An International Look at Ethics Education Across Professions

Duquesne will host the first International Conference on Education in Ethics, drawing on international perspectives on the teaching of ethics.

Presenters from 33 countries—Qatar, China, Israel, Japan, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, Tunisia, the Dominican Republic and more—will discuss ethics in their nations and in their professions. The program, coordinated by Dr. Henk ten Have, director of the Center for Healthcare Ethics and secretary of the international organization, will run from Tuesday, May 1, through Thursday, May 3.

Attendees can choose from 125 presentations, including those focused on bioethics as well as business, clinical, medical, religious, pharmacy, biological sciences, law, education, biotechnology, nursing and philosophical ethics.

The event is free to Duquesne students and employees, allowing them to take advantage of this opportunity.

President Dr. Charles Dougherty, a nationally recognized scholar and expert in health care ethics, will chair a session examining Can Ethics Education Be Improved?

Additionally, Dr. Maryellen Kelly, assistant professor of marketing, along with Jim Lamb and J. Schnatterly will present business ethics considerations in international education: Pittsburgh to Ireland, Ireland to Pittsburg.

Among other sessions are:

• Education in ethics through symbols in art (Russia)
• Ethics education in resource-poor countries (U.S., Panama, Singapore/Philippines)
• Case studies in lending to the vulnerable: Indian microfinance and American credit card and payday lending (U.S.)
• Assessing the bedside abilities of medical students to identify and analyze ethical and professional problems (Israel)
• Challenges and perspectives of teaching bioethics in Lithuania
• Is there room for business ethics education in the Tunisian higher business education system?
• An ethics education program for those serving incarcerated populations (U.S.)
• Challenges to medical ethics teaching in a global society (Romania)

“Not only does this gathering give people the opportunity to discuss the foundations of our decisions, but it provides an opportunity to interact and learn best practices from others around the globe in a wide variety of settings,” said ten Have.

Members of the conference Program Committee include ten Have, Dr. Gerard Magill, Glory Jo Smith and Barbara Postol from the Center for Healthcare Ethics, as well as:

Dr. James Swindal, dean of the McAnulty College; Dr. Ronald Arnett, chair of the department of communication and rhetorical studies; Dr. Elizabeth Cochran and Dr. Daniel Scheid, theology; Dr. Scott Cohen, physics; Dr. Vincent Giannetti, pharmacy; Dr. Gladys Husted, nursing; Dr. Lisa Lopez-Levers, education; Dr. Jason Scibek, athletic training; Dr. Alan Seadler, director of the  Center for Biotechnology; Dr. John Stolz, director of the Center for Environmental Research and Education; Dr. James Weber, business; and Dr. Sarah Woodley, biological sciences.