The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at
Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...
promotes research and dialogue in five major focus areas:
BioethicsBioethics is the study of controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, and philosophy....
,
Business EthicsBusiness ethics is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and entire organizations.Business...
, Campus Ethics, Character Education, and Government Ethics. The Center offers public talks, workshops, and training, as well as sponsoring activities on the SCU campus for students, faculty, and staff. The Center was created by an endowment from Apple Inc. co-founder
Mike MarkkulaArmas Clifford "Mike" Markkula, Jr. is an American entrepreneur who was an angel investor and second CEO of Apple Computer, Inc., providing early critical funding and managerial support...
.
Bioethics
Through partnerships with area hospitals and hospices, the Center works in the area of clinical ethics, especially in developing policies on issues such as organ donation after cardiac death and artificial nutrition and hydration. The hospitals also provide the sites for a Health Care Ethics Internship for undergraduates. The Center’s bioethics research has focused on “Medical Decision Making for Unbefriended and Unrepresented Patients,” “Culturally Competent Care,” and “Pandemic Ethics. “ Center Bioethics Director Margaret R. McLean was a consultant to the Santa Clara County Department of Public Health on pandemic ethics. She served as an advisor to the California Senate Select Committee on Genetics and is currently a consultant to the California Department of Public Health.
Business Ethics
The Center’s Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership brings together business executives and business ethics scholars from Santa Clara University and other Bay Area institutions. The partnership is a forum to learn how to create an ethical organizational culture. It has sponsored research on issues such as “Encouraging Internal Whistleblowing” and “Corporate Moral Responsibility and the Ethics of Product Usage.” The Center’s Executive Director Kirk O. Hanson was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics by Ethisphere magazine in 2007 and received a Liftetime Achievement Award from the Aspen Institute’s Center for Business Education.
Campus Ethics
More than 60 members of the Santa Clara University faculty are scholars of the Ethics Center with expertise in a variety of fields from literature to engineering. The Center offers both faculty and student Hackworth Grants for research on applied ethics and Hackworth Fellowships for students interested in creating programming on ethics for their peers. The Campus Ethics Program also organizes weekly presentations on ethics in many applied fields, including technology, diversity, immigration, law, and other topics.
Character Education
The Center’s Character-Based Literacy Program, which weaves ethics into the curriculum, is used by the offices of education in 41 of California’s 50 counties, in addition to many individual schools and districts throughout the country. The program provides detailed lesson plans, literature recommendations, and concrete activities that address ethical questions within the parameters of California state standards for middle and high school language arts, high school US History, World History, Biology, and Earth Science. The Center provides a similar program in the language arts for Catholic middle schools.
Government Ethics
An online "Introduction to Government Ethics" outlines the Center’s main focuses in government ethics, including conflicts of interest, gifts and bribes, cronyism, lobbying, transparency, and the personal lives of public officials. Ethics cases are available on each of these issues. The Center’s Ethics Roundtable for Locally Elected Officials convenes mayors, councilpeople, county supervisors, and members of special districts quarterly to discuss how these issues play out in their work. Center Senior Fellow in Government Ethics Judy Nadler was formerly the mayor of Santa Clara, California.
Online Resources
The Center’s Web site offers more than 3,000 pages of material on ethics, including a section on ethical decision making, which features the Center’s “Framework for Ethical Decision Making” and the article, “What is Ethics?” Collections of articles are available on each of the Center’s focus areas plus Technology Ethics, Immigration and Ethics, Environmental Ethics, and Media Ethics. The Center’s Web site was named one of six useful ethics resources in the Wall Street Journal. It is also reviewed in the Librarian’s Internet Index and the Scout Report.
Bioethics
Business Ethics
Campus Ethics
Character Education
Government Ethics
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