36th Annual Conference of the Professions
Coming Fall 2023:
Governmental conflict with standards and professional judgment: Case studies in Texas.
Description: What’s a profession to do when government legislation overrides its standards and judgments? Clergy, lawyers, and health professionals often contend with tensions between such standards and judgments and the demands of the state; such tensions have been exacerbated recently in Texas. This year’s conference will consider case studies from Texas that give rise to this tension.
Date: Friday, October 27th, 2023
Time: 8:00am - noon
Location: Scottish Rite 2222 Welborn Street, Dallas, Texas 75219.
About the Conference of the Professions
The annual Conference of the Professions is sponsored by the SMU Dedman School of Law, the Dallas County Medical Society, the Dallas Bar Association, the SMU Perkins School of Theology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Faith Commons, and SMU’s Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility. Each year an ethical issue of common interest is identified. A noted expert in the field presents a keynote address, and a distinguished panel of local professionals discusses a related case that poses practical issues for law, medicine, the clergy, and other professions.
Past Conferences
Past conference titles along with the keynote speakers are listed below.
Mis- and Disinformation in the Professions: Vaccines, Voting, and Virtue - 05/27/2022
Divisive Times: Trust and Cooperation in Professional Relationships - 04/30/21
Crossing Borders - 05/24/2019
Time's Up for the Professions? Power, Sex and the Way Forward - 05/11/2018
Responding to Racial Conflict: Responsibilities of the Professions - 05/26/2017
Coming Home: The Professions Supporting Veterans - 04/22/2016
Supersizing the Professions: Ethical Issues Facing Mega-Churches, Law Firms and Medical Practices - 04/17/2015
Agony and Ecstasy: How Your Emotions Affect Practice - 05/09/2014
Shortcuts and High Roads: Everyday Morality and the Professions - 04/26/2013
Professional Ethics and Social Media: Like? - 10/14/2011
A Lawyer, a Priest, and a Doctor walk into a bar... The Ethics of Humor in the Professions - 10/14/2010
Generational Expectations and the Professions - 02/17/2009
What in God's Name Am I Doing? - 02/11/2008
Preparing for Disaster: Fire, Flood, and the Flu - 03/30/2007
Apology and the Professions - 03/01/2006
Healthcare for the Uninsured - 10/06/2004
Sexual Misconduct Within the Professions: Restoring Public Trust - 11/13/2003
Information Privacy and the Professions - 10/17/2002
Honor Thy Children? The Challenge of a Child-Centered Practice - 11/15/2001
Technology and the Environment: Promise of Benefits, Risks of Harm - 10/19/2000
Engineering of Human Tissue - 10/01/1999
Challenges to Diversity in the Professions - 10/22/1998
Death and Dying - 10/27/1997
Politics and the Professions - 11/21/1996
The Human Genome - 10/17/1995
The Professions and Violence in the Family - 10/25/1994
Money and the Professions - 10/28/1993
Chemical Dependency - The Professional's Responsibility to Each Other and to the Community - 03/14/1992
The Role of the Professional in the Community - 03/27/1991
Women and Men in the Professions: A Question of Balance in the 21st Century - 1990
The Socialization of the Professional and Mid-Career Burnout - 1989
AIDS, The Emerging Crisis - 01/20/1988
Self Regulation for the Professions - 12/09/1986
The Meaning of Professional Responsibility Today - 10/24/1985