CSEP News & Events

The Ethics of SOPA and PIPA

2012-01-20T14:26:00.001-06:00

Watching the massive internet protest this past Wednesday on January 18th against the SOPA and PIPA bills being debated in Congress was an interesting experience, especially as a librarian who works in an ethics center. I have discussed issues of intellectual property with students and faculty here at IIT enough to appreciate what an important commodity it is for the U.S. economy. If some of the numbers being quoted by the Motion Picture Association of America are correct, than piracy costs the U.S. something like $58 billion annually. The entertainment industry may have had a major hand in writing this bill, but underlying intent make sense. We do need to find some effective means of protecting the legitimate intellectual property of U.S. companies and citizens.

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) were proposed as a way to deal with foreign "rogue" websites who are offering pirated movies and music and counterfeit goods to U.S. consumers. The bills give the federal government expanded tools for pursuing websites that infringe on copyright, including getting ISPs to block access to suspect websites, restrict U.S. companies from selling adds to pirate sites, stop online companies from processing payments for illegal sales and keeping search engines from listing web sites suspected of piracy.

However, when you begin to read the vague wording of these these two bills, you can begin to see what the protest was about. Its not about taking away our free (and illegal) access to movies and music, but rather the potential impact these bills' may have on the the Internet as we know it.

I would argue that any legislation passed needs to also protect the free speech and privacy of internet users. SOPA and PIPA, by allowing the Department of Justice to file cases in court that would lead to blocking access and cutting revenue sources for infringing web sites, puts U.S. in the same groups as the 13 other countries who require the government blocking of web sites. The American Library Association has also raised some questions about how the bill might affect users' privacy in a message to their members, stating that SOPA requirement that internet companies to monitor internet traffic.."raises the significant likelihood of a 'chilling effect' on using the internet for commerce, communication, and participation in a democratic society."

Questions of what kind of jurisdiction the United States should have on the Internet also need to be addressed. Should we have the right to impose U.S. copyright law across the world? SOPA and PIPA have the potential to reach well beyond the borders of the United States, and any website with a domain name registered in the United States would be treated as if it were a U.S. page.

The good news is that that Wednesday's protest seems to have had an effect and a new bill, the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN) is proposed as a potential alternative to SOPA and PIPA This bill would would allow copyright holders to complain to the U.S. International Trade Commission. This court has the authority to ban the import and sale of infringing material to U.S. consumers, though it would not have the authority to order ISPs to block accesses to infringing web sites. Perhaps a bill such as this will prove to be a better solution.

Are Chimpanzees Necessary for Biomedical Research?

2012-01-10T10:02:00.002-06:00

In December 2011, the Institute of Medicine released a report that sought to assess the current and future necessity of using chimpanzees as a research model in publicly funded biomedical and behavioral research. In the past, the use of chimpanzees in research has lead to many advances in treating life-threatening diseases. However, as alternative research tools become available and public debate about the necessity of using chimpanzees in research, the National Institutes of Health in collaboration with the National Research Council, asked a committee of experts to conduct an in-depth analysis into the subject and to come back with their recommendations.

The committee's report does not endorse an outright ban on the use of chimpanzees in research, but instead establishes a uniform criteria to restrict use. These criteria for biomedical research are:

1. That the knowledge gained must be necessary to advance the public's health.
2. There must be no other research model by which the knowledge could be obtained, and the research cannot be ethically performed on human subjects; and
3. The animals used in the proposed research must be maintained either in ethologically appropriate physical and social environments or in natural habitats.

In the case of comparative genomics and behavioral research, the criteria limits studies that meet the following criteria.

1. Studies provide otherwise unattainable insight into comparative genomics, normal and abnormal behavior, mental health, emotion, or cognition, and
2. All experiments are performed on acquiescent animals, using techniques that are minimally invasive, and in a manner that minimizes pain and distress.

They also go add that animals used in behavioral or genomic research must also be maintained in appropriate physical and social habitats, as above. The report also discusses the types of current and future research in which it is necessary to continue using chimpanzees as models, including research on monoclonal antibodies, hepatitis C, and studying cognition.

What are your thoughts on the report? Do you think there should be an outright ban on the use of chimpanzees in research, or do agree with the committee, that such a ban would be a mistake? Do you agree with the criteria, or do you think that more or less restrictive measures should be put in place?

You can read a summary of the report, as well as find out more information about the IOM panel here.

Full report available at the National Academies Press web site.

Welcome Back!

2012-01-05T09:42:00.001-06:00

Welcome back students for the Spring 2012 semester!

The Center has resumed its normal hours of Monday-Friday, 9-5. We welcome students, faculty and members of the IIT and Chicago community to come in and use our online and print collections.

Winter Break Hours

2011-12-13T09:16:00.002-06:00

The Center will be open from 9-5, Monday-Friday until December 23. We will be closed from December 24-January 2, and will resume normal hours from January 3 until the end of the break.

Thanksgiving Hours

2011-11-22T16:06:00.001-06:00

The Ethics Center will be closed Thursday, November 24th and Friday, November 25th for the Thanksgiving Holiday. We will resume normal hours on Monday, November 28th.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving break and safe travels!

Congratulations to IIT's Ethics Bowl Team!

2011-11-14T14:07:00.001-06:00

On Saturday, November 12, IIT’s Ethics Bowl Team competed inthe Central States Regional Ethics Bowl at Marion University in Indianapolis. Theteam competed against 22 teams from 19 schools around the Midwest, answeringquestions from a panel of judges about a collection of cases the students havebeen discussing since the beginning of the semester. The IIT team members are: RaghuveerCumar (senior, business), Kari Finseth (junior, architecture), Kim Nealy (senior,technical communications), Ben Silver (senior, computer science), and TomWaller (junior, biomedical engineering). The coach is Krisanna Scheiter, SawyierPredoctoral Fellow in Philosophy, and assistant coach Kelly Laas, Librarian ofthe Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions.

The Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl is an academic competitionwith rules and procedures designed to model the best approaches to reasoningabout practical and professional ethics. Created and developed by IIT PhilosophyProfessor Robert Ladenson, the IEB has spread to include well over 120 teamsfrom all over the Unites States and Canada.

Congratulations to IIT’s Ethics Bowl Team for all of theirdedication and teamwork this semester! The team has made tentative plans to informally meet a few times next semester to discuss the cases for the National Ethics Bowl when they come out in January of next year. If you are interested in attending any of these meetings, or potentially being part of the Ethics Bowl team next year, please send an email to laas@ iit.edu.

Ethics News: Dutch Psychologist Manipulated Data in Dozens of Papers

2011-11-09T11:57:00.000-06:00

A recent Science News article reports on the findings of a committee at Tilburg University in the Netherlands that found psychologist Diedrik Stapel had forged data used in a large number of papers, including an article published this past April in Science Magazine. The accusation of scientific misconduct came from three junior researchers working at Tilburg University who suspected misconduct in his work.

Stapel's work encompassed a broad range of attention-catching topics, such has how a position of power influences moral thinking, and is likely to cause damage to to his co-authors and the field. The report from the committee recommends that the university look into pressing criminal charges based on the misuse of research funds and possible harm resulting from the fraud.

What kinds of organizational pressures do you think lead to scientific misconduct?

What do you think that universities and professional associations can do to help reduce the instances of scientific misconduct, other than just focusing on detection and punishment?

Center Director Dr. Weil Wins Award from World Technology Network

2011-10-13T11:45:00.002-05:00

The World Technology Network (WTN) announced last month that Vivian Weil has been named a finalist for a prestigious World Technology Award for Ethics, presented by the WTN in association with TIME, Fortune, CNN, Science/AAAS, and Technology Review. Weil joins a roster of organizations and individuals from over 60 countries around the world deemed to be doing the most innovative and significant work.

The World Technology Awards have been presented by the WTN since 2000 as a way to honor those in 20 different categories of science and technology and related fields doing "the innovative work of the greatest likely long-term significance." Nominees for the 2011 World Technology Awards were selected through an intense process by the WTN fellows (winners and finalists from previous annual award cycles in the individual Award categories) through an intensive, global process lasting many months. Winners will be selected from among the finalists with input from a select group of prominent advisors.

The Advisors for 2011 include Ray Kurzweil, inventor/futurist/author; Albert Teich, director of Science and Policy Programs at the American Association for the Advancement of Science/AAAS (retired, 2011); Jason Pontin, editor/publisher of Technology Review; and Lev Grossman, senior writer and book critic for TIME and co-author TIME's "Techland" blog.

The winners of the World Technology Awards will be announced during a ceremony at the United Nations on the evening of October 26 at the close of the World Technology Summit, a two-day "thought leadership" conference held at the TIME & LIFE Building and presented by the World Technology Network.

About the World Technology Network (www.wtn.net) The WTN exists to "encourage serendipity" -- the happy accidents of colliding ideas and new relationships that cause the biggest breakthroughs for individuals and institutions. The WTN works to accomplish its mission through global and regional events for its members and extended audience, to help make connections among them, and to examine the likely implications and possible applications of emerging technologies.

The WTN is a curated membership community focused on exploring what is imminent, possible, and important in and around emerging technologies. The WTN exists to "encourage serendipity" -- the happy accidents of colliding ideas and new relationships that cause the biggest breakthroughs for individuals and institutions. The WTN works to accomplish its mission through global and regional events for its members and extended audience, to help make connections among them, and to examine the likely implications and possible applications of emerging technologies.

Text from IIT Today 10/13/2011

Sites We Like: EthicsCORE

2011-10-10T17:00:00.002-05:00

As a contributor to the EthicsCORE site, I have to admit to a bit of bias, but I always find something new when I take time to browse the latest additions to the web site. Funded through an NSF grant, its mission is to "bring together information on best practices in research, ethics instruction and responding to ethical problems that arise in research and professional life." The project is coming out of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's new National Center for Professional and Research Ethics, and is inviting other ethics centers and scholars in the field of professional ethics to contribute to the project.

The site, which is still under development, includes the ability to do multiple kinds of literature searches in the field of professional ethics, browse through its collection of teaching materials, and allows you to get full-text access to just about any article you can find, including full access to the Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Ethics. There are numerous other features that are still in the works, including an online journal, so be sure to bookmark this site and check back regularly.

Sites We Like: Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

2011-10-03T14:44:00.002-05:00

For the next few weeks I am going to use this blog to highlight some interesting ethics web sites that I visit on a regular basis. These are sites that I often turn to when looking to keep up with the latest news in the areas of environmental or business ethics, find out what other ethics centers are up to, or find a new case study to discuss in a class or workshop.

One the best web sites I have found when looking for new and well-written case studies is the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Their library of case studies covers all areas of academic ethics, business ethics, social ethics, technology ethics etc. and are always thought provoking. The Markkula Center also hosts a student discussion forum called The Big Q on Facebook where students can discuss ethical questions related to life on campus.

Be sure to check this blog in the next few weeks as we highlight more sites we like!

Ethics News: Scientists Against Sloppiness

2011-09-29T14:29:00.002-05:00

BioCision, a biotech company that develops temperature-controlling products such as special alloy eppendorf tube racks that protect biological samples during rapid and repeated freezing, is launching a tongue-in-cheek campaign with the serious aim of standardizing laboratory practices to ensure the quality of cell and tissue samples. The campaign seeks to get scientists to pay more attention to how biological samples are treated in the lab, as shifts in temperature can have huge effects on the quality of many cell and tissue samples.

The campaign and its web site (which is rather fun to read through) calls needed attention to the "little murders" of everyday science, or the small oversights and misdemeanors that we all are subject to in the lab, such as leaving a sample in a test tube rack on the counter for too long or not being consistent in how we handle each of samples in an experiment. In some cases, these small mistakes can lead to problems down the line in the quality of data. So while samples probably aren't feeling too abused by these practices, the integrity of the final results might be being compromised.

See "Zigmond, Michael and Beth A. Fisher. "The Little Murders of Everyday Science: Commentary on 'Six Domains of Research Ethics.'" Science and Engineering Ethics Volume 8, Number 2, 229-234, DOI: 10.1007/s11948-002-0024-3

Ethics News: Synthetic Biology

2011-09-12T11:28:00.005-05:00

The highlight of the September 2nd edition of Science Magazine is a collection of articles on synthetic biology, an emerging field that, "brings together biologists, physicists, chemists, and engineers who seek to bother understand life and to build new biological functions."(1) Sounds a bit like nanotechnology in its cross-disciplinary draw. But what kinds of ethics questions does this new field raise? The issue includes an interesting article on regulating industrial uses of new biotechnologies, but here are a few organizations are taking a closer look at these issues...

The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues released a report in December 2010 entitled, New Directions: The Ethics of Synthetic Biology and Emerging Technologies.

The National Academy for Engineering held a workshop on synthetic biology and engineering ethics in September of 2010. You can read the notes from the workshop here.

The National Academy of Engineering sponsored a workshop in September of 2010 looking at synthetic biology and engineering ethics. You can read the notes from this workshop here.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars started the Synthetic Biology Project in 2010 to promote public and policy discourse on synthetic biology and its societal implications.

(1)Vinson, Valda and Elizabeth Pennisi. 'The Allure of Synthetic Biology." Science 333(6047) pp.1235.

Ethics News: Social Media, Flash Mobs, Riots & Privacy : Where is the Balance?

2011-08-29T11:13:00.004-05:00

In the aftermath of the riots that occurred in many major British cities earlier this month, new questions have been raised about if police should have the ability to monitor and event restrict the use of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook during times of civil unrest or when these sites are being used to plan crimes and outmaneuver police. In an NPR piece this morning, Bill Branton, the former Chief of Police in New York and later Los Angeles who is also acting as an adviser to the British Government on how to combat organized gang violence, spoke about how the use of social media by criminals is changing the tactics of how police try and prevent crimes as well as the issues of privacy and surveillance raised by these new tactics.

Meanwhile, the New York Times just ran a story last Thursday that British officials and representatives of Twitter, Facebook and Blackberry met to discuss voluntary ways to limit or restrict the use of these networks for criminal behavior.

What do you think? Social media has played a large role both in the revolutions of Libya and Egypt, as well as in the British riots of this month. Should law enforcement have the ability to monitor social media sites, and if so, what kinds of limitations should be put in place to help protect users' privacy?

Welcome Back!

2011-08-16T11:13:00.003-05:00

Welcome back to IIT for the Fall Semester!

CSEP is in the midst of finishing off some of its summer programs, including a redesign of our web site which will be launched in September, the addition of hundreds of new case studies to the Ethics Education Library, and continuing to work with the Boeing Scholars Academy as the school year begins for Chicago-area high schools. We look forward to an interesting and event-filled semester!

Ethics News: Changes to Rules Governing Human Participants in Research

2011-07-27T15:47:00.003-05:00

The New York Times reported on July 24th that the U.S. Government is proposing major changes in the rules covering research involving human participants. The proposed changes would include expanding the Common Rule's coverage to all studies conducted at institutions that receive money from any of the 15 federal agencies that have adopted the Common Rule, even if the study is being funded by a another, non-governmental organization, such as a drug company. Other changes would allow a single institutional review board to oversee studies taking place a multiple sites, and aim and making it less cumbersome to do surveys or other social science research in which risks to participants are usually less than for medical studies.

The goal of these changes is to strengthen some protections in regards the changing research climate, such as the growing use of DNA data in research, while also reducing red tape that can impede the success of some studies.

Ethics News: Harvard Facebook Study Shows Privacy Issues Related to Internet Research

2011-07-27T15:46:00.002-05:00

An article from the Chronicle of Higher Education published on July 10th describes a recent study completed by Harvard sociologists that studied how race and cultural tastes affect relationships. They based their study on 1,700 Facebook profiles from a group of students at an anonymous university. Problems emerged in 2008 when Michael Zimmer of the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee showed that even with the protections the Harvard researcher utilized to protect the data, the data could be identified from coming from the Harvard class of 2009. Researchers taking part in the study used Harvard students as research assistants to download the data, thereby allowing them to access profiles of students that might have set their profiles to be visible only to Harvard's Facebook network. This raises the question of if the students included in the data set truly intended to have their profile data publicly visible and accessible for downloading.

The article shows how many questions are raised by the use of data on social networking sites for research purposes, and the changing relationship between researchers and their subjects in these kinds of contexts.

CSEP and the Boeing Scholars Academy

2011-06-20T16:06:00.002-05:00

CSEP is working with the Boeing Scholars Academy at IIT this summer to organize an ethics bowl for the 100 students participating in this 4-week program. The Boeing Scholars Academy is a free-year round enrichment program that introduces high-achieving Chicago area high school students to the fields of engineering, science, technology, and mathematics. This summer, the students will participate in forums, labs, projects, workshops and field excursions all related to the theme "cities of the future." The cases debated during the ethics bowl, which will be held on July 12th, will center around this topic, and the students will be helping us identify the types of issues that these cases should center on.

For up to date information on the Boeing Scholars Academy be sure to check out their Facebook Page!

New Paper available by CSEP Fellow Robert Ladenson

2011-05-23T16:50:00.005-05:00

CSEP has recently made available two new publications by CSEP Fellow, Dr. Robert Ladenson under a Creative Commons license.

Critical Attributes of Good Process Decisions: A Guide for the Reflective Special Education Hearing Officer
Robert Ladenson

This monograph offers guidance for special education due process hearing officers in their efforts to write good due process decisions. It has four sections dealing respectively with:

- summary and explanation of factual findings;
- justification of legal conclusions;
- framing and determination of rulings and orders;
- writing choices in a special education due process opinion as to word selection, organizational structure, style, rhetoric, and tone.

The monograph is not intended to replace, but instead to supplement, the use of comprehensive summaries of substantive and procedural special education law. It aims to address an essential, yet presently unmet need – for an educational approach that helps special education due process hearing officers to focus critical reflection upon processes involved both in thinking through issues in a case and finding words to express the conclusions arrived at in writing a decision.

Summer Hours

2011-05-16T14:50:00.003-05:00

The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions will be open Monday-Friday, 9-5 through the summer sessions at IIT. Due to the variety of summer programs we are involved in during this period, it is best to make an appointment if you would like to speak with the librarian or someone else at the Center by contacting us at csep@iit.edu or at 312.567.6913.

Thanks!

Are Dolphins too Intelligent for Captivity?

2011-05-03T14:37:00.002-05:00

A new article in the latest edition of Science Magazine , as well as an accompanying podcast discuss a new movement that seeks to end all dolphin research in zoos and aquariums. Research has shown that dolphins can recognize their own reflections- a self-awareness test that only chimpanzees and human routinely pass. These findings, however, raise an unsettling question, if dolphins are potentially as self-aware as humans, how can we keep then in captivity? Do they deserve to have some basic rights protected by law?

On the flip side, captive research of dolphins is both the best way to learn about the intelligence of these creatures, as well as learning about how to protect them in the wild. Its these same captive studies that have lead to our greater understanding of dolphin intelligence, physiology, and our ability to quickly rescue stranded dolphins. Researchers worry that if we end captivity for dolphins, the field of dolphin cognation will also end.

Lori Marino, a researcher who has worked extensively with dolphins, has banded together with scientists, activists, and philosophers to draft the "Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans"

What are your thoughts? Are dolphins deserving of greater protections when a part of research then say, dogs or other large mammals? If so, what kinds of regulation would you support?

Nuclear Power and Public Safety

2011-03-29T14:21:00.002-05:00

We at the Ethics Center have been watching with the rest of world as events have unfolded at the Fukunshima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan, and looking at what lessons can be learned for how we can best manage the dangers associated with nuclear power in the future.

In the interim, here are some links to news articles and other commentary on events in Japan, as well as questions and concerns being raised about public safety and nuclear power in the U.S. and elsewhere.

For a summary of events and coverage from the New York Times, see Nuclear Energy - Crisis in Japan

Latest coverage from the BBC of latest concerns that radioactive water may be leaking from the Fukunshima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, as well as links to related coverage of story.

Understanding Japans Nuclear Crisis - a quick, easy to understand run-down on what is happening from Wired Magazine, last updated on March 18th.

The Scientist is publishing a series of articles called "The Fallout at Fukushima" covering how the released radiation may impact Japan in the weeks, months and years to come.

Part 1: What risks does Japan face as a result of radiation leakage from the nuclear power plan hit by the recent earthquake and tsunami?

Part 2: Are the workers at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi power plant at risk of genetic mutations that could cause cancer or hereditary effects?

Part 3: What impact with Japan's nuclear woes have on the country's ecology and agriculture?

The Washington Post has also published an interesting article talking about daily work in a U.S. nuclear power plant by the Chesapeake Bay, and their constant attention to safety.

Spring Break Hours

2011-03-11T10:53:00.002-06:00

The Ethics Center Library will be open regular hours, 9-5 on Monday-Friday, during IIT's spring break which runs from March 14-18th.

Limited Access to Center Library

2011-02-28T14:49:00.002-06:00

The faculty and staff of CSEP will be away at the annual meeting of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics from March 3-6th. For access to the library, please ask for assistance from CSEP student assistants in rooms 204 or 206. For help with reference questions, please email the Center Librarian at laas@iit.edu, and she will get back to you as soon as possible.

The Long Island High School Ethics Bowl Competition

2011-02-15T12:58:00.005-06:00

The New York Times recently reported on the second Long Island High School Ethics Bowl Competition held on February 12th in which teams from eight area high schools discussed cases looking at wide range of ethical issues ranging bioethics to business ethics.

The Ethics Bowl combines the excitement and fun of a competitive tournament with a valuable educational experience for students. Developed by CSEP Fellow Robert Ladenson in 1993 as a small intercollegiate event at IIT, the Ethics Bowl has grown exponentially over the past 18 years. Along with the APPE Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl in which over 100 colleges and universities compete, many other smaller competitions have begun, including a number of High School Ethics Bowls supported by the Squire Foundation, the Society for American Anthropology Ethics Bowl, and Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges Ethics Bowl.

CSEP is looking to put together a team to compete in the APPE Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl for Fall 2011. Please let us know if you might be interested by emailing us at csep@iit.edu.

In the Lab : A New Interactive Resource for RCR

2011-02-09T13:17:00.002-06:00

The Office for Research Integrity has just announced the availability of the new, interactive online video, The Lab, that allows users to assume the role of a graduate student, post-doc, research administrator, or PI and make decisions that affect the integrity of research. The video shows different viewpoints of people in the case in a way that allows a user to make choices on what the characters should do. After watching the video, a user can also explore a series of tutorials that look at issues of ethical decision making and introduces how the characters in the film could had made different decisions and possibly alter the outcome of the situation.

Business Ethics Case Writing Competition

2011-01-28T13:32:00.001-06:00

2011 Intercollegiate Business Ethics Case Competition: Qualifying Information

The 2011 Intercollegiate Business Ethics Case Competition (IBECC) will be held on September 21-22 at the Ethics & Compliance Officer Association's 2011 Annual Ethics & Compliance Conference in Bellevue, Washington (east of Seattle). IBECC is now jointly supported by Loyola Marymount University, the University of St. Thomas (MN) and the ECOA.

Current plans for selecting a field of 25 teams are as follows.

Five international teams will be invited directly by the Executive Committee.
Fifteen teams will be selected via three qualifying competitions this spring that we're in the process of trying to arrange for in different parts of the country.
Four "wild card" invitations. The Executive Committee is willing to accept applications from teams for whom the cost of travel to a qualifying competition is prohibitive.
As the winner of the 2010 IBECC in Anaheim, the University of St. Thomas automatically qualifies.

We hope to have three qualifying competitions in different parts of the country during the spring of 2011. There will definitely be one at LMU in Los Angeles, April 29-30. We are in discussion regarding additional competitions with the Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida in Gainesville and with the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. Assuming that all three eventuate, the top four teams from each qualifying competition will be invited to Bellevue. Also, in appreciation for the work involved, a team from the hosting institution will receive an invitation.

At present, there are no travel funds available to help with the cost of travel to the qualifying competitions. We hope to have a small amount to assist with travel to Bellevue. In recognition of the fact that some schools may find the cost of travel to a qualifying contest prohibitive, the Executive Committee will accept applications for four "wild card" slots. Interested teams will be asked to submit a video (including Q&A by judges) of their presentation.

Our goal is to have the field for IBECC set by June 1.

Schools that are considering participating should contact Thomas White as soon as possible (twhite@ethicsandbusiness.org, 310-338-4523). Inquiries may also be sent to Kirsten Nordblom (kirsten.nordblom@lmu.edu, 310-338-2321).

Information about the competitions will be posted at http://ethicsandbusiness.lmu.edu as it becomes available.

Interdisciplinary Course To Be Offered in Fall 2011

2011-01-27T15:54:00.002-06:00

Chemistry 597, offered in the autumn semester of 2010, is not what it appeared to be: just a chemistry research course. It is in fact a highly innovative, NSF-funded joint research course for PhD students in engineering, science, and science studies, that is, philosophy, history, and sociology of science. Building on this first offering, Chemistry 597 will be offered again in 2011-2012 and e in 2012-2013. Subtitled “Addressing Ethical Issues in the Natural Course of Research,” Chemistry 597 has other innovative features. The science studies students come from other local universities. The format consists of six seminars covering a series of topics, followed by a six week period of joint research across disciplinary boundaries. In the last week of the research period and the final three weeks of the semester, small student research groups present their research reports for critiquing by the instructors and the other students. Each student group includes at least one science or engineering student and one science studies student. The sustained critiquing is to help the students produce publishable papers.

The course is aimed to prepare students for multidisciplinary research, providing science studies students acquaintance with concrete details of scientific research and giving science and engineering students opportunities to grapple with issues, such as the range of values within science. The goal is to help students acquire a view of science, engineering, and science studies that makes the social and normative aspects of each an essential and valuable part of their understanding of their own respective disciplines and opportunities. The format of the first six seminars features lead-off presentations on the week’s readings followed by challenging discussion. After the first seminar led by the faculty, small cross-disciplinary groups of students take responsibility for the presentations and lead follow-up discussion. The readings are drawn from the writings of science studies scholars, scientists, and engineers, and the topics range from Diversity and Cooperation to Models and Causality. The faculty consists of Vivian Weil (PI), Sandra Bishnoi, and Eric Brey of IIT, philosopher of science Jordi Cat (CoPI) of Indiana University, and electrical engineer Alan Feinerman of UIC.

A final unusual feature of Chemistry 597 is an assessment of the concept, design, and implementation by an independent panel with expertise in science, engineering, and philosophy of science. Their assessment will inform the planning for the next offering. Additional details and information about applying for Chemistry 597can be obtained from Vivian Weil (weil@iit.edu) at the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions.

Trial By Twitter - Social media adds a new element to the peer review process.

2011-01-21T13:31:00.002-06:00

We know that social media is finding its way into almost every part of our daily existence. A new article from Nature confirms this, discussing how researchers are increasingly taking to the web to critique newly published articles, sometimes mere hours after they are published. While this kind of public criticism has its good points, such as helping weed out sloppy work faster, it also raises a number of questions. How are authors suppose to respond to critiques come from all directions, or should the even respond at all to tweets and blog posts about their paper? Is this the proper forum for these kinds of discussions?

What are your thoughts on this? Does this kind of rapid response to published articles help or harm the peer review system? Is social media being embraced more quickly by some disciplines rather than others?

Mandavilli, Apoorva. "Trial by Twitter". Nature 469: 286-287.

Suspended Sentence for Organ Transplant

2011-01-07T14:40:00.003-06:00

Just today, the Scott sisters, who had been imprisoned for 16 years after being convicted of armed robbery, were released by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour on the condition that 35 year old Gladys follow through on her offer to donate a kidney to 38 year old Jamie. Jamie Scott requires dialysis treatment at least three times a week ,and her health has been failing in the past few months. Governor Barbour said her acted in part out of concern over Jamie Scott's health, but also to relieve the state of the cost of her dialysis treatment, approximately $200,000 a year. The sisters were originally arrested on Christmas Eve 1993, and were convicted on charges that they led two men into an ambush, during which the men were robbed of about $11, according to the trial transcript. The NAACP has been a major player on behalf of the sisters' release, especially because of the nature of the sentence received for the crime they were charged with. However, some medical ethicists are concerned about the Governor's stipulation of making organ donation a condition of the Scott sisters' release, even though Gladys Scott has volunteered to do so.

Washington Post Article "Conditioned on kidney donation, sisters' prison release prompts ethics debate." December 30, 2010 by Krissah Thompson.

New York Times Article "Jailed Sisters Released for Organ Transplant." January 7, 2010 by Timothy Williams.

An Ethics Code of Academic Economists

2011-01-05T10:03:00.004-06:00

A December 30th article from the New York Times reports that leaders of the American Economic Association, the world's largest professional society for economists, are considering adopting a code of ethics. This code, among other things, would seek to address questions about if economists should disclose who finances their research, if they should reveal which corporate clients they advise and consult, and if they should even be allowed to serve as corporate directors and officers, as many business and finance professors already do.

According to the article, the proposal to consider adopting a code of ethics was at least partly a response to the new documentary film "Inside Job" that criticizes leading academic economists for their ties to Wall Street as consultants, advisors or corporate directors.

Winter Break Hours

2010-12-17T15:24:00.001-06:00

The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions will be closed from December 24-January 2 for winter break. We will resume regular hours on Monday, January 3rd.

Thanksgiving Holiday Hours

2010-11-23T14:24:00.003-06:00

The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions will be closed on Thursday, November 24th and Friday, November 25th for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. We will open again on Monday, November 29th.

ASEE Prism and Senior Fellow Michael Davis

2010-11-16T11:02:00.005-06:00

CSEP's Senior Fellow Michael Davis is mentioned in an article in the October 2010 edition of ASEE's Prisim discussing how historical case studies can be used to teach ethics and responsibility to future engineers. The article focuses on a number of courses taught by Dr. Marilyn Dyrud at the Oregon Institute of Technology which ask students to grapple with case studies such as the Challenger Disaster, the letting off of the atomic bomb in Japan, and the sinking of the Titanic. Dr. Dryud agrees with Dr. Davis that instructors should include ethics issues in standards engineering courses along also offering more standard engineering ethics courses.

Read the full article, "Judgement Calls: History's ethical dilemmas and dark chapters hold lessons for tomorrows engineers" by Robin Tatu. Prisim October, 2010.

Questionable Science Behind Academic Rankings

2010-11-15T09:54:00.003-06:00

A recent article published in the New York Times questions the validity of academic ranking systems such as the Times Higher Education ranking list, citing the over-important role bibliometrics play in these rankings. In the case of Alexandria University, the author discusses how this university's high ranking seems to be due to the publications of Dr. Mohamed El Naschie, an Egyptian academic who published over 320 of his own articles in a scientific journal of which he is also the editor. The author goes on to discuss the problems that exist in trying to measure academic excellence, and the validity of using bibliometrics (or how often faculty members are cited in scholarly journals) as a way to measure the quality or influence of a university department.

Are there other, more nuanced ways of measuring the impact of universities, and how much weight should we ascribe to academic rankings of this kind?

Workplace Ethics and Facebook

2010-11-09T16:51:00.003-06:00

An article from Monday's edition of the New York Times reports on a recent case where the National Labor Relations Board has stepped in to argue that workers' criticisms of their bosses or companies on a social networking sites are generally a protected activity and that employers would be violating the law for punishing works for such statements.

The Labor Relations Board filed a complaint last week against the ambulance company, American Medical Response of Connecticut who fired an emergency medical technician who violated a company policy that bars employees from depicting the company "in any way" on Facebook or other social media sites in which they post pictures of themselves. The Labor Board says that the company's rule was "overly broad" and improperly limited employees rights to discuss working conditions among themselves.

Should employees have the right to air complaints against their employees on social networking sites? Conversely, should employers have the right to hold employees accountable for what they post on their own Facebook pages?

Gene Patenting

2010-11-08T10:03:00.004-06:00

On October 29th, the U.S. Justice Department issued a legal brief suggesting that the government's long-standing support of the practice of gene patenting might be coming to an end. The brief, which was issues as part of a landmark gene-patent lawsuit, argues that simply identifying an important DNA sequence is not enough to justify a patent. Instead, the brief argued that DNA sequences that have been manipulated in some way should be patentable.

This "friend-the-court" brief was filed in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation challenging patents held by Myriad Genetics on the human genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 which are associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.

Opponents of gene patenting argue that this practice stifles diagnostic testing and research that can lead to cures, as well as potentially limiting patients' options regarding their medical care. Proponants argue that the ability to patent genes has helped the U.S. lead the way in the life sciences, and biotechnology companies claim that gene patents are necessary to protect their investment in research and development. However, other players in genetics may welcome a change. As genetic tests are becoming more complicated and involve larger sets of genes, diagnostic companies worry that they will have to license an every-growing number of patents to put together a single genetic test.

You can read more in the following two articles.

Marshall, Eliot. "Justice Department Raises Doubt on Gene Patents." Science. November 1, 2010

Ledford, Heidi. "U.S. Government Wants Limits on Gene Patents." Nature. November 2, 2010.

Senior Fellow Michael Davis appointed to Ethics Committee of the New National Center for Professional and Research Ethics

2010-10-28T10:08:00.003-05:00

Dr. Michael Davis, Senior Fellow of the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions, has been nominated to be on the Ethics Committee of the National Center for Professional and Research Ethics at the University of Illinois. The Center, funded through a five year, $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, will include an online portal for professional and research ethics in science, mathematics and engineering.

Click here to read more about this exciting new project.

Juan Williams and the NPR Code of Ethics

2010-10-22T10:36:00.002-05:00

NPR recently ended their contract with news analyst Juan Williams after comments he made made on the Fox New Channel show the O'Riley Factor, citing that this comment was inconsistent with NPR's ethical standards and practices.

NPR Coverage of the story can be seen here.

Fox News Channel's coverage of the story can be seen here.

The New York Times coverage of the story can be seen here.

The NPR Code of Ethics does appear to cover the behavior and comments NPR journalists can make when they appear in outside speaking engagements, though we can guess that Juan Williams did get permission to appear on the show from NPR, as required by the code. However, should codes of ethics regulate what a journalist can say when he is not "on the job"? How far should an ethics code govern the behavior of the employees of a business or a profession?

Retraction Watch

2010-10-19T10:25:00.001-05:00

While reading an article in the New York Times last Thursday reporting on the withdrawal of a paper from the journal Nature focusing on possibility that the aging of stem cells may be reversible, I came across a link to the new blog Retraction Watch. Written by Adam Marcus, the managing editor of Anesthesiology News, and Ivan Oransky, the executive editor of Reuters Health and a professor of medical journalism at New York University, the blog seeks to explore the world of scientific publications by drawing attention to retracted papers, the time it takes for a paper to be retracted, and how journals handle retractions and make this information available to their audience.

The blog is meant to help notify the scientific community about retractions, and also contains a number of interesting posts about the nature of authorship and the peer review process. This is certainly a blog that we will be following on a regular basis.

Research Involving Native Communities, Conflicts and Collaborations

2010-10-13T13:13:00.003-05:00

An article in the latest issue of Science Magazine discusses the impact the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act passed by the U.S. Congress twenty years ago has had on relations between Native American communities and scientists, and how new rules passed this year are likely to continue to complicate matters.

To read more, see "Grave Disputes" by John Travis, Science Magazine, Vol. 330, Issue 6001. pp.166-170.

The American Archaeological Association has also addressed a number of these concerns in their Code of Professional Conduct.

Though disputes still frequently occur, many archaeologists have found ways to collaborate with native communities. This same issue of Science Magazine contains a short article about a 12-year long collaboration between a team of archaeologists and paleontologists and the Tlingit tribe in Alaska where when the scientists discovered human remains on tribal land, the local tribe gave the scientists access to the bones and then jointly reburied the remains in a two-day celebration that involved the Tlingit, local bureaucrats and the scientists.

New Web Code Draws Concern Over Privacy Risks

2010-10-11T11:15:00.002-05:00

With concern rising over internet privacy, the New York Times reports on how the fifth version of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) presents more tracking opportunities for advertisers who could, experts say, potentially see weeks or months of personal data, including information on a user's location, time zone, photographs, texts from blogs, emails and a history of web pages visited.

To read the full article, see New Web Code Draws Concern Over Privacy Risks by Tanzina Vega, New York Times, October 10, 2010.

New Look for the NanoEthicsBank

2010-10-08T15:46:00.003-05:00

We have spent this past summer working on developing a new interface for the NanoEthicsBank, and we would love to get your feedback!

New searching abilities are coming soon, as we work on getting the Apache Solr search integrated into the existing site, so keep checking back to see what new features are available.

Enter the NanoEthicsBank

Lab Quits Research After Video of Animal Treatment

2010-09-16T09:50:00.002-05:00

A short article in the New York Time this week discusses the the problems a North Carolina laboratory is facing after PETA release and undercover video showing lab workers cruelly treating cats, dogs, and rabbits. The company voluntarily stopped research after the video was released, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has started a formal investigation.

Stories like this should prompt us all to consider how animals are used in the testing of consumer products and in medical research. No matter what your stance is on this topic, most would agree that researchers have a duty to minimize the suffering of animals under their care. For more information, check out a bibliography that CSEP Library has put together of best practices, guidelines, and books and articles discussing the use of animals research subjects.

Ethics Bibliographies

2010-09-13T09:57:00.003-05:00

Over this summer, CSEP Library has been working with the Online Ethics Center of the National Academy of Engineering to develop a series of bibliographies on ethical questions that arise in engineering practice, such as issues of sustainability, social justice, professional practice and legal issues. Check out the full list by visiting the Bibliographies Section of the OEC site.

Update on Harvard Misconduct case

2010-08-20T15:46:00.002-05:00

A committee at Harvard University has found psychology faculty member Marc Hauser "solely responsible" for eight instances of scientific misconduct, including problems in three published and five unpublished studies of data acquisition, data analysis, data retention and the reporting of research methodologies and results.

See "Harvard Finds Psychology Researcher "Solely Responsible" for Scientific Misconduct" by Tom Bartlett, Chronicle of Higher Education, 8/20/2010.

In Harvard Lab Inquiry, a Raid and 3-Year Wait

2010-08-17T09:40:00.003-05:00

Interesting article in the New Times discussing the career of well-known Harvard psychologist Dr. Marc Hauser and questions being raised about his research methods and the validity of some of his findings. Is this a question of an innovative scientist having research methods that differ from his colleagues and a few honest mistakes made, or a question of misconduct?

In Harvard Lab Inquiry, a Raid and 3-Year Wait by Nicole Wade

Peers nip misconduct in the bud

2010-08-16T10:52:00.002-05:00

A relatively recent editorial in the July 22 edition of Nature reports the results of a survey looking at how scientists respond when they see instances of misconduct being performed by their colleagues. The results show that informal intervention where a researcher talks to his colleague in an non-adversarial way is often an effective way to change behavior, and respondents reported to have suffered little fallout from these interventions.

To read more, please see Peers Nip Misconduct in the Bud by Gerald Koocher and Patricia Keith-Spiegel

(A subscription to Nature is required to view the full article.)

Fixing Peer Review

2010-08-05T11:09:00.004-05:00

An editorial in the latest edition of The Scientist discusses five academic papers that ended up being published in less prestigious journals than they should have due to problems in the peer review system. These problems include that the peer review process discourages truly innovative ideas whole publishing status quo or "hot" fields of the day, and that it can take months or years to be able to spot and evaluate the importance of a paper and the impact it may have on its field.

For years, the peer review process has attracted criticism, and this paper aptly highlights five instances when peer review failed. The question is, what are some better alternatives to the process at it currently exists today?

The full article is available off The Scientist Web site. "Breakthroughs from the Second Tier"

Offshore Stem Cell Clinics Sell Hope, Not Science

2010-07-26T09:36:00.002-05:00

This morning on NPR, reporter Richard Knox discussed how some overseas companies are offering stem cell treatments to customers over the web for spine injuries, heart disease, and many other conditions. However, for many of these conditions stem cell treatment is not the answer, and customers often spend thousands of dollars on stem-cell therapies with little benefit to themselves.

Read or listen to the full article here.

Should the national governments or other international regulatory organizations try and put a stop to this kind of false advertising, or this a case of buyer beware?

Oil Debate Spills into Academe

2010-07-21T09:36:00.001-05:00

Interesting article about some university faculty who initially volunteered to help BP with the oil spill cleanup, and the reasons many of them decided to back out after reading the fine print.

See full article here.

Coordinating Efforts and Ensuring Transparency for Relief Work in Haiti

2010-07-12T13:45:00.003-05:00

In an Op-Ed in the New York Times, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and the current Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive discuss the efforts of the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission to coordinate rebuilding efforts and to meet needs of the Haitian people six months after the earthquake that hit the nation in January 2010. In disaster relief efforts of this kind, issues of transparency and collaboration are key as organizations try and make sure that funds and support get to those most in need, and that the hundreds of NGO's and other programs now in Haiti work together to provide sustainable solutions for the many communities affected by the earthquake.

Finishing Haiti's Unfinished Work, New York Times, July 9, 2010

Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission Web site.

British Panel Clears Climate Scientists

2010-07-07T15:34:00.003-05:00

A British panel has exonerated a number of scientists who had been accused of manipulating their research to support preconceived ideas about global warming. This includes Phil Jones, a leading climatologist at the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia, who stepped down from his research position as the investigation was pending. After the results of the inquiry were released, the university immediately reinstated him into a job resembling his old position.

However, the panel also rebuked the scientists for their reluctance to release computer files backing up their scientific work, and declared that a graph they had produced about climate change in a 1999 publication was "misleading" and should have contained caveats. The inquiry started after a series of embarrassing email messages set by Dr. Jones and other scientists were taken from a computer at the university and posed on the internet. The emails led to a deluge of accusations from climate-change skeptics, and has resulted in a series of five reviews on the research and conduct of scientists involved in this controversy. While these reviews mostly supported the research findings of the scientists, they did fault them for "...failing to display the proper degree of openness" in responding to demands for backup data and other information under Britain’s laws governing public records.

For more information, please see the New York Times article of July 7th.

Fighting Cheating and Plagiarism in Universities

2010-07-06T16:53:00.005-05:00

Colleges turn to technology and online tutorials to try and solve the problem of student cheating and plagiarism, as reported in this recent article from the New York Times.

To Stop Cheats, Colleges Learn Their Trickery

Does your university rely on other methods, such as honor codes, tutorials, or class discussions about plagiarism? Do these technologies work to reduce student plagiarism, or should they be part of a wider program?

Women in Science

2010-06-14T14:32:00.002-05:00

A recent article in the New York Times revisits the controversy caused by Dr. Leroy Summers in 2005 after giving a speech at the conference, "Diversity the Science and Engineering Workforce" during which he said that an innate difference between men and women might be one reason fewer women succeed in science and math careers. The author of the article raises a number of questions about reasons for the smaller number of women in science and engineering, and recent studies looking at gender difference in how children score on science and mathematics standardized tests.

The full article is available at "Daring to Discuss Women in Science" by John Tierney from the June 7th edition of the New York Times.

CSEP Fellow, Michael Davis, quoted in NY Times

2010-06-14T14:25:00.004-05:00

Center Fellow Michael Davis was quoted in an article in the June 11th edition of the New York Times in an article about conflicts of interest in the professions.

To read more, please visit, "Chinese Walls, Pocked with Peepholes" by David Segal.

Arizona State Settles DNA Case with Indian Tribe

2010-04-21T16:58:00.002-05:00

An interesting article in the New York Times, discussing issues of the ethical handling and use of human DNA, especially when working with indigenous communities.

www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/us/22dna.html?ref=us

Redesigning Haiti: Roles for IIT Students - Needs and Opportunities in A Challenged Community

2010-04-13T15:08:00.002-05:00

The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions, along with IIT's College of Architecture, the Armour College of Engineering and the IPRO Office are sponsoring a talk that will provide a "snapshot" of the devastation from the Haiti earthquake, identifying needs and future projects that IIT students can initiate and sustain.

Speaker: Andre Brumfield, Award-winning City Planner, and Principal/Director of AECOM, A Firm of City Planners, Architects, and Engineers, will speak about his experiences designing for challenged communities, and insights gained from his recent trip to Haiti.

Respondents:Professor Laura Hosman -- Political Scientist, Social Science Department and Dhara Shah – President, Engineers Without Borders (Student Chapter)

Tuesday, April 20, 12:30-1:30 pm

Crown Hall, Lower Core

IIT Main Campus

Ethics Subject Guides

2010-03-29T15:35:00.002-05:00

The Ethics Center Library is continually updating and expanding its subject resource guides. Check out the guides in the box below for a full listing.

CSEP/ComEd Discussion Forum

2010-03-08T14:48:00.002-06:00

On March 2, a novel question and answer ethics forum was held in Galvin Library with twenty invited IIT students and ComEd engineering directors Timothy Bulthaup, Ken Cicirale, Bill Fluhler and Marketing Director Jennifer Montague. Arranged by Vivian Weil, director of IIT’'s Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions and Michelle Blaise, engineering director for reliability at ComEd, the forum participants delved into issues of engineering and business ethics.

The forum participants started with questions about the Toyota safety recall and how this related to questions of safety versus profit, and considered along the way how engineers can use a job interview to assess the ethical climate of a company and how newly hired engineers can get a place at the table in decision making to deal with problems. The panelists ended with discussion of how companies become proactive regarding ethical issues and technology development.

We plan on organizing future discussion forums between ComEd engineers and IIT students in the near future. Please check back for the next forum date!

IPRO Ethics Bowl Competition

2010-03-01T15:54:00.002-06:00

The first ever IPRO Ethics Bowl Competition will be held on March 19th, 2010 in Hermann Hall from 8:30-12:30. For more information, access to the case studies to be discussed, rules of the competition, and other materials, please visit the IPRO Ethics Bowl website.

For more information, please contact Kelly Laas at laas@iit.edu

Ethics Bowl National Championship

2010-02-24T11:11:00.003-06:00

Please come and join us in Cincinnati, Ohio to watch the National Championship of the APPE International Ethics Bowl!

This past fall and winter, over 100 teams from around the United States and Canada participated in ten different regional competitions. On March 4th, the top 32 teams will be competing in a series of matches, discussing cases that raise ethical problems on wide ranging topics, such as the classroom (e.g. cheating or plagiarism), personal relationships (e.g. dating or friendship), professional ethics (e.g. engineering, law, medicine), or social and political ethics (e.g. free speech, gun control, etc.) For more information about the Ethics Bowl, please visit the Ethics Bowl home page maintained by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics.

All teams will compete in a series of three matches in the morning from 9-1, and the top eight scoring teams will continue on to a series of elimination rounds in the evening, from 6-10 p.m. You are invited to come and watching any and all of the matches. The National Championship will be taking place in the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, 35 West Fifth Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. Please visit the Ethics Bowl Information Desk when you arrive at the hotel to find out in what rooms the teams are competing.

Hope to see you there!

Senior Fellow Michael Davis to give lecture, "Why You Have a Duty to Pay Even Higher Income Taxes."

2010-01-22T13:18:00.003-06:00

Michael Davis, senior fellow at the Center for Study of Ethics in the Professions, Illinois Institute of Technology, will share his thoughts on the topic at a special lecture hosted by California State University, Bakersfield’s Kegley Institute of Ethics on Thursday, Jan. 28, at 7:00 p.m. His talk will present the argument, "Why you have a duty to pay even higher income taxes."

For more information, please visit the article appearing in the Kern Valley Sun from January 19, 2010.

Recent Biomedical Ethics Case

2010-01-21T16:11:00.002-06:00

An article in the January 15th edition of the New York Times caught our director's eye recently. It describes a recent lawsuit filed by a former medical device executive who blew the whistle on his company Guidant after the company had for years told him to market stents that had been approved to treat digestive tract cancers to treat blood vessels in other parts of the body. These devices (called biliary stents), which have only approved by the FDA for use in the digestive tract, have not been approved for these other, off-label uses. Studies have shown that injury or death can occur in patients as result of device malfunctions when the stents were used off-label.

Click here to read the fully article, "Lawsuit Challenges Marketing of Stents" by Barry Meier. New York Times. January 14, 2010

"Ethics in the Details" in IIT Magazine

2010-01-21T11:52:00.002-06:00

Michael Davis, senior fellow of the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions, appears in the winter 2010 issue of the IIT Magazine in an article discussing the "Ethics in the Details" project, a effort that seeks to integrate ethics into the graduate engineering curriculum through low-dose mini lessons by changing existing technical problems to include an ethical element. This project is generously funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Click here to read the full article from IIT Today.

American Sociological Association - Teaching Ethics Throughout the Curriculum

2010-01-19T16:52:00.003-06:00

The American Sociological Association's Task Force on Teaching Ethics has developed a web resource dedicated to help sociology faculty with teaching students about professional ethics from early in their undergraduate careers all the way through graduate school.

Teaching Ethics throughout the Curriculum consists of case studies, discussion questions, bibliographies, and web links that can be quickly downloaded or printed for use in sociology classrooms or by department chairs. It is a very good resource for faculty interested in new cases to use for discussing the American Sociological Association's Code of Ethics, or for students or practitioners interested in the kinds of ethical issues that come up in the daily research and practice of sociologists.

Come Watch the APPE Upper Midwest Regional Ethics Bowl!

2009-11-18T10:32:00.002-06:00

Come join us and watch the 4th annual APPE Midwest Regional Ethics Bowl at Northwestern Illinois University on Saturday, November 21, from 10-7. Teams from Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan will answer questions about ethics cases on a wide range of topicsm such as the classroom (e.g. cheating or plagiarism), personal relationships (e.g. dating or friendship), professional ethics (e.g. engineering, law, medicine), or social and political ethics (e.g. free speech, gun control, etc.). The three top-scoring teams will proceed to the final competition, held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics in March of next year.

The competition will be held in the Student Union on Northwestern Illinois University's main campus, at 5500 N. St. Louis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. You can download a copy of the cases, and also learn more about the history of the Ethics Bowl. For information about how to participate in future Ethics Bowl competitions, please visit APPE's Ethics Bowl page.

Best of luck to all of the participating teams, and we hope to see you there!

Thanksgiving Hours

2009-11-11T11:37:00.002-06:00

The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions Library will be closed from Thursday, November 26 to Sunday, November 29th for the Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend. We will resume normal hours on Monday, November 30th.

Developed an ethics case study? Share it with us!

2009-10-13T10:07:00.003-05:00

Have you developed a case study that you use in your ethics course?

Have you and a group of friends acted out a case study looking at ethical issues in scientific research?

Do you think you could write a case based on recent stories in the media?

We are looking to collect ethics case studies that have been developed by faculty, students, and instructors to be included in the Case Study Collection of the Ethics Education Library. This collection -which already includes over three hundred cases- is meant to be a clearinghouse for students, instructors, and researchers interested in finding ethics cases to use in workshops, presentations, or in the classroom.

We are interest in cases from all areas of professional ethic including the sciences, social sciences, medicine, arts, and the humanities.

Please email Kelly Laas, the librarian of CSEP, with any cases or questions you may have.

Ethics Bowl Reginal Cases

2009-09-21T10:33:00.003-05:00

The regional cases for the APPE Ethics Bowl have now been posted!

The Ethics Bowl combines the excitement and fun of a competitive tournament with a valuable educational experience for undergraduate students. In the fall of 2009, ten regional ethics bowls will take place throughout the United States. In February 2010, the top scoring teams in the ten regional ethics bowls (32 total) will compete at the national championship of the IEB in Cincinnati, Ohio at the nineteenth Annual Meeting of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE).

For more information on how to participate in a regional ethics bowl competition,and information about the locations and dates of these competitions,please visit APPE's Ethics Bowl page.

Ethics Education Library

2009-08-25T11:48:00.004-05:00

CSEP is pleased to announce a new resource for educators interested in incorporating professional ethics in their courses and grant proposals. The Ethics Education Library is a collection of resources for scholars and university administrators interested in developing ethics training and instruction programs for undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students. It includes seminal articles on how to go about teaching ethics, examples of what other educators and universities have done in the past, evaluation and assessment techniques, and an ever-expanding Case Study Collection searchable by topic, discipline, and author.

We are currently in the beginning stages of developing this resource, so please let us know of materials and cases you think should be included in the Ethics Education Library, or ways in which we can improve the site!

This project has been made possible through a generous grant from the National Science Foundation. Please also take a look at the beta version of the new and improved Online Ethics Center,that is also being developed through this grant project.

Welcome to Our New Web Site!

2009-08-13T16:46:00.003-05:00

CSEP has a new web site! The site includes all of the resources found on our old site, with a number of new additions, including an expanded Ethics Across the Curriculum section, updated Resource Guides, and access to the full text of many publications by CSEP faculty and fellows.

We are still working on perfecting the site, so please contact us at csep@iit.edu if you run into any bugs, or have any suggestions!

Case Study Video

2009-07-14T10:59:00.004-05:00

Asked to prepare a presentation on some of the ethical issues faced in adviser/student relationships, Dylan Erb and Hector Baez, participants in an Illinois Institute of Technology's Research Experience for Undergraduates, created the following video case study. The video elicited a lively discussion among students and faculty, and also has a great sound track (especially if you are a fan of Johnny Cash).

The Graduate Student Laborer

This NSF REU at Illinois Institute for Technology is a 10 week program for undergraduate students the multidisciplinary field of hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The objectives of the program are to train undergraduate students in basic research through challenging HEV/PHEV-related engineering projects performed with research mentors from IIT, expose them to the broader impacts of their research with lectures from experts and tours of facilities and integrate ethics discussions and training into all aspects of the student experience. CSEP has been participating in a weekly meeting on ethical issues in research.

Thanks to Dylan and Hector for sharing their video!

Participate in our Survey!

2009-06-16T09:37:00.002-05:00

You are invited to assist in developing an online resource for Principal Investigators and university administrators looking to incorporate an ethics component in National Science Foundation grant proposals. This resource would focus on ethics education in the areas of engineering, science, technology, and the social sciences. Your thoughts and suggestions are crucial in helping us develop this web site.

This web resource is in part a response to a new mandate in the America COMPETES Act passed by Congress in 2007 which requires,

“…each institution that applies for financial assistance from the Foundation for science and engineering research or education describe in its grant proposal a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers participating in the proposed research project.” (42 U.S.C 1962o-1, Section 7009)

This proposed web site would assist Principal Investigators and university administrators in responding to this new mandate.

The following questions focus on the types of resources you may have used in the past to develop ethics instruction methods and programs, and the types of information you would like to find in a web site of this kind.

This project is a collaborative effort between the Center for Engineering, Ethics, and Society at the National Academy of Engineering and the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions at the Illinois Institute of Technology. For more information about the project, please contact Kelly Laas at laas@iit.edu.

The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete.

Click Here to take survey

CSEP to Develop New Resource on Ethics Education

2009-06-16T09:36:00.002-05:00

The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions is collaborating with the National Academy of Engineering in a grant proposal to develop a web resource for Principle Investigators (PIs) and university administrators looking to incorporate an ethics component in NSF proposals. This web resource is in part a response to a new mandate put out in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C 1962o-1) which requires, in Section 7009 that “each institution that applies for financial assistance from the Foundation for science and engineering research or education describe in its grant proposal a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers participating in the proposed research project.

Results from this project will make good practices and materials widely available and accessible and help the development of a broad-based, knowledgeable social network in ethics education in science and engineering. Special attention will be paid to resources by and for populations that are underrepresented in science and engineering, and to issues that arise for them and from the increasingly globalized and interdisciplinary nature of research. Publicity about the project will be disseminated broadly, through National Academies’ press releases, websites, and publications, and at relevant meetings of professional societies and academic organizations, including those of special relevance to underrepresented populations.

Memorial Day

2009-05-22T11:02:00.001-05:00

The CSEP Library will be closed May 25 in recognition of Memorial Day. We will be open normal hours on Tuesday, May 26th.

Call for Papers: International Conference on Applied Ethics, Nov. 13-15, 2009 in Sapporo, Japan

2009-05-01T15:52:00.003-05:00

Nov 13-15, 2009
Fourth International Conference on Applied Ethics - Call for Papers
13-15 November 2009
Center for Applied Ethics and Philosophy (CAEP) Hokkaido University,
Sapporo, Japan

We are delighted to announce the Fourth International Conference on Applied Ethics on 13-15 November 2009 at Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.

We invite the submission of papers on the following topics (not exclusive): Meta-Normative Ethics, Bio/Medical Ethics, Engineering Ethics, Ethics of Science and Technology, Information Ethics, Environmental Ethics, Business Ethics, and International/Global Ethics, Gender and Sexuality Studies

Confirmed keynote speakers include: Ruth Chadwick (Cardiff), Kristin Shrader-Frechette (Notre Dame), Michael Davis (Illinois Institute of Technology), Seumas Miller (ANU), Randall Curren (Rochester), Howard Adelman (Griffith), Peter Schaber (Zurich), Lee Shui Chuen (National Central, ROC), and Mari Yoshihara (Hawaii)

Those participants who wish to present papers are requested to submit a 300-500 word abstract by 13th of August to CAEP (caep@let.hokudai.ac.jp).

All accepted papers are considered for publication in the printed and electronic formats.

Up to ten Hokkaido University Young Scientists Travel Awards between 20,000-50,000 JPY (equivalent to approx. 200-500 USD) are available for graduate students and non-tenured scholars. Priority is given to overseas students/non-tenured scholars who present papers.

For further details, visit our website: http://ethics.let.hokudai.ac.jp

Conference Chair: Takahiko Nitta (Director, CAEP) Program Chair:
Shunzo Mjima (Deputy Director, CAEP)

The First International Conference Applied Ethics series was held in February 2007, the second in November 2007, and the third in November 2008.At the last November’s conference, we hosted more than 80 participants from 11 countries. Keynote speakers for the previous three conferences have included Asa Kasher, Tom Campbell, Peter Danielson, Andrew Light, Wu Guoshen, Holger Burckhart, and Michael Seigel

Ethics in Action

2009-04-28T14:29:00.005-05:00

Published a few months ago, Ethics in Action: A Case Based Approach is a collection of over forty case studies dealing with "real-life" ethical dilemmas in fields as diverse as health care, politics, and personal relationships. The cases are intended to help readers to develop critical abilities in the area of ethical decision making, and are ideally suited for use in class discussions. Each case is followed by an analysis made from three different perspectives: one commentator argues for a particular solution; the second argues against this solution and presents an alternative, and the third commentator shows why neither of these solutions are complete and provides an expanded analysis toward the morally preferable solution. As stated in the abstract of the book, "Through this, the reader is guided through a process of deliberation that leads to ethically defensible resolutions of moral dilemmas across a wide range of disciplines."

The approach taken in this book is modeled on the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl, a academic competition that originated at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1993 and has grown into a nation-wide event that involves teams from around the country. You can find out more information about the Ethics Bowl, as well as how to participate in the 2009-2010 competition at our web site.

Ethics in Action: A Case-Based Approach by
Peggy Connolly, Becky Cox White, David R. Keller, and Martin C. Leever. Malden: MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.

Please stop by the CSEP Library if you would like to take a look at this new addition to our collection!

New Books at CSEP

2009-04-21T10:51:00.003-05:00

We are busy doing some moving around at CSEP in order to accommodate our growing collection of materials. What follows is a list of some of the new books now available to the IIT Community:

The Economy of the Earth by Mark Sagoff. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008.

An Ethics Trajectory: Visions of Media Past, Present, and Yet to Come by Thomas W. Cooper, Clifford G. Christians, Anantha S. Babbili. Urbana, IL: Institute of Communications Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008.

On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005.

(Frankfurt, a moral philosopher, here tries to spell out a theory of bullshit . When first encountering this book, I too wondered about its place in an ethics library However, this amusing and rather insightful book draws a distinction between bullshit and its close cousin lying, and how bullshit functions in our society.)

Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved by Frans de Waal. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006

Review of the Federal Strategy for Nanotechnology-Related Environmental, Health, and Safety Research. National Research Council Committee for Review of the Federal Strategy to Address Environmental, Health, and Safety Research Needs for Engineered Nanoscale Materials,Washington, D.C. National Academy Press, 2009.

Social Ethics: Morality and Social Policy by Thomas A. Mappes and Jane S. Zembaty. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2007.

Please come in a check out these new books, and leave us recommendations of materials you would like us to purchase for the library.

NanoEthicsBank Update - Launch of the Nanotech Companies Resource Page

2009-04-16T13:13:00.005-05:00

In connection with the NanoEthicsBank, CSEP has developed a web resource for members of the nanotech industry. This resource shall include major databases covering current research on environmental, health, and safety aspects of manufactured nanomaterials, major reports and projects looking at national and international governance of nanomaterials, and risk assessment tools and best practices that have already been developed by standard-setting organizations and other companies for the handling of nanomaterials in the workplace. This page shall be updated weekly, highlighting news stories, reports, and recent editions to the NanoEthicsBank.

Please let us know about the kinds of materials you would like to see included on this page!

Engineering Ethics Resource Guide

2009-04-07T13:26:00.002-05:00

CSEP Library has developed a new resource guide for Engineering Ethics. The guide includes special sections on finding case studies, as well as a small guide for instructors interested in integrating ethics into their technical courses. We will be adding more resources as the guide and CSEP's new web site continues to develop, so please feel free to recommend any resources you think should be included in the guide.

New Resource Guide for Scientific Resarch Ethics

2009-03-31T13:45:00.002-05:00

A new research guide on the ethics of scientific research and the responsible conduct of research has just been published by CSEP. The guide is available off of IIT's Galvin Library web site. It includes resources on animal research subjects, authorship and peer review, conflict of interest, human research participants, research misconduct, and links to cases studies. Please let us know if you have any suggestions of materials to add to the guide, or if you would like us to add a section on a different topic.

A new image for CSEP

2009-03-27T16:13:00.004-05:00

For the past few months we have been working extremely hard on redesigning our web site. The new site is going to blend in with the overall design for the Illinois Institute of Technology, include a number of much-needed updates in our site navigation, a complete overhaul of the Codes of Ethics Collection, and a number of other tweaks to our electronic collections and resource guides. So far, everything is going relatively smoothly, except for picking out a new image for the site.

With the help of Galvin, we have designed a new icon for CSEP. The question is, what color should it be? Our first one seemed to be a bit too dark for the web site...

So, we went for a more blue look, that seemed a bit easier to read...

Any thoughts? Please post your comments, ideas for a new color, etc. This image is going to be on this page, so let us know what you think! (This is a test version of the CSEP site, so beware of bugs).

Spring Break Hours

2009-03-17T11:07:00.001-05:00

The Center and the Center Library will be open over spring break during our normal hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

EthicShare - a Virtual Community for Ethics Research and Exchange

2009-03-11T09:29:00.001-05:00

During this past weekend, I had the pleasure to attend a session about the web resource "EthicShare" at the annual meeting of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. Developed by the University of Minnesota with support from the Andrew W.Mellon Foundation and other partner universities, this virtual community is for scholars working in the field of ethics. The first version of this site will focus specifically on bioethics. The site includes a database of literature on all aspects of bioethics (including quite a bit about the ethics of nanotechnology) and the ability to link directly to the full-text of an article through your university library. The site also includes the ability to tag articles, upload your own papers to the database, and to participate in online discussions about a wide range of ethics issues. At the moment, the number of individuals using the site is rather small, but as the community grows, this could become an extremely rich resource for scholars and students of applied ethics.

Limited hours for CSEP Library - March 5-6th

2009-03-03T14:43:00.000-06:00

Due to senior staff attending the annual meeting of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics and the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl National Competition on March 5-6th, the CSEP Library will be open from 9:30-4 on Thursday, and from 9-4 on Friday. We will resume our normal hours of 9-5 on Monday, March 9th. If you have any reference queries, please direct them to Galvin Library's reference desk or if it is not urgent, email your question to us at cseplibrary@iit.edu.

Best of luck to all the participating Ethics Bowl Teams!

Mapping Study of Regulation and Governance of Nanotechnologies

2009-02-24T09:48:00.000-06:00

Last week, the European FramingNano project released the major report "Mapping Study on Regulation and Governance of Nanotechnologies. This publication gives a full picture of the regulatory activities, public engagement projects, and other research projects countries and regulatory/standard-setting agencies around the world are taking to address the human health, safety and environmental impacts of nanotechnologies. The report looks at the debate about the risks and concerns related to nanotechnology research and development, and also examines the different regulatory measures being considered and adopted by countries (using existing regulatory frameworks, voluntary measures, standardization, etc). The final section of the report includes a detailed summary by country of the proposed and existing strategies and action plans for nanotechnology, ongoing research projects worldwide, and a snapshot of the activities of standards organizations in regard to nanotechnology.

This report is one of the best publications currently available on the current regulatory activities of countries around the world, especially in Europe, North America, Australia, and Asia. In the next few weeks, we will be going through the report, and adding links to the references not before included in the NanoEthicsBank.

Engineering Ethics Resources

2009-02-16T15:17:00.000-06:00

Every few months, I try and make time to do a review of our online resource guides to add material, take down broken links, and see what kinds of new resources are available. In the field of engineering and science ethics, the Online Ethics Center (OEC) at the National Academy of Engineering has consistently been one of the top resources available to students and scholars in this subject area. Covering a wide array of topics from responsible research to environmental ethics, the OEC is an extremely good place for students to begin their research, for practitioners to gain an introduction to what is meant by professional ethics, or for instructors looking to integrate ethics into their professional courses. This is also an especially good place to look for or discuss ethics cases.

I am always looking for new resources in this and other areas of professional ethics, so please feel free to suggest other web sites, articles or books you have come across!

“Code Making: How Software Engineering Became a Profession”

2009-01-22T10:16:00.000-06:00

CSEP would like to announce the availability of “Code Making: How Software Engineering Became a Profession” by Dr. Michael Davis.

In 1993, the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS) and the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) formed a joint committee to help organize software developers and engineers into a profession. As part of this project, a sub-committee of professionals, academics, and members of ACM and IEEE-CS began work drafting a code of ethics for software engineers through electronic mail. After four years of online discussion and revision, version 5.2 of the Software Engineer’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice was adopted by IEEE-CS and ACM in 1998. Since then, the code has been adopted by software engineering and computer societies worldwide.
Members of the subcommittee drafting the code of ethics did so via an email discussion list, and from the beginning members of the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions were participant observers in the project. The entire discussion is documented in an online archive that was launched in late 2007. Dr. Michael Davis, CSEP’s associate fellow, has written an account of how the code was developed based on his own participation in the project and his interviews with key participants and committee members. “Code Making: How Software Engineering Became a Profession” gives insight in how the two professional societies went about establishing software engineering as a profession and drafting a code of ethics, and also looks at this project as a case study to see how other organizations can better go about writing and revising their own codes of ethics in the future. The full text of this account is now available for download off the CSEP Web site.

Library Closed for Martin Luther King Day

2009-01-15T14:55:00.000-06:00

The library will be closed January 19th in celebration of Martin Luther King Day. We will resume normal hours on January 20th.

Voluntary Reporting Schemes and Nanotechnology

2009-01-13T13:36:00.000-06:00

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released its interim report on the Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program, a voluntary reporting scheme that was launched in January of last year. According to the report, twenty-nine companies or associations submitted information to the EPA on 123 nanoscale materials by December 8, 2008. In the In-depth Program, only four companies agreed to work with the EPA and others on a plan for the development of data on representative nanoscale materials over a longer time frame. In the report, the EPA considers the Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program a success, but recognizes that gaps in environmental health and safety information still exist that the Agency had hoped to fill through the program. The agency is considering how to best use testing and information gathering authorities granted under the Toxic Substances Control Act to help address these gaps.

The United Kingdom’s Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA also ran a pilot voluntary reporting scheme from September of 2006 to September of 2008. According to the Seventh Quarterly Report of the program, they received eleven submissions to the program, nine from industry and two from academia during this period. DEFRA has yet to release a final review of the success of this program.

For reactions to the interim report, see the Environmental Defense Fund’s recent blog entry, "Nano Confessions: EPA all but concedes mandatory reporting and testing are needed." In 2005, the EDF and other stakeholders recommended that the EPA adopt a mandatory reporting scheme during a public meeting held by the EPA on the potential for developing a voluntary pilot program for reporting information about engineered nanoscale materials.

Ethics Bowl mentioned in special issue of the U.S. News & World Report

2009-01-08T10:47:00.000-06:00

The Ethics Bowl was mentioned in a special end of the year issue of the U.S. World & News report, in an article entitled “50 Ways to Improve Your Life-Learn Philosophy.” Founded by IIT’s Dr. Robert Ladenson in 1993, the Ethics Bowl has grown to include over 93 colleges nationwide, and a number of professional organizations and high schools have started holding their own competitions. The Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl National Championship will be held on March 5, 2009 in Cincinnati, at the annual meeting of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. Best of luck to all participating teams!

Codes of Ethics Resources

2009-01-06T16:20:00.000-06:00

Many of the reference questions we receive at the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions are from individuals who are in the process of either writing or revising their organization’s codes of ethics. The Codes of Ethics Collection is a very good starting place to see the types of codes that have been developed by other, similar organizations. Alternately, we have just updated and revised our Bibliography on codes of ethics. This includes sections about codes of ethics in general (their purpose, authority, and use), articles and online resources for writing or revision a code of ethics, as well as a list of books that include case studies to help you become familiar with how to use your profession’s code of ethics. If you have any comments or suggestions on materials you think should be added to this list, please let us know.

IIT Intersession Hours

2009-01-05T11:39:00.001-06:00

During Intersession, CSEP Library will be open our normal hours, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m to 5 p.m.

Holiday Hours

2008-12-19T10:53:00.001-06:00

The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions Library will be closed from December 24 to January 4 during IIT's winter break. We will resume normal hours on January 5th.

National Research Council releases report on the NNI's EHS Strategic Plan

2008-12-11T10:47:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, the U.S. National Science Council released its independent review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative's (NNI) strategic plan to address the potential human heath, safety, and environmental (EHS) risks associated with nanotechnology research and development. The committee responsible for the report concluded that the NNI's plan suffers from major weaknesses and does not provide either a vision, a coordinated set of research goals, or a plan of action for how these goals shall be achieved. The committee also found that the NNI had not adequately consided the views of the nanotech industry, consumer and environmental groups, or the regulatory actions of states, localities, and foreign countries. They urged the NNI to go beyond only opening up reports to public comment, and to find better ways of engaging stakeholders in the process.

In a statement released the same day, an informal coalition of environmental and business organizations, including the Environmental Defense Fund, the NanoBusiness Alliance, BASF Corporation, and Dupont, published a statement in support of the report's findings.

For more coverage of the report and reactions to its findings, please see the following articles in the New York Times and Science Magazine's "Science Insider" Blog.

Three new Studies on the Public Perception of Nanotechnology R&D

2008-12-09T11:14:00.000-06:00

Three new studies on the public perception of nanotechnology research and development have just been made available via advanced online publication of the journal Nature Nanotechnology. The studies show that the factors influencing how members of the public view the perceived risks and benefits of nanotechnology goes far beyond an individual's familiarity or knowledge about the topic. These studies also look at some of the differences in the public perception of nanotechnology between the U.S., Europe, and the United Kingdom.

Links to abstracts below.

Cultural cognition of the risks and benefits of nanotechnology

Dan M. Kahan, Donald Braman, Paul Slovic, John Gastil, and Geoffrey Cohen

Deliberating the risks of nanotechnologies for energy and health applications in the United States and United Kingdom

Nick Pidgeon, Barbara Herr Harthorn, Karl Bryant, and Tee Rogers-Hayden

Religious beliefs and public attitudes toward nanotechnology in Europe and the United States

Dietram A. Scheufele, Elizabeth A. Corley, Tsung-jen Shih, Kajsa E. Dairymple, and Shirley S. Ho.

New Resource for Nanotechnology R&D in Europe

2008-12-02T11:51:00.000-06:00

For individuals interested in the international development and use of nanotechnology, the observatoryNANO web site will soon become an important source for reports on nanotechnology R&D in Europe.

Reports from the observatoryNANO project cover

- scientific and technological developments,
- economic and market information,
- ethical and societal issues,
- environment, health and safety issues,
- developments in regulations and standards
- governance, communication and engagement tools

The observatoryNano project’s main goal is to collect and analyze data regarding scientific and technological trends (including peer-reviewed publications, patents, roadmaps, published company data) and economic realities and expectations (including market analysis and economic performance, public and private funding strategies) related to the research and development of nanotechnology. The consortium of institutes involved in this project will also supplement this information with assessment of social and ethical issues, nanotechnology’s impact on health, environment and safety, as well as regulation, standardization, and legislative issues. This data will provide European decision-makers in government, industry and finance with objective information on which to base their future decisions regarding the future of nanotechnology R&D in Europe. This four-year project is funded through the EU’s FP7 research program, and has the final goal of establishing a permanent European Observatory on Nanotechnologies to provide ongoing independent support to decision-makers.

The web site already includes interim reports on ten technology sectors, and the first edition of its newsletter. The sections on societal issues, regulation and standards, and human health, safety, and the environment are still under construction.

Anthropologists to Vote on New Ethical Rules on Work With Military

2008-11-25T13:44:00.000-06:00

According to an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, members of the American Anthropological Association have been debating changing the Association’s code of ethics to address concerns about anthropologists who work with the U.S. military. The debate centers on the roles of social scientists in military and intelligence programs, and how their research could potentially be used to the detriment of the populations being studied. The resolution re-instates language from the 1971 version of the code, and calls for anthropologists to be honest and transparent with all stakeholders about the nature and intent of their research, and for open access to any subsequent reports or publications.

Part 6 of the of the proposed language states,

“ In relation with his own government and with host governments, the research anthropologists should be honest and candid. He should demand assurance that he will not be required to compromise his professional responsibilities and ethics as condition of their permission to pursue research. Specifically, no secret research, no secret reports, or debriefings of any kind should be agreed to or given. If these matters are clearly understood in advance, serious complications and misunderstandings can generally be avoided.” (To read the proposed guidelines and a full description of the debate, click here.)

The AAA’s full membership is set to vote on the proposed revisions of their code of ethics in early December of this year.

1998 Code of Ethics

Executive Board Proposal to Amend the Code of Ethics

Help us improve IIT Libraries by taking our survey

2008-11-19T10:09:00.000-06:00

We are inviting all students, faculty, and staff at IIT to take a survey of library service quality at IIT. By completing this survey, you will be providing us with essential feedback that shall help us measure how we are doing in meeting your research and information needs, and allow us to improve our service, collections and space in the years to come.

Your responses to the survey will be anonymous, as any identify links between responses and respondents will be removed and only the combined data will remain. It should take you about 10 minutes to complete the survey.

Everyone who completes the LibQual survey have the opportunity to be part of a drawing for a chance to win one of four $50 Barnes & Noble gift cards that can be used at the IIT Bookstore or in any Barnes & Nobel retail or online site. Instructions for entering the drawing are available at the end of the survey.

Please click here to access the survey, and thank you for letting us know how we are doing!

Check out our new design for the NanoEthicsBank!

2008-11-18T10:16:00.000-06:00

Since the launch of the NanoEthicsBank (NEB) in May of 2007, CSEP Library has been collecting feedback from users of this resource to improve both the quality of the information contained in the database, and its ease of use. We have expanded the scope of the NEB to include materials looking at the legal status of nanotechnology research and development, including questions about intellectual property and patents, as well as the development of green nanotechnology, and discussions about the use of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in consumer products. We have also changed the user interface of the NEB to include a list of the popular search terms, as well as the ability to search by journal title in the advanced search mode. Please check out the new look of the NEB, and let us know what you think! You can also visit the new Nano Resources page, is continually updated with upcoming conferences focusing on the societal, legal, and ethical issues pertaining to nanotechnology research and development, as well as further databases, projects, and national and international research institutes focusing on nanotechnology. The NanoEthicsBank is a bibliographic database for scientists, scholars, students, and anyone else interested in the ethical and societal implications of nanotechnology. This database, supported by the National Science Foundation, is part of the NanoConnection to Society Project, which has also supported the development of the NanoBank, a digital library containing a collection of documents related to various topics in the nanotechnology field.