What Do We Do?

The Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics encourages teaching and research about ethical issues in public life and the professions; helps meet the growing need for teachers and scholars who address questions of moral choice in practical ethics and in areas such as architecture, business, education, government, journalism, law, medicine, public health, and public policy; brings together those with competence in philosophical thought and those with experience in professional education; and promotes a perspective on ethics informed by both theory and practice.

Fellowships

We offer Faculty Fellowships in Ethics to outstanding teachers and scholars who wish to develop their ability to address questions of moral choice in practical ethics and in areas such as architecture, business, education, government, journalism, law, medical, public health, and public policy. Fellows participate in the weekly seminar of the Center, which discusses problems of teaching and research in ethics. They enjoy access to a wide range of activities in all of the professional schools at Harvard, as well as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, including opportunities to participate in courses, colloquia, curricular development, collaborative research, study groups, case writing workshops, and clinical programs. A significant part of their time is devoted to conducting their own research in ethics. [more information]

We also offer Graduate Fellowships in Ethics to outstanding Harvard-enrolled graduate students who are writing dissertations or engaged in major research on topics in practical ethics, especially ethical issues in business, education, government, law, and medicine. Graduate fellows are expected to devote their time to an approved course of research and study and take part in a weekly Center seminar, where they read works in practical ethics and discuss research problems and strategies common to the study of ethics in the professions. In addition, graduate fellows are encouraged to take part in the wider intellectual life of the Center with the Faculty Fellows in Ethics. [more information]

Public Lecture Series

In the spirit of interfaculty collaboration, the Center's lecture series brings together faculty and students as well as members of the wider community for discussion of a variety of ethical issues. The series encourages philosophical reflection on problems of human values in contemporary society.

The public lecture series regularly attracts an enthusiastic audience of senior faculty, students, and members of the wider community. These sessions address questions of scholarly significance, as well as issues of more direct interest to professionals. Frequently, lectures are co-sponsored wth other schools and departments. The series has served as a model for several of the successful university-wide forums for intellectual interchange now flourishing. [current lecture series]

The primary mission of the Center is to help increase the expertise of faculty who are teaching ethics courses at professional school level, and to encourage younger scholars to make ethics teaching their career objective.The Center does not offer degrees in ethics, does not distribute ethics publications, and does not (1) influence or defend the policies of Harvard University; (2) publish a code of ethics; (3) help resolve ethical dilemmas.