The social media world is a crazy world, indeed, sparking firestorms over petty things, such as the color of some dress in Scotland. Most social media postings connect people to ideas, news, fun and each other. There is, however, a dark and demented corner of social media where posters threaten and scare individuals. This leaves … Continue reading "Threats on Social Media are Still Threats"

DePauw is reaching the end of its annual three-week-long “Energy Wars:” a competition between the major housing buildings on campus to reduce the amount of electricity and water that students use in their day-to-day lives. In 2010, DePauw students made the largest reduction in energy out of all of the nearly 40 campuses that participated, … Continue reading "Do you have a moral responsibility to “Go Green”?"

When your name remains detached from something, most of the repercussions from saying certain things seem to disappear. The issue of anonymity online is nothing new – people have been sending hateful comments to people from behind a computer screen for years. Cyberbullying is a hot topic and a major issue among children, teens, and … Continue reading "Ethics of Anonymity Online"

At the 2015 Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) conference a few weeks ago, I went to a breakout session on ethical research that is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The presenter leads a division of the NSF called Cultivating Cultures for Ethical STEM (CCE STEM), which essentially oversees the ethical provisions … Continue reading "Ethics in Research: Is the Government Catching Professors Cheating?"

Congratulations to our winners!!! Taylor Zartman, Samuel Caravana and Nathaniel Fox #1- Nathaniel Fox- (Faculty Vote Winner) Street Art and Urban Pressure: Graffiti as we know here is the U.S. is thought as trash and dirty, stereotypes that are simply not accurate. Graffiti is more than just trash created by the lowly and impoverished. This … Continue reading "ART OF AWARENESS SUBMISSIONS 2015- Winners announced!"

Then comes the motherfuckin’ Christopher Columbus Syndrome. You can’t discover this! We been here. You just can’t come and bogart. There were brothers playing motherfuckin’ African drums in Mount Morris Park for 40 years and now they can’t do it anymore because the new inhabitants said the drums are loud.  – Spike Lee, Rant on … Continue reading "“The new inhabitants said the drums are loud”: Gentrification and Living Ethically in the City"

The World Cup is a “global experience” filled with an overwhelming amount of passion felt by soccer fans worldwide. It is a unique experience, and one that unifies all corners of the globe around a shared passion for what some would call “the most beautiful game.” There is no doubt that hosting comes with benefits … Continue reading "Preparation for the 2022 World Cup is far from ethical play"

50 Shades has swept audiences off their feet, selling 100 million copies worldwide, and making $237.7 million in its global opening in theaters. In many ways, this success could have been predicted by its eerie similarity to other phenomenally profitable franchises (ahem…Twilight), but in other ways, what 50 Shades presents is entirely new. The series … Continue reading "Let’s Talk About…50 Shades of Grey (Part I)"

On Thursday-Friday, February 26-27, the Prindle Institute and the DePauw Philosophy department will host Young Philosophers Lecture Series. The series was started by Andrew Cullison, Director of the Prindle Institute, in 2008 at SUNY Fredonia. This is the first year that the series will be held at DePauw. The lecture series brings four recent Ph.D. grads to campus to deliver … Continue reading "Prindle and DePauw Philosophy Department to host Young Philosophers Lecture Series"

A new study conducted by the U.S. Army War College has found that U.S. Army officers regularly lie, and that the Pentagon is fully aware of that behavior.  Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel expressed concern about ethical behavior within the military prior to stepping down on Tuesday. This new study has found that the U.S. … Continue reading "Lying in the Military"

Two days after the DePauw Day of Inclusion, Prindle hosted the “Debrief with Desserts” event to continue the conversations started at the dialogue itself. It was a lunch hour of conversation and delicious desserts from Almost Home, and I had the opportunity to interview a few of the attendees. Overall, I was thrilled to see … Continue reading "Thoughts on the DePauw Dialogue"

Time is crucial when it comes to the news; every news agency wants to be the first to break a large story. To save time for journalists to focus on the big stories, template stories have been used for a basis for smaller stories. Journalists can type in the specific facts and then be on … Continue reading "Robo-Journalists: Can Robots Do The Job Of A Human Journalist?"

Recently, Dartmouth’s president, Philip J. Hanlon, banned hard alcohol across the entire campus and implemented  mandatory four year sexual violence prevention and education programs. By banning all alcohol with a 30 proof or higher for everyone on campus, regardless of age, President Hanlon hopes to rid Dartmouth of its party school reputation and take strides against … Continue reading "Dartmouth Bans Hard Liquor On Campus — What Could This Mean for DePauw?"

This post by Dr. Jeff McCall was originally published in The Indy Star. Media executives nationwide are watching to see how the Indianapolis television market will respond to the CBS affiliate change from WISH-8 to WTTV-4. These execs want to know if a highly established television station can survive when its longstanding network affiliation ends. … Continue reading "WISH-8 to WTTV-4 switch is bellwether for local TV nationwide"

We’re now over a month into the new year – how are those resolutions coming? Even if you didn’t happen to make any for yourself, the cultural phenomenon of the new year’s resolution sheds interesting light on the persistent gap between what kinds of lives individuals think would be best for themselves and what kind … Continue reading "Libertarian Paternalism: An Introduction"

On Saturday, February 7, The Prindle Institute will host the first annual Midwest Regional High School Ethics Bowl competition. Ethics Bowl competitions consist of two teams that argue two cases, switching off as the primary speaking team for each case. Teams analyze ethical dilemmas and argue their points of view, although they do not have to disagree … Continue reading "Prindle To Host High School Ethics Bowl Competition"

Orange is the New Black came to life last night as Piper Kerman joined students and faculty in Kresge Auditorium for the first Ubben Lecture of the semester. Kerman got personal quickly, discussing not only her journey through the prison system, but also the specific ethical dilemmas she encountered and witnessed throughout her sentence.  Kerman served thirteen … Continue reading "The Prindle Institute Hosts Piper Kerman"

This post by Dr. Jeff McCall was originally published by The Indy Star. Let’s remember a key fact as we prepare snacks and grab the remote to watch the Super Bowl. The people playing in the game are important only because they happen to be good at football. They aren’t super heroes. They aren’t necessarily good at … Continue reading "Media Have Warped Our Perception Of Athletes"

After an emotionally-charged and educational first DePauw Dialogue, many students, faculty, and staff are asking: What’s next? in terms of campus-wide education and commitment to inclusion and diversity.  Previous discussions of the Multicultural requirement (“M”) as an addition to DePauw’s graduation requirement list brings about important issues of both ethical and social concern.

Natalie is a senior intern from Winnekta, Illinois. She is an English Writing major. Tell us about an ethics/social justice issue that is particularly important to you. Because I’m about to graduate, I find ethical issues involving the job market particularly interesting. For instance, what are the ethics of internships? How do those issues vary … Continue reading "Prindle Intern Spotlight: Natalie Weilandt"

No matter the conflict, time keeps ticking by, and who better to measure it than museums? Here, the history collected is still a living, painful truth. In Ferguson, MO, the ashes of the riots after the grand jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson are still quite literally being cleaned up. But they are not being cleared … Continue reading "Collecting History Now"

The other day, I took a test. It didn’t take long, just a few keystrokes and some flashing images on a computer screen. Fifteen minutes later, my results suggested something that I was dreading: I may be a racist.

Are you looking for an opportunity to enrich your DePauw experience and share your passions with others, while gaining valuable skills that will help you in virtually any career? As a Hillman Intern at The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics, you will be exposed to a wide variety of experiences that will challenge you and … Continue reading "Join the Prindle Intern Team!"

With the recent announcement of details regarding DePauw University’s Day of Inclusion activities, some in our community have questioned whether cancellation of school and requirement of attendance is warranted for this large-scale community discussion and day of learning. On DePauw’s intellectually driven campus, it is important to analyze the ethics involved with such a decision, … Continue reading "Ethics of School Cancellation – Day of Inclusion"