EthicsLab
Projects
The Good Life Community Discussions
The EthicsLab currently organizes and hosts monthly 'The Good Life Community Discussions.' This initiative involves local, community-based forums on what it means to be human and live well. Each monthly event will feature an engaging guest introduction from an expert working on some aspect of the good life from a broadly humanistic perspective. Topics will include happiness and its relationship to meaningful activity, love, creativity and art, technology and community, work, and family.
Our next meeting will take place on Tuesday, Apr 2 2024 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the Hal Holmes Community Center. This session will focus on three views of the good life.
For more information and details about upcoming events, please follow the CWU EthicsLab Facebook page.
The Human Library Ellensburg
Did you know that not all libraries have books? Each Fall, the EthicsLab hosts a Human Library event at the Hal Holmes Community Center (201 Ruby St, Ellensburg, WA 98926).
The Human Library is a nonprofit organization that hosts conversations designed to challenge stigma and stereotypes. These events create “a safe space for dialogue where topics are discussed openly” and “where difficult questions are expected, appreciated and answered.” Human Library events have been organized in 85 countries worldwide since 2000.
Stop by to borrow an open Book for a conversation about topics like mental health, disability, ethnicity, gender, ideology, occupation, and race. The concept is simple: you show up at the check-in counter, where you receive guidance from librarians on the topics that we have available for lending. Once you have chosen your Book, sit down and have an open conversation where your questions on the topic are welcome.
The Ellensburg Human Library is a joint collaboration between the CWU EthicsLab, CWU Libraries, and the City of Ellensburg. If you have questions, please contact: David.Schwan@cwu.edu or ethicslab@cwu.edu
For more information and details about upcoming Human Library, please follow the CWU EthicsLab Facebook page.
The Incubator @ EthicsLab
The EthicsLab partners with regional organizations to serve as a venue for knowledge sharing and an ‘incubator’ for collaborative research and practical solutions.
In Winter and Spring 2022, the EthicsLab recruited and hosted volunteers for a study on moral decision-making in virtual reality being run by the Virginia Philosophy Reality Lab. In 2024, the Lab is collaborating with Old Dominion University and Shenandoah University on an NEH grant project studying the impact of thought experiments in virtual reality on student critical thinking. Pending funding, this project will begin Fall 2025.
Lab Fellowships
The EthicsLab will recruit both student and external faculty fellows to develop and implement innovative approaches to ethics. Students will engage in research and training in ethics and get involved in applied projects in the community and region.
External fellows will pursue interdisciplinary research focused on contemporary moral, social, and political problems (e.g. racism and anti-racism, climate change, artificial intelligence) as well as organize conferences and regular workshops.
CWU News
Latest edition of Voyage Magazine available online
April 24, 2024
by University Relations
CWU defensive standout presented with coveted national award
April 24, 2024
by David Leder