News
Retirees Honored
Posted: April 25, 2013
This year's Tree-Planting and Retirement Reception was held Sunday, April 21st. Those retirees honored were Mr. William Brown (Art), Dr. William Connolly (Philosophy & Religion), Dr. William Morrison (Chemistry) and Dr. Charles Watson (Education).
Dr. Connolly received his B.A. in Biology from Trinity College, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Michigan State University. A former Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion, Connolly has also served as the Director of the Honors Program, Chair of the Promotion and Tenure committee, University Ombudsman, past President and Vice President of the Faculty Senate, guest lecturer for the Andiron and Crick Lectures as well as multitudes of other campus and community groups. Connolly has published articles on David Hume as well as philosophy of religion as well as presented at numerous profession meetings in the areas of applied ethics, and was Campus Coordinator for the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows Program and numerous other standing and ad hoc committees. Connolly is also a member of the American Philosophical Assn., the Indiana Philosophical Assn., the International Hume Society, former President of the Evansville Green River Kiwanis, an NCAA soccer referee, and has taught various classes at Washington Middle School in Evansville.
Anthony Beavers invited to speak at the International Conference for Affective Computing
Posted: April 16, 2013
Anthony Beavers (professor of Philosophy and director of Cognitive Science) was recently invited to speak on the topic of ethical challenges concerning affective computing over the the next ten years at the International Conference for Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction to be held in Geneva, Switzerland this coming September. This invitation comprises the third for this fall on the topic of technology ethics, the second being an invitation to speak at the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy in Athens, Greece this August, and the third to speak at the the International Conference on the Philosophy of Information at Xian Jiaotong University, China, this October. The invitations follow from concerns over challenges to the climate of ethics arising from the impact of information and communications technologies on the global scene. Beavers was the recipient of the 2012 World Technology Award for Ethics presented this past October in New York City.
Ethics Lecture to Discuss Religion and the Labor Movement
Posted: April 4, 2013
As part of the University of Evansville’s Ethics Lecture series, Rev. Darren Cushman Wood, senior pastor of North United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, will present “What Moves the Labor Movement? The Role of Religion in Workers’ Struggles Past, Present, and Future.”
Cushman Wood will speak at 7 p.m. Monday, April 8 in Eykamp Hall, Room 253 in the Ridgway University Center. His lecture is free and open to the public.
“Facing new challenges in the 21st century, labor leaders are forming partnerships with the religious community, but will they be successful?” Cushman Wood said. “This lecture will explore the heritage and contemporary dynamics of the relationship between religion and labor in the United States.”
Cushman Wood earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Evansville in 1982 and is also a graduate of Union Theological Seminary in New York. In addition to his appointment at North United Methodist Church, he serves as an adjunct professor of labor studies at Indiana University and is the author of the book Blue Collar Jesus: How Christianity Supports Workers’ Rights (Seven Locks Press, 2004).
Cushman Wood will also give a guest sermon titled “Resurrecting Resistance” at University Worship, 10:30 a.m. Sunday, April 7 in Neu Chapel.
The Ethics Lecture Series, sponsored by UE's Department of Philosophy and Religion, brings ethicists from both religious and philosophical backgrounds to explore questions of value, justice, responsibility, and meaning in the realm of human conduct and the moral life. Previous Ethics Lecture topics have included information ethics, the living wage movement, and ethical eating.
Dr. Connolly will give the Darwin Day Lecture on March 14
Posted: March 12, 2013
The 15th Annual Darwin Day lecture will be held on Thursday, March 14. Professor of Philosophy Dick Connolly will give a lecture at 4:00 p.m. in Koch Center 100. Connolly’s lecture “Does Evolution Threaten Ethics?” will argue that evolution has much to contribute to the study of ethics, but that fears that somehow evolution threatens ethical values or that biology will take over moral philosophy are unfounded. The lecture should be of interest to faculty and students across disciplines.
Connolly earned his Ph.D. from Michigan State University. He is a broadly trained philosopher who has published articles ranging from the philosophy of religion to issues in applied ethics. Connolly has taught a broad array of courses at UE, including introduction to philosophy, philosophy of science, bioethics, and philosophy of law.
December's Think Outside the Lunch Box to Discuss "18 Ways to Make a Baby"
Posted: November 27, 2012
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 147,260 fertility treatments took place across the United States in 2010, and more than one percent of all infants born in the U.S. are conceived using assisted reproductive technology. While such treatments have given hope to couples struggling with infertility, they also have raised many ethical questions and concerns.
Dick Connolly, professor of philosophy at the University of Evansville, will examine these issues in the final Think Outside the Lunch Box Faculty Speaker Series event of the year. His presentation, “18 Ways to Make a Baby,” begins at noon on Thursday, December 6, in the Blue & Gold Room on the first floor of Old National Bank’s headquarters in Downtown Evansville. The event is free and open to the public.
“In an age of donated eggs, donated sperm, and surrogate mothers, what counts as a parent, and what counts as a family?” Connolly said. “I hope people will carry away from this talk not a fear of the future, but a recognition of the complexity of the ‘brave new world’ of assisted reproduction and the need to think carefully before we act.”
Connolly, a native of Mt. Kisco, New York, holds a Bachelor of Arts from Trinity College in Connecticut and a PhD in philosophy from Michigan State University. He has been a member of the UE faculty since 1971, having also served as a visiting professor at The University of Pittsburgh. He received the University’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year award in 1994 and the Sydney and Sadelle Berger Award for Service in 1998.
Connolly has authored articles on the 18th century Scottish philosopher David Hume and the philosophy of religion, and has presented papers on a variety of issues in ethics and applied ethics. Connolly also participated in an ethics seminar at Dartmouth College associated with the Human Genome Project. At the University of Evansville, he has taught courses such as Philosophy of Law, Philosophy of Science, Bioethics, and Environmental Ethics at UE.
UE’s Think Outside the Lunch Box Faculty Speaker Series is in its third year and is typically held the first Thursday of every month. To accommodate the University’s winter break, next month’s presentation will take place January 10, the second Thursday of the month.
Connolly will speak for about 30 minutes, with 15 minutes allotted for questions and answers. Attendees are welcome to eat lunch during the presentation. There is a restaurant conveniently located in the Old National Bank lobby.
Luciano Floridi to Deliver UE's Crick and Ethics Lectures
Posted: November 6, 2012
Luciano Floridi, professor of philosophy at the University of Hertfordshire in England, will travel to Evansville this month to present two free, public lectures at the University of Evansville.
Floridi will deliver “The Varieties of Complexity,” UE’s Crick Lecture in the Cognitive and Neural Sciences, at 4 p.m. Monday, November 12 in Room 100 of the Koch Center for Engineering and Science.
For the annual Ethics Lecture, Floridi will present “Information Ethics and the Political Foundations of the Information Society” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, November 13 in Eykamp Hall, Ridgway University Center.
Floridi is a professor of philosophy at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield, England, where he holds the Research Chair in Philosophy of Information and the UNESCO Chair of Information and Computer Ethics, and a fellow of St. Cross College, University of Oxford.
Floridi is best known for his foundational research on the philosophy of information and information ethics, two new research areas that he has significantly helped to establish. He has published more than 150 articles in various anthologies and international peer-reviewed journals.
His most recent books are The Philosophy of Information (Oxford University Press, 2011), Information – A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2010), and the Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics (edited for Cambridge University Press, 2010).
Floridi is currently the principal investigator of the project “Understanding Information Quality Standards and their Challenges” (2011-2013), in collaboration with Google UK. He has delivered more than 200 talks, including recent public lectures at the World Science Festival in New York in 2010 and a TEDx in 2011, both available on YouTube. In 2012, he was a keynote speaker at the EU Digital Agenda, during which he addressed European Union leaders on education issues in the information society.
Floridi’s lectures at the University of Evansville are sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and Religion, UE’s programs in cognitive science and neuroscience, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, and the Kern Family Foundation.
Members of the media seeking more information may contact Kristen Lund, UE director of news services, at 812-488-2241.
Indiana Civil Liberties Union Executive Director to Speak at UE
Posted: October 25, 2012
Jane Henegar, executive director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, will speak on campus next week in a presentation sponsored by the University of Evansville’s Department of Philosophy and Religion.
Henegar will discuss the mission of the American Civil Liberties Union at 6 p.m. Tuesday, October 30 in Eykamp Hall, Rooms 254-255 in the Ridgway University Center. Her presentation is free and open to the public.
Prior to being named executive director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, Henegar taught political science at Butler University and led the Indiana Bar Foundation’s Project Citizen to teach civics to K-12 students in Indiana. She served as interim director of the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention following her service as Indianapolis deputy mayor from 2000-2006.
Henegar has held various positions in government, including state director in the office of former Senator Evan Bayh, deputy commissioner and general counsel in the Indiana Department of Administration, executive posts at the Family and Social Services Administration, and judicial law clerk for the Honorable Thomas Reavley, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Born and raised in Bloomington, Indiana, she is a 1984 graduate of Bryn Mawr College and earned her law degree in 1988 from Indiana University Maurer School of Law.
Beavers Receives 2012 World Technology Award in Ethics
Posted: October 24, 2012
Anthony Beavers, professor of philosophy and director of cognitive science, was presented with the 2012 World Technology Award in Ethics this past Tuesday night at a special ceremony held at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City.
He was recognized for his work in moral theory, which attempts to show how and why existing ethical frameworks are insufficiently suited to the information age and why ethicists need to develop other alternatives. The World Technology Awards are presented in association with TIME, Fortune, CNN, Technology Review, and Science and go to the "peer-nominated, peer-elected most innovative people in science and technology" defined as those doing "the innovative work of the likely longest significance."
Thirty awards are offered each year, twenty to individuals and ten to corporations. Winners this year included SpaceX, the first private company to get a rocket to the space station and back, Ekso Bionics for successfully developing technology to allow paraplegics to walk on their own through the use of a robotic exoskeleton, and NASA Engineer Adam Steltzner of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena for his role in successfully landing the rover Curiosity on Mars this past August.
Among the more recognizable past recipients of World Technology Awards are Al Gore (for Policy), Linus Torvalds, developer of the Linux operating system (for Commerce / Communication Technology), Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World-Wide Web (for Communication Technology), Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of Google (for Marketing Communications), and Mark Zuckerberg, lead developer and co-founder of Facebook (also for Marketing Communications).
Beavers Nominated for World Technology Award in Ethics
Posted: October 11, 2012
Anthony Beavers, professor of philosophy and director of cognitive science, is one of five finalists nominated for the World Technology Award in Ethics to be presented at the World Technology Summit to be held at Rockefeller Plaza later this month. The awards are presented in association with TIME, Fortune, CNN, Technology Review, and Science and go to the "peer-nominated, peer-elected most innovative people in science and technology." For a complete list of nominees in all twenty categories, see http://wtn.net/summit2012/finalists.php.