Our Public Engagement

A2Ethics.org seeks to expand awareness about the many different ways that ethical issues impact our community. Our media offerings, programs, partnerships and events focus on how ethics ideas weave in and out of our public institutions and our community lives--influencing everything from our work roles and policies to our traditions and practices. 

Since our beginning in 2008, we have launched, created and established several initiatives:

The Big Ethical Question Slam, a public ethics dilemma competition bringing community organizations together for an evening to talk about ethical issues 

The Michigan High School Ethics Bowl League and Bowl Day in partnership with the University of Michigan Dept. of Philosophy Outreach Program and member schools 

Audio Podcast Library – Archive of interviews with people doing philosophy and ethics full time as well as people discussing how ethical situations feature in their work. Included in the various series on offer are: career pathway talks called the Michigan Ethics Economy; Working Ethics interviews with people in their 20’s and 30’s; and Sketchy Conversations covering leading edge ethics topics and the latest ideas in philosophy.

Exhibits – Designed to champion understanding and educate the public on topics ranging from violence against schools and teachers in conflict-ridden countries to the Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United decision.

 

Annual Events

Our signature event--held annually in an Ann Arbor brewpub--is The Big Ethical Question Slam. This one-of-a-kind ethical dilemma competition challenges teams of community organizations to respond to major ethical questions and have their answers evaluated by a panel of invited judges and the audience.  It also gives teams the opportunity to win a cash prize and favorable publicity for their organization, along with the coveted philosopher's hat for the year.

Podcast Collections

The most popular of these is Working Ethics, conversations with people in their 20s and 30s across the job spectrum about how they view the ethics of their work and its accompanying dilemmas.

Other podcasts in our collection address specific topics in professions and fields routinely faced with ethical quandaries. The Michigan Ethics Economy Initiative, a podcast series of career pathway talks with people from around the state who are ethics professionals or who volunteer in ethics-related fields.