2018-2019: The Ethics of Identity

2018-2019 The Ethics of Identity

Home The Roger Mudd Center for Ethics Programs and Events 2018-2019: The Ethics of Identity
Mudd Center

What is, and is not, a part of our “identity"? Can we choose our identities, or are our identities given to, or imposed upon, us? How do our identities constrain our freedom, and how do they enhance it? What role (if any) should our racial, ethnic, gender, sexual, biological, national, religious, cultural, and/or professional identities play in our individual and collective decision-making? Can our identities generate ethical obligations for us? What should we do when our identities come into conflict? Should the government play a role in fostering or supporting the development of (particular) identities? The aim of this year’s series is to explore these and related questions about “the ethics of identity."

Below is a list of upcoming theme-related events and activities. To receive information about these and other Mudd Center events, please join our mailing list.

Speakers and Events

Kwame Anthony Appiah

Kwame Anthony Appiah

Professor of Philosophy and Law at NYU

Talk Title: The Ethics of Identity: The Injuries of Class
Thursday, September 27, 2018, 5:00 pm, Stackhouse Theater

Anita Foeman

Anita Foeman

Professor of Communications Studies at West Chester University of Pennsylvania

Talk Title: DNA and Identity: Changing the Conversation About Who We Are
Thursday, October 18, 2018, 5:00 pm, Stackhouse Theater

Paula Vogel

Paula Vogel

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright

Talk Title: The Art of Tolerance
Tuesday, October 30, 2018, 5:00 pm, Stackhouse Theater

Rebecca Jordan-Young

Rebecca Jordan-Young

Tow Associate Professor for Distinguished Scholars and Chair of the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Barnard College

Talk Title: Thinking Bioculturally About Identity and Ethics
Thursday, November 29, 2018, 5:00 pm, Hillel Multipurpose Room

Joy Harjo

Joy Harjo

Award-winning Poet and Musician

Talk Title: Exile in Memory
Monday, February 11, 2019, 5:00 pm, Stackhouse Theater

David Luban

David Luban

Professor of Law and Philosophy at Georgetown University

Talk Title: The Ethics of Professional Identities in Law and War
Thursday, February 28, 2019, 5:00 pm, Stackhouse Theater

Jonathan Lear

Jonathan Lear

John U. Nef Distinguished Service Professor at the Committee on Social Thought and in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Chicago

Talk Title: What Would It Be to Mourn Gettysburg?
Thursday, March 14, 2019, 5:00 pm, Stackhouse Theater

Ralph Caldroney

Medical Director, Rockbridge Area Hospice

Talk Title: Professional Identity in Healthcare
Friday, April 26, 2019, 12:15 - 1:15 pm, Mattingly House Living Room

The Honorable Mary Grace O’Brien

The Honorable Mary Grace O’Brien

Judge, Court of Appeals of Virginia

Talk Title: Judicial Identity
Thursday, September 12, 2019, 5:00 pm, Lewis Hall

Mudd Center

The Mudd Center

  • Washington and Lee University
    209 Mattingly House
    Lexington, VA 24450

Melissa R. Kerin

Director

Rachel Levit Ades

Postdoctoral Fellow

Kate Saacke

Senior Program Coordinator