As part of the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Profession’s mission to support research in practical and professional ethics, we sponsor many talks and events throughout the year in collaboration with other departments. Please be sure to sign up for our newsletter to learn about upcoming events and discussions of ethics-related news stories and resources.
You can also view past editions of our newsletter
Chicagoland Sawyier Workshop on Applied Ethics
Saturday, October 26, 2024
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Conviser Law Center, 565 W. Adams Street, Chicago, IL 60661
The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions at the Illinois Institute of Technology is holding an informal workshop for members of the philosophy community in the Chicago area to connect, share recent research, and network with others in the field. Participants are invited to give a short presentation on their current research and engage in informal discussions with fellow attendees.
Submissions are invited from the areas of applied ethics (bioethics, ethics of technology, etc.), philosophy of science, philosophy of technology, and other related fields.
Participation in this event is free, but registration is required. We ask each participant to limit themselves to one submission.
For questions, please contact Elisabeth Hildt at ehildt@iit.edu.
Registration deadline: October 18, 2024
2024 Research Integrity Discussion Series
Designing a Better Future: Ethics in Biomedical Innovation
September 13, 2024, 1:30 p.m.
Galvin Library, Library Learning Center.
Register to attend online or in person
We will explore ethical considerations in biomedical engineering, fostering critical thinking and understanding of the societal implications of technological advancements. Topics include AI in healthcare, organ transplantation, and augmented humans. Dr. Abhinav Bhushan, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Illinois Tech, will lead the discussion.
Topics include:
- How can we balance technological innovation with ethical considerations?
- What role should society play in regulating biomedical engineering advancements?
- How can we ensure that these technologies benefit all people, regardless of socioeconomic status?
- What are the long-term implications of these advancements for humanity?
Is AI Coming for Your Research?: From Research Ethics to Ethics in Research
September 19, 2024, 12:45 p.m.
Galvin Library, Library Learning Center.
Register to attend online or in person (https://iit.libcal.com/event/13062638)
How are you using artificial intelligence in your research? How is it changing your research field, and what questions do you have about its responsible use in the research process? Join fellow Illinois Tech researchers with your questions in a joint discussion with research from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The discussion will be led by Dr. Gillian Smith, Association Professor of Computer Science and the Ethics in Robotics Lab at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Yunus Doğan Telliel, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Rhetoric at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Ethics for and About Biologists
October 11, 2024 12:45 p.m.
Galvin Library, Library Learning Center.
Register to attend online or in person
All researchers encounter ethical issues in their professional lives, but those of us engaged in life-science research have a particular set of ethical challenges because we deal with people and the environment. Fraud and plagiarism, which can occur in any research setting, are particularly prevalent in biological and biomedical settings. Of the top 20 names on Retraction Watch’s leaderboard for retracted papers, 14 are in medicine or biochemistry. We’ll discuss the ethical issues that are peculiar to medicine and biology. Dr. Andrew Howard, Associate Professor of Biology and Physics at Illinois Tech, will lead the discussion.
Publishing Ethics
November 13, 2024, 12:45 p.m.
Galvin Library, Library Learning Center
Register to attend online or in person
This session covers the ethical aspects of publishing your research, including common ethical issues in journal submissions, preprint sharing, and compliance with funders' public access mandates to help maintain research integrity during publication. Charles W. Uth, Senior Engineering Librarian, Galvin Library at Illinois Tech, will lead the discussion.
Topics include:
- Plagiarism and self-plagiarism
- Authorship and contributor roles
- Ethical considerations in open access publishing
- Understanding and complying with public access mandates, including identifying reliable open access publishing options (journals, repositories, and platforms)
Additional RCR Workshops
These workshops are required for students and faculty engaged in federally funded research to meet the in-person research integrity education requirements. Funding organizations such as the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health recently issued new training requirements to make sure that everybody is on the same page and conducts studies responsibly.
Responsible Research and Building an Ethical Culture
This collaborative session seeks to engage participants in a discussion of ethical issues that have come up in their own research. They will explore existing guidelines or best practices on how to resolve or better handle these issues. And participants will jointly develop draft guidelines for future researchers in navigating these ethical questions. This workshop fulfills the NIH/HSF requirements for in-person RCR training.
Please register for one of the two virtual workshops:
October 25, 12:45 PM-2 p.m.
https://iit-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sceupqzkrHt3JuD3lgUzFupU85KJnV8He
November 15, 12:45 – 2 p.m.
https://iit-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcsfuGopzgiH9Uc4ulaYZ5l_GX-cTil3Yl8
Webinar: Ethical and Logistical Considerations in Implementing Decentralized Genomic Research Trials
Illinois Tech’s Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions presents a webinar featuring guest speaker Michele L. McGowan, professor of biomedical ethics and co-director of the Biomedical Ethics Research Program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. This webinar took place on Thursday, March 21 at 12:45 p.m.
There is considerable enthusiasm for moving clinical research outside of traditional research environments and promoting research participation among populations that have been historically less likely to contribute to population genetic research. While the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated opportunities for decentralizing clinical research, several ethical and logistical considerations remain. Drawing on her own experience of leading an adolescent genomic decision-making clinical trial with a virtual arm, Michele L. McGowan will illustrate opportunities and challenges to fully decentralizing genomic research and the continued relevance of calls for population-representative and equitable participation in genomic research.
Michelle L. McGowan is a professor of biomedical ethics and co-director of the Biomedical Ethics Research Program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She completed a B.A. in Sociology at Boston College, a Ph.D. in Women’s Studies at University of Washington, and a postdoctoral fellowship in bioethics at Case Western Reserve University. Prior to joining Mayo Clinic in 2022, McGowan held faculty positions at Case Western Reserve University, Pennsylvania State University, and University of Cincinnati. McGowan is an empirical bioethicist whose research explores ethical and social implications of emerging health technologies and policies. Combining a range of qualitative and normative methods, her empirically informed approach to bioethics scholarship focuses on addressing the uneven distribution of benefits and burdens of associated with the uptake of technologies in healthcare and biomedical research. She is currently a principal investigator of a multiple-PI National Human Genome Research Institute-funded hybrid clinical trial focused on adolescent decision-making in relation to prospective genomic screening.
International Conference on Computer Ethics; Philosophical Inquiry 2023 (CEPE 2023)
In May 2023, the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions and the Center for Cyber Security and Forensics Education hosted the International Conference on Computer Ethics; Philosophical Inquiry 2023 (CEPE 2023). Over 150 scholars worldwide joined us for both an in-person and virtual conference. Presentations explored issues such as issues of trust and bias in artificial intelligence, innovative new ways of integrating ethics into computer ethics curricula, and issues around human-Ai interactions in the fields of medicine, the workplace, and daily life.
The Ethics Center was extremely pleased to award the first Vivian Weil Award for best paper to Tobias Flattery and Christian Miller of Wake Forest University for their conference paper " Deepfakes and Dishonesty."
Recordings of the virtual presentations are also available.
CEPE is a leading international conference that has played a significant role in defining the field and is held biennially. It was organized by INSEIT in collaboration with the Ionian University Research Team, IHRC (Information: History, Regulation, and Culture).
Machine Learning (ML) Fariness: A Webinar
On March 24 the Ethics Center sponsored a webinar featuring a conversation featuring guest speakers Lindsay Weinberg and Leilani Gilpin who shared their thoughts and approaches regarding the trends of machine learning fairness. Topics of discussion included how are dominant trends in artificial intelligence fairness research entrenching, rather than remedying, issues of bias and discrimination, and how explanations can be used for ensuring fairness and accountability. See a recording of the event.
Changing Perspectives on Human and Animal Experimentation
Dr. Anita Guerrinni joined us on October 12, 2022, for her talk titled "Changing Perspectives on Human and Animal Experimentation," during which she explored the history of the use of humans and animals in research ranging from William Harvey's research on the circulation of the blood in 1628 to the development of smallpox vaccine in 1798, to the development and production of polio vaccines in the 1950s. Dr. Guerrini focuses on both the benefits of these advances as well as many of the ethical questions raised in the use of animals and children in the development of these medical advances. See a recording of the event.
Climate Change and Ethics: Reflecting on Risk and its Implications
The webinar investigated the roles of climate change-related risks in the context of decision-making, policy, and law. It reflected on the role of the prudence principle for spending on climate security measures and discussed the life-threatening implications of pollution and climate change that result from human activity. See a recording of the event.
Climate Change & Ethics: The Role of Governments and Societal Actors in Mitigating Climate Change
The webinar will explore the roles and responsibilities of governments and societal actors in the context of climate change. It will analyze what hinders stakeholders from more effectively promoting climate change mitigation and adaptation and reflect on what can be done to improve the situation. Topics include the role of science and amateurs in climate change conversations, the influence of businesses on policymaking around climate change, the importance of concern for the environment, solidarity, ecological reforms, and public education for climate justice. See a recording of the event.
Climate Change & Ethics: Where are We?
A Virtual Symposium
In light of the slow progress being made to mitigate climate change, there is a need to reflect on the ethical considerations at play. How can ethics help structure the discussion and facilitate climate justice? This symposium seeks to engage stakeholders in discussing the ethical assumptions implicit in our discussions and actions around climate change. See a recording of the event.