Webinars
Permanent link for The Purpose of the University - Part 1 on April 19, 2023
Panelists:
- Andrew Spear Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences, GVSU
- Alisha Davis, Ph.D., Assistant Vice
President for the Social Justice Centers and Director of the Office of
Multicultural Affairs, GVSU
- Dwayne Tunstall, Ph.D., Associate
Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, GVSU
Moderator: Michael DeWilde, Director, Koeze Business
Ethics Initiative and Professor of Management, Seidman College of
Business, GVSU
NYU professor Jonathan Haidt, author of The Coddling of the American Mind, among other works, gave a talk at Duke University in 2016 arguing that a university can have only "one telos," or purpose, and that we find ourselves in an age where the traditional purpose of a university - the pursuit of truth - is being eclipsed by another "sacred value," that of social justice. While of course not opposed to social justice, Haidt does conclude that in the end making it the central value of a university is harmful to all involved. He implicates that pursuit in a number of ills, among them plummeting trust in universities and the erosion of academic freedom.
On March 30, 2023, three GVSU professors and administrators joined Michael DeWilde, the director of the Koeze Business Ethics Initiative (the KBEI) at the Seidman College of Business, to discuss Haidt’s points.
Posted by Andrea Zorrilla on Permanent link for The Purpose of the University - Part 1 on April 19, 2023.
Permanent link for Does Free Speech Need Limits? A Debate on How Free Speech Should Be Understood in Our Times on October 14, 2022
Nathan Goetting, JD, Abigail DeHart, JD, and John Uglietta, PhD, JD, debate the state of free speech in light of calls to limit it from both the right and the left. Prof. Goetting, former editor of The National Lawyers Guild Review, has recently published what he calls a "radical defense" of free speech in Discourse Magazine. Professor Uglietta, Chair of Grand Valley's philosophy dept., and Abigail DeHart, former clerk for the Ninth Circuit and currently with a prominent DC law firm, will take up Goetting's arguments and add their own.
Permanent link for Women in the Legal Profession on October 13, 2022
Four Grand Valley alumnae, all distinguishing themselves in the practice of law, return to GVSU to speak to their experiences and interests as lawyers, to their formative educational experiences, and to what it has meant to be a woman practicing law.
Our Speakers:
Jessica Lefort is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Michigan Law School teaching legal research and writing and heading up an asylum lab. She was previously a deputy defender at the Federal Defender Office in Detroit, a Honors trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice in D.C., and a clerk to three federal judges. She graduated summa cum laude from DePaul University School of Law in 2006 with a focus on public interest law.
Meredith O'Harris is an attorney in Denver, Colorado specializing in criminal appeals. She graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2010 with dual degrees in Philosophy and Liberal Studies. She then graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 2016. After clerking for the Honorable Alan Loeb, Chief Judge of the Colorado Court of Appeals, she spent five years at the appellate division of the Colorado State Public Defender. Presently, she is an associate attorney at Haddon, Morgan, & Foreman, P.C., a small, national criminal defense firm. Meredith also volunteers as a contributing editor to the National Lawyers Guild Review.
Abigail DeHart graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2015 with a double major in Philosophy and Classics. After graduating from University of Michigan Law School in 2019, she clerked for the Honorable Judith E. Levy in the Eastern District of Michigan and for the Honorable Milan D. Smith, Jr. on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Between these clerkships, she did a yearlong stint working as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois. In November, she’ll move to Washington, DC to begin working as an attorney at a boutique litigation firm, Kellogg Hansen.
Ieisha Humphrey (she/her) joined Detroit Mercy Law in February 2022 as Director of Student and Faculty Services. In July 2022, she became the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs. She brings eight years of law school experience focused on pro bono programming, enrollment programs, and students services. Deeply committed to law student success, Ieisha has been an adjunct professor of immigration law and bar exam skills. She also is a grader and tutor for bar exam preparation programs. Ieisha serves as a pro bono attorney for the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center since 2013.
Posted on Permanent link for Women in the Legal Profession on October 13, 2022.
Permanent link for Working with what the Digital World has Wrought: Zombies, Peter Pans, or Prodigies? on January 20, 2022
A discussion on the general scientific consensus that screen addiction is a real thing correlating to attention disorders, narcissistic tendencies, and what one of our guests calls "the infantilization of the brain." Still, there seems to be no sign that many of us are willing to give up the digital world, regardless of science. So where does that leave businesses, schools, and other institutions that require people who can concentrate, work in teams, and resist immediate gratification? Join us as we discuss this question and others with a well-known neuroscientist and a local business owner who both have paid considerable attention to how the digital world impacts us all.
Panelists:
- Baroness Susan Greenfield, CBE, FRCP, Founder and CEO of
Neuro-Bio Ltd.
- Jeff Koeze, J.D., President and Chairman, Koeze
Company; Partner, Nuthatch Software
Moderator:
- Michael DeWilde, Director, Koeze Business Ethics Initiative
This webinar originally aired Thursday, January 20, 2021 at 12:00
p.m. EST.
Permanent link for Mandating Vaccines: Perspectives from Law, Medicine, and Ethics on October 7, 2021
Should businesses and organizations mandate Covid-19 vaccines for their employees? What are the legal, financial, morale and health ramifications if they do? if they don't? Do they have a greater obligation to respect their employees' autonomy, or a greater obligation to wider public health concerns? Are they more likely to gain or lose employees (and customers) if they issue a mandate? Join us Thursday Oct. 7th as three experts from medicine, law and ethics, respectively, take up the issues that attend to vaccine mandates.
Panelists:
- Dr. Alejandro Quiroga (MD, MBA), Senior Vice President
Population Health at Spectrum Health
- Erik Daly, JD, Corporate /
M&A Member at Miller Johnson
Moderator: Michael DeWilde, Director, Koeze Business Ethics Initiative
This webinar originally aired Thursday, October 7, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. EDT.
Permanent link for Wind Turbines, Water, and Weird Weather: The Future of Energy in a Warming Michigan on September 30, 2021
A discussion of the future of energy sources in Michigan. What role will the major utilities play? What are the politics involved? Which sources show the most potential? Will we end up with wind turbine farms in Lake Michigan? What happens if we don't move away from fossil fuels? Two of Michigan's leading experts on these and related questions addressed this issue, joined by a live audience.
Panelists:
- Kate Madigan, Director, Michigan Climate Action Network
-
Dr. John A. Kinch, Executive Director, Michigan Energy Options
Moderator:
Michael DeWilde, Director, Koeze Business Ethics Initiative
This webinar originally aired Thursday, September 30, 2021 at 11:40 a.m. EDT.
Permanent link for Social Media, Free Speech, and the Disinformation Age on April 9, 2021
Recent events, such as new tech company censorship policies, the banning of Donald Trump and many of his supporters from social media platforms, and the announcement of the proposed "Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2021," suggest that we are heading for another period in American life of skepticism toward the core First Amendment principles that lie at the heart of our constitutional order. In this webinar Prof Goetting will argue that radically protecting the quintessentially American right of freedom of expression - best expressed by lawyer and theorist Thomas I. Emerson during and after the McCarthy witch hunts - is what's most necessary to preserve a free and open society now and into the future.
Panelist: Nathan Goetting, Professor and
Constitutional Law Scholar
Moderator: Michael DeWilde, Director, Koeze Business
Ethics Initiative
This webinar originally aired Friday, April 9, 2021 at 10:50 a.m. EDT.
Posted on Permanent link for Social Media, Free Speech, and the Disinformation Age on April 9, 2021.
Permanent link for Never Quite Enough: What Successful Minority Women Wish the Rest of Us Knew on February 26, 2021
A conversation with three successful women of color from various
fields as they discussed what they wish the rest of us knew about
their experiences as successful professionals who nonetheless are
under the threat of 'constant injury.’ Their stories are compelling,
sometimes maddening, always instructive.
Panelists:
- Sandra Gaddy, Chief Executive Officer, Women's Resource
Center
- Zoë Wilson, Corporate Compliance Manager, Steelcase
- Simin N. Beg MD, MBA, Division Chief Hospice Palliative
Care, Spectrum Health
Moderator: Michael DeWilde, Director, Koeze Business
Ethics Initiative
This webinar originally aired Friday, February 26, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. EDT.
Permanent link for Truth, Trust, and 'Alternative Facts' - The Future of Knowledge in the Public Square on October 12, 2020
Panelists:
- Andrew Spear, PhD, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Grand
Valley State University
- Michael Wolfe, PhD, Department Chair
& Professor of Psychology, Grand Valley State University
Moderator: Michael DeWilde, Director, Koeze Business
Ethics Initiative
This webinar originally aired Monday, October 12, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. EDT.
Permanent link for Pandemics, Psychedelics and Palliative Care: Living and Dying in an Age of Uncertainty on September 9, 2020
Panelists:
- Dr. John Mulder, MD, FAAHPM, HMDC, Chief Medical Consultant for
Hospice and Palliative Care, Medical Director of Trillium
Institute
- Dr. Jason Beckrow, MD, Trillium Institute
Moderator: Michael DeWilde, Director, Koeze Business
Ethics Initiative
This webinar originally aired Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. EDT.
