Many important matters of public concern have significant ethical dimensions that are too often addressed in a perfunctory way or ignored altogether. Through the Conversations on Morality, Politics, and Society (COMPAS) program, the OSU Center for Ethics and Human Values (CEHV) hopes to establish Ohio State as a leader in fostering informed and civil debate on such issues by bringing together researchers working in a wide range of academic disciplines from across our campuses and around the world.
Following on the success of the 2011-12 COMPAS on Immigration, the 2013-14 COMPAS will focus on the distinction between Public and Private. This theme connects a wide range of pressing policy questions and fundamental scholarly problems across seemingly disparate domains. For example, movements for social justice often press their cases by arguing that supposedly personal matters are in fact political, and that the structure of public spaces often limits private choice, thereby limiting or removing individual responsibility. Conversely, governments have experimented with privatizing a variety of previously public functions and services such as prisons, roads, schools, and the military. Developments in information technology, genetics, and neuroscience raise new moral, legal, and practical questions about personal privacy. And the ubiquity of digital and social media has changed how we conduct our personal and social lives in ways that invite reflection on the distinction between public and private activity. Thus, in addition to being a matter of enduring political and scholarly interest, the way in which societies draw the line between public and private has important implications for the fundamental ethical question of how to live a good human life.
The Public and Private COMPAS will consist of a core academic program and a number of related initiatives undertaken by units and organizations across the University. The core academic program will comprise two interdisciplinary conferences bookending the year and up to six stand-alone events exploring public/private-related issues from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.
OSU faculty and units are invited to submit proposals for stand-alone events to be sponsored by the CEHV/COMPAS as part of the public/private conversation. We are especially interested in inviting scholars to OSU who are doing cutting-edge research that will be of interest to an interdisciplinary audience, and in proposals that think creatively about the presentation format: e.g. an invited lecture with responses by OSU faculty, a panel involving a mixture of external and internal speakers, an “author meets critics” session, artistic exhibits or performances, etc.
The CEHV will fund up to six proposals in amounts up to approximately $2000 to cover travel, honoraria, lodging, a meal hosted by the CEHV, and any other format-specific expenses. Proposing units or faculty may wish to supplement proposals with their own funds or other external funds when appropriate. The events will be held on a monthly basis between September 2013 and April 2014 in a common location on campus — most likely Thompson Library — and will be widely advertised by COMPAS/CEHV as part of the larger conversation.
Proposals should include: (1) Name(s) and affiliation of sponsoring faculty; (2) Name(s) and affiliation(s) of invited speaker(s); (3) Proposed format for the event (e.g. lecture, panel, etc.); (4) Rationale (not to exceed 500 words).
Proposals should be submitted electronically to Michael Neblo (neblo.1@osu.edu) by March 15, 2013.