The Conversations on Morality, Politics, and Society (COMPAS) program for 2016-17 focuses on the theme of Inequality. “Moral concern with inequality is about far more than economic inequalities,” said CEHV Director Don Hubin. “It is also about political, legal, educational, and health inequalities and how these interact with each other. And it’s about how these inequalities connect with underlying issues of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, LGBTQ status, geography, and other factors.” The 2016-17 program explores the complex ways in which inequalities in resources, opportunity, and treatment—for example, along lines of class, race, and gender—can produce or reinforce unequal outcomes in areas as diverse as health outcomes, criminal justice policy and practices, and political power.
For a list of videos, links, and newsletters on inequality, please visit our Inequality Resources page.
COMPAS Conferences
Each COMPAS program is able to support two conferences, one in the fall and one in the spring.
- March 30-31, 2017
Spring COMPAS Conference
"On Global Inequality"
- September 22-23, 2016
Fall COMPAS Conference
"When Do Inequalities Matter?"
COMPAS Sponsored Events
The COMPAS program this year is able to sponsor a number of special events. These include helping to bring some of the leading global voices for inequality to campus as well hosting a photo contest and a giving games!
- April 24, 2017
“Sovereignty and White Supremacy in the Wake of the Charleston Massacre”
Speaker: Heather Pool
- April 19, 2017
"The New Urban Crisis"
Speaker: Richard Florida
Hosted by the Provost's Discovery Themes Lecturer Program
- April 3, 2017
"Basic Income: An Egalitarian Proposal?"
Speaker: Juliana Bidadanure
- March 23, 2017
"How to be an Anticapitalist for the 21st Century"
Speaker: Erik Olin Wright
- February 23, 2017
"Unlocking the Cage"
Screening and Discussion with Steven Wise
Pre-filmed comments from Peter Singer
- February 14, 2017
"Persistence and Change in Felon Voting Restrictions"
Speaker: Chris Uggen
- February 10, 2017
"Non-Ideal Climate Justice: Global Inequality, the Paris Agreement, and the Limits of the Feasible"
A Half-Day Conference
- January 25, 2017
"Orange is the New Black: Inequality in America’s Criminal Justice System"
Speaker: Piper Kerman
Co-Sponsors: Honors and Scholars, Criminal Justice Research Center, Department of Sociology, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, the College of Social Work, and the Wexner Center for the Arts
- January 12 - February 28, 2017
Representations of Inequality
- November 8, 2016
"Redefining the Path to Health Equity"
Speaker: David Satcher
- October 27, 2016
Photo Contest
Judges: Emma Parker and Jared Thorne
- October 18, 2016
Giving Games
- September 27, 2016
"Two Cheers for Equality"
Speaker: Kwame Anthony Appiah
Inequality-related university events
Throughout the university, many events are being held related to the COMPAS theme of Inequality. COMPAS regularly co-sponsors and advertises these events in an effort to bring further University resources to the forefront of the COMPAS conversation.
First Year Experience: Success Series
- October 4, 2016
Buckeye Book Community
Wes Moore, Author of The Other Wes Moore
- National Issues Forums
Common Ground for Action
Developed by NIF and the Kettering Foundation
Series of moderated online student forums on the topic of economic inequality
Wexner Center for the Arts
- I am Not Your Negro
Screenings: February 16-18, 2017
- Freedom to Marry
Screening: December 7, 2016
- Do Not Resist
Screenings: November 18 & 19, 2016
- Birth of a Nation: Discussion and Screening
Discussion: September 19, 2016, Mershon Auditorium
Screening: September 20, 2016, Wexner Center Film/Video Theater
- Frederick Wiseman x 3
Other University Life Events
- May 3, 2017
Commuity Life Event
"Smart Justice - The All-Star Series"
Speakers: Gary Mohr, Maurice Clarett, Robert Alt
- April 7, 2017
Community Life Event
"Are Jews White?"
Speaker: Jonathan Branfman
- April 5, 2017
"Fifty Years since the Coleman Report: Rethinking the Relationship between Schools and Inequality"
Speaker: Doug Downey
- March 7, 2017
"The Future of Work – Technological Innovation, Economic Disruption, and Human Dignity"
Speakers: Bruce Weinberg, Joe Kaboski, Michael Smith
- November 5, 2016 - March 12, 2017
Windows on Death Row
Presented by the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library
- October 27, 2016
"The Three Laws of Robotics in the Age of Big Data"
Speaker: Jack Balkin
- October 11, 2016
Technologies of Human Transformation
Speakers: Michael L. Dickens, Allison Snow, Don Hubin
- September 24, 2016
Earthkeeping Summit 2016
- September 21, 2016
Community Life Event
Weinland Park Collaborative Poverty Simulation
- September 19, 2016
"Tax Policy and Income Inequality"
Speaker: Daniel N. Shaviro