Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility > Faculty > Public Scholars

Public Scholars

From the center's earliest years, we have showcased the university's most exciting scholars in our Public Scholar lecture series. Many of the Public Scholar lectures have been published (in slightly revised form) as Occasional Papers of the center.

2012-2013 Public Scholar

April 4, 2013
11:30am - 1:30pm

Ryszard Stroynowski, Ph.D., Professor of Physics

The Evolution of the Universe - Higgs and Beyond

"We teach students about science as an unchanging set of basic rules that govern our physical world as we see it today. We justify them by quoting selected historical developments of our understanding creating an impression that science changes in a logical, linear fashion. Such a picture is not quite right. In our lifetime, many fields of science have undergone major revolutions of thought and paradigm changes."

Recent Public Scholar Lectures

October 1, 2012

Dennis Simon, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science
Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor

The Politics of Memory and the Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement

“We are in the midst of a 50th Anniversary Season in which we commemorate a number of landmark events in the Civil Rights Movement. This talk will examine those events, highlight the major legacies of the civil rights movement, and consider the role of race and the memory of the movement in contemporary American Politics.”

Lecture available on YouTube

September 8, 2011

William Abraham, Ph.D.
Albert Cook Outler Professor of Wesley Studies

Haunted Memories and Complex Loyalties

"All of us have our own memories of the events of 9/11. My own are haunted by memories of terrorism in Ireland. Yet there are crucial general issues raised by the arrival of international terrorism that cry out for attention. What exactly is terrorism and why do we think terrorism is intrinsically evil? Is there a real connection to religion or is this a smokescreen for other causal agents? What changes in our research programs about our history, our religion and culture are mandated by terrorism? This lecture will identify such issues and provide initial suggestions on how to proceed (and not to proceed) in answering them."

Lecture available on YouTube

April 20, 2011

Jillson Cal Jillson, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science

Lone Star Tarnished: A Critique of Texas Public Policy

As California goes in eclipse, Texas is widely touted as the ascendant model for the nation of limited government, economic growth, and personal freedom. While there is some merit to this view, it is at best a partial picture. The Texas model works well for the haves, but it leaves many public services – including education, health care, food security, transportation, the environment, and more – at best only partially addressed. Today’s have-nots, or have-lesses, depend on the delivery of high quality public services, most prominently public education, for their future prospects. Today, those prospects seem bleak. In this lecture, entitled "Lone Star Tarnished: Texas Public Policy and Its Deficiencies," we assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Texas model, look ahead to ask whether current problems are likely to shrink or grow, and we close by asking whether alternative pathways into the future are available to us.

Lecture now available on iTunesU

Past Public Scholar Lectures

1996-1997	James Hopkins: "The Private and Public Intellectual in the World and the Academy"
1997-1998	Michael Holahan: "'Look, her lips': Softness of Voice, Construction of Character in King Lear" Bonnie Wheeler: "Pilgrimage and the Desire for Meaning"
1998-1999	Joseph Allen: "Politics as a Calling" Steven Sverdlik: "Compassion and Sympathy as Moral Motivation"
1999-2000	Alastair Norcross: "Social Contract Theory and the Ethical Status of Animals" Peter Winship: "Legislating Morals: Legal Prescriptions of Proper Business Behavior"
2000-2001	Jeffrey Gaba: "When Takings Happen to Good People: The Ethical Basis for Legal Rules Allowing Government Regulation of Land Use" William May: "The Media: The Unordained Teaching Authority in the West"
2001-2002	Rebekah Miles: "The Ethics of Balancing Work and Family, In and Out of The Home in America" Matthew Wilson: "Religion and Politics in America"
2002-2003	Kathleen Wellman: "Ethics and the Enlightenment" Linda Eads: “The Law and Corporate Ethics”
2003-2004	Michael Adler: “Who Is the Past? Ethics and Identity in Archaeology”
2004-2005	Carolyn Sargent & Carolyn Smith Morris: “Is There a Culturally Contextualized Alternative to the Four-Principles Approach in Bioethics? Anthropological Contributions to Ethics Dilemmas in Clinical Practice”
2005-2006	Mark Chancey: “Politics, Culture Wars, and The Good Book: Recent Controversies Regarding the Bible and Pubic Education”
2006-2007	Joseph Kobylka: "When Bible Classes Go to the Supreme Court, What Will They Find?" Marshall Terry: "The Founding and Defining of a University" (view the video)
2007-2008	Tony Pederson: “Reporter Privilege: A Con Job or an Essential Part of Democracy” (view the video) Barbara Hill Moore: “True to My Own Voice: Ethical Challenges in Transmitting Talent”
2008-2009	Robin Lovin: “Politics in Religious Perspective: Temptation, Tool, or Task” (view the video) Mark McPhail: “Confessions of an Expert Witness: Rhetoric, Politics, and Ethics at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda" (view the video)
2009-2010	Jenia Turner: “Ethical Dilemmas of International Criminal Defense Attorneys” (view the video) Wayne Shaw: "Ethics in Business: An Inherent Conflict?" (view the video)
2010-2011	Charles Curran: “The U.S. Catholic Bishops and Abortion Legislation: A Critique from within the Church” (video forthcoming)