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Institutional Corruption talks

Watch our lecture series.

Since 2009, the Center has expanded its public lecture series to include talks with a particular focus on topics in institutional corruption. These talks have spotlighted issues ranging from corruption in the academy, such as conflicts of interest in academic medicine and ties between scholars and the tobacco industry, to corruption in Congress and Wall Street.

Here is a list of the institutional corruption talks upcoming and to date.

2012/13
November 2, 2012: Symposium on Institutional fCOIs in Research Universities
November 29, 2012: Norm Ornstein
February 7, 2013: David Stockman
March 7, 2013: John Reed
April 18, 2013: Charles Lewis

2011/12
Paul Thacker, "Dollars for Doctors: Who Owns Your Physician?"
Lawrence Lessig and David Gergen on Republic, Lost.
Franz Adlkofer, "Protection Against Radiation is in Conflict with Science"
In the Dock: Lawrence Lessig Interrogates Jack Abramoff About Corruption
Conference on Institutional Corruption
Drummond Rennie, "Clinical Trials: Is Corporate Sponsorship Compatible With Credibility?"
Film screening: Inside Job
Charles Ferguson, "Ethics, Governance, and National Economic Performance"
Conference on Industry Sponsorship and Health-Related Food Research: Scientific Integrity, Ethical Challenges, and Policy Implications
A Conversation with Paul Volcker

2010/11
Thomas Scanlon, "Individual Morality and the Morality of Institutions"
Congressman Jim Cooper, "Fixing Congress"
Governor Buddy Roemer, "Fixing Congress: A Republican View"
Symposium: "The Scientific Basis of Conflicts of Interest: The Role of Implicit Cognition"

2009/10
Lawrence Lessig, "Setting the Framework for the Question of Institutional Corruption"
Robert Proctor, "The Entanglement of Scholars in the Global Tobacco Epidemic"
Eliot Spitzer, "From Ayn Rand to Ken Feinberg - How Quickly the Paradigm Shifts. What Should Be the Rationale for Government Participation in the Market?"
Marcia Angell, "Drug Companies and Medicine: What Money Can Buy"
David Korn, "Financial Conflicts of Interest in Academic Medicine: Whence They Came, Where They Went, Why They Vex Us So"
Thomas Stossel, "Money In Medicine: Sin or Salvation?"
Robert Reich, "Everyday Corruption: How Intensifying Market Competition Leads to Abuses of Public Trust, and What Should Be Done"
Simon Johnson, "Wall Street and Washington"

In the spirit of interfaculty collaboration, faculty and students from across the University, as well as former fellows of the Center and members of the wider Cambridge-Boston community, participate in the Center's public events, which promote philosophical reflection on some of the most challenging ethical issues in public life. Lectures and conferences are often cosponsored with other units at Harvard, including several of the professional schools.

A remarkable collection of distinguished speakers have enriched the scholarly exchanges, enlivening the discussions with their presence and stimulating further debate in the wake of their visits. The roster includes such distinguished figures as Atul Gawande, G.A. Cohen, Ronald Dworkin, Nadine Gordimer, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Amartya Sen.

The public lecture series was established in the Center's first year through the generosity of philanthropist Obert J. Tanner.