickoff event for Carolina’s Human Heart: Living the Arts and Humanities, a new initiative that amplifies and integrates the work that faculty, staff, students, and alumni are doing in the wide array of fields that the arts, humanities and qualitative social sciences embrace. Dr. Shafer- Landau served as a member of its Steering Committee.
In the Spring, the Parr Center co-sponsored a new two-day annual Symposium in honor of the late distinguished UNC philosopher Maynard Adams. The first Adams Symposium featured a keynote address by Martha C. Nussbaum, the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago and the recipient of the 2016 Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy (often referred as the “Nobel Prize” of philosophy). Over 250 people attended this event.
Taking the advice of the report issued by last year’s external review committee, the Parr Center elevated its profile around the University by developing over 30 new partnerships with departments, centers, programs, and institutes. The Parr Center also enlisted the expertise of UNC Creative to produced a sharable print and digital booklet to showcase the center. You can view the digital booklet here.
The Parr Center gained a new staff member this year due to the continuing growth of the National High School Ethics Bowl. Dr. Dominique Déry has joined the Center’s team as the full-time director of the program.
At the end of the academic year, Dr. Shafer-Landau, Dr. Sebo, and Katelin Kaiser (Assistant Director) will be leaving the Parr Center, each with very fond feelings for the Center and with pride at the work that has been accomplished over the past year. Dr. Geoff Sayre-McCord, Morehead-Cain Alumni Distinguished Professor, has been appointed the Interim Director for the Parr Center.