News & Events
Upcoming Events
Mala and Solomon Kamm Lecture in Ethics with C. Thi Nguyen
October 22, 2026
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5:00PM - 6:30PM EDT
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Thompson Room, Barker Center
The Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics invites you to join us for our annual Mala & Solomon Kamm Lecture in Ethics with C. Thi Nguyen, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Utah. The lecture is open to all. Registration is required for...
The Ethics of A.I. Clones
October 26, 2026
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12:00PM - 1:00PM EDT
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Dennis F. Thompson Seminar Room, Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics
The Harvard Business School (HBS) recently caught the attention of the New York Times after the launch of its new Foundry Bootcamp — an 8-week program for tech founders to shape their ideas into a funding-ready pitch. A.I. generated avatars of HBS faculty...
Hayek For Our Time
October 27, 2026
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5:00PM - 6:00PM EDT
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Hayek Junior Common Room, Lowell House
Friedrich Hayek is a hero and an inspiration to conservatives all over the world, but in one of his sharpest essays, he explained why he is not a conservative. He urged that while conservatives seek to impose a salutary brake on change, they do not tell...
Affordable Housing: Rent Control or “Abundance”
November 16, 2026
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5:00PM - 6:00PM EST
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Thompson Room, Barker Center
Housing costs have soared since the global financial crisis, and rents are exorbitantly high in cities like San Francisco and New York. Two rival approaches to this challenge have emerged. Rent control is enjoying a renaissance, with Mayors such as Zohran...
If AI is Allowed to Drive Discourse, Can Democracy Survive?
Say political engagement could be increased in a certain society by the introduction of effective artificial intelligence tools — but those living there would have fewer in-person interactions. Should such tools be adopted? Our recent Ethics in Real Life...
Welcoming Embedded EthiCS
We are excited to announce that Harvard’s Embedded EthiCS program has recently relocated its home to the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics. We welcome Embedded EthiCS Program Director Matt Kopec and the rest of the team to the Center! Embedded EthiCS...
Introducing Center Stage
Welcome to Center Stage, a new blog from the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics, where curiosity meets action! We explore what it takes to have better conversations across differences in everyday life. By bringing together researchers, students...
The Key to Unlocking the Ills of Polarization? Recover Listening
What does the “art of listening” amount to in different settings of our public life: social and traditional media, court trials, the classroom, citizens’ assemblies, the internet, the street? How is listening shaped by its different ends, including...
Sean Ono Lennon talks human empathy, AI with Center Fellow-in-Residence
As AI systems increasingly appear to demonstrate characteristics like friendship and empathy, how do human beings articulate what is valuable about our own, often flawed and limited, companionship? Two Harvard-affiliated researchers, including former...
Frances Kamm Elected President of American Philosophical Association Eastern Division
Longtime Edmond & Lily Safra Center affiliate Professor Frances Kamm has been elected President of the American Philosophical Association (APA), Eastern Division. We congratulate Professor Kamm on this well-deserved honor and are proud to celebrate her...
The Ethics of Extreme Wealth
The recent arrival of the world's first trillionaire has brought along a wide spectrum of ethical opinions on wealth. The Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics hosted an event in anticipation of this moment, inviting participants to wrestle with issues of...
Why It Matters That Some Are Worse Off Than Those Who Could Have Existed
Former Fellow-in-Residence Dr. David O'Brien has a new article in Utilitas titled " Why it Matters That Some are Worse Off Than Those Who Could Have Existed." The article examines egalitarianism and prioritarianism as they relate to a case raised by...
Gaming for Good: A One Day Instructional Design Hackathon
The pedagogy team at the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics is always working to develop new tools, resources, activities, and lesson plans that apply active learning to teach ethics-related topics in an immersive and engaging way. This Spring, they...
Ethically Focused Summer Research
Each summer, a select group of Harvard College undergraduates are awarded Kissel Grants to support research and writing that contributes to the understanding of practical ethics. Their projects may involve research for senior theses, case studies for use...
Interloper or Interlocutor? Debating AI’s Impact on Social Interactions
Artificial intelligence has the potential to make us better people, providing expert-sourced guidance to help us through difficult conversations. But the technology can also generate suspicion, leading people to question the authenticity of these...
Announcing 2026 Fellows-in-Residence & Civil Discourse Fellows!
We are delighted to welcome our 2026-2027 Fellows-in-Residence and Civil Discourse Fellows! This group brings together exemplary scholars across philosophy, law, political science, and public policy to examine how communication, institutions, and...
Gina Schouten named 2026 Guggenheim Fellow
Congratulations to Gina Schouten, member of the Faculty Committee at the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics and Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University, for being awarded a 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship! A leading scholar in social and political...
Trusting AI with Ethical Questions? Not so Fast
Rule number one of Isaac Asimov’s “Three Rules of Robotics” states: A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction allow a human being to come to harm. A new study by Sarah Hubbard, David Kidd (our Chief Assessment Scientist), and Andrei Stupu...
Announcing 2026 Graduate Fellows!
Our six new graduate fellows come from as many academic backgrounds to pursue their PhDs – and one SJD! – here at Harvard. This new cohort brings expertise in philosophy and religion, political theory and law, and history and religion. Having an...
Harvard Ethics Bowl Team Finishes Top 8 Nationally
A relatively new team, formed at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, a group of seven Harvard undergraduate students advanced to the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl (APPE IEB) quarterfinals this...
Guarding Democracy in the Age of AI: When Everyone Has to Do Their Part
By Vija Kalniņa, PhD, Business AI Ethics Initiative Lead Researcher and Lily Noyes, Business AI Ethics Initiative Research Assistant Introduction As the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies continues to create seemingly endless...
New Article from Our Research Team on U.S. AI Policy and Law
We are pleased to announce that the article “The Tangled Path to Success: The U.S. AI Policy and Legal Frameworks,” authored by members of the Business AI Ethics Initiative team, was published on December 2, 2025, in Latvia’s largest legal journal Jurista...
Martha Minow Awarded 2025 Friedrich Schiedel Prize for Social Sciences and Technology
Congratulations to Harvard Law School's Martha Minow on her 2025 Friedrich Schiedel Prize for Social Sciences and Technology, a prize she shares with Professor Ulrike Felt of University of Vienna. Professor Minow is a Faculty Associate at the Edmond &...
Announcing 2026 Undergraduate Fellows!
We are extremely pleased to introduce our new cohort of Undergraduate Fellows ! This year brings an incredibly talented—and surprisingly musical—group to the Center. With a percussionist, members of the Harvard Glee Club and the Harvard Bach Society...
