Associate Professor of Philosophy Tom Peard said he is in the process of developing a proposal that would make the study of ethics a much larger part of the Baker University experience.
The proposal is for an ethics institute to be established at Baker which would provide a center for group discussions and seminars that relate to ethical issues, Peard said.
Peard said he is excited about the possibilities.
“It is something that I have wanted to do for some time,” he said. “A lot of universities have ethic institutes.”
Peard said he wants the study of ethics to be further integrated across the curriculum.
“We already have a few, but I want to see what other courses are available,” he said. “We could also incorporate ethics classes into the general education requirements.”
Peard said having an ethics institute would mean having more available courses for students and would enhance the experience at Baker.
Professor of Business and Economics Kevin McCarthy said having a center for group discussion would provide for a better learning community.
“It would make students and faculty able to share and grow through interaction, and there are not a lot of examples of that on campus yet,” he said. “It has the potential to be very powerful.”
Peard recently sent out a survey to Baker faculty concerning ethics, he said.
“I will use the survey to determine faculty interest in the project and their ethics background,” he said. “I want to know if they have taught or have taken an ethics course.”
Peard said what the school does with the institute will be based on participation from students and faculty.
Sophomore Zac Kliewer said he took Peard’s ethics course in the fall semester.
“I think it’d be good for Baker but probably wouldn’t work because it would seem like more work,” he said. “Everything relates to ethics, and I don’t think adding it to the curriculum would take away from the courses.”
Kliewer said talking about “hot topics” that relate to ethics would make group discussions more interesting to students.
Peard said ethical issues are some of the most important we face in the world.
“Students should have a sufficient background in ethics and also it’s interesting,” he said.
Peard said the first thing he must do is discover if there is an interest in the institute.
“I’m going to tally the results of the survey and then meet to discover possible funding,” he said.
McCarthy said there is an opportunity for external funding.
“We must ask for corporation or foundation support and get involvement from members of the business world,” he said. “We must put together a proposal to pitch to some group for support.”