The Increasingly Inescapable Need to Integrate Ethics
Engineers are facing more ethical dilemmas in their professional lives than ever before. Students need to be taught how to handle them
Every university shapes the character of its students. Often, this happens implicitly and unintentionally. At Duke, we want to make this explicit. We want to bring Character Forward.
We aim to intentionally cultivate positive character traits through our curricular and co-curricular activities. The goal is that our graduates receive a rigorous engineering education while also becoming better people.
from The Purpose of EducationWe must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.
Genevieve Lipp discussed the First-Year Computing Experience, in which she’s created structures that teach resilience. Feedback loops, for example, help students to “engage in the learning cycle even when there are setbacks.”
Engineers are facing more ethical dilemmas in their professional lives than ever before. Students need to be taught how to handle them
As director of the new Character Forward Initiative, he’s working with faculty to help students become great engineers—and good people
A course led by Cameron Kim gives students the foundational knowledge they need to become ethical engineers
Rich earned a doctorate in philosophy from Baylor University and a BA from Princeton. He specializes in ethics, pedagogy and political philosophy. His experience as a D1 athlete at Princeton sparked his interest in leadership and character development. After Princeton, he worked in New York as an assistant vice president at Barclays Bank helping organize pro bono service initiatives. Rich returned to academia to investigate questions in applied ethics.
Associate Director for Education, Kenan Institute for Ethics
Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education, Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. School Professor of the Practice of ECE
Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies, Assistant Professor of the Practice in the Department of BME
Director, First-Year Design Program, Professor of the Practice in the Department of BME
Bell-Rhodes Associate Professor of the Practice of Electrical and Computer Engineering
R. Eugene and Susie E. Goodson Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering
The Character Forward Initiative is a partnership of the Pratt School of Engineering and The Purpose Project at Duke.
The Purpose Project, generously funded by the Duke Endowment, is a collaboration of the Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke Divinity School and the Office of the Provost.