WFU’s upcoming theme year will focus on ethics, honor

“The year will focus attention on the complexity and necessity of dealing with ethical issues in all domains of life and the questions of honor and integrity in people as individuals and as members of a community,” said Samuel Gladding, Wake Forest’s associate provost and co-chair of the year’s planning committee.

The year will feature a series of on-campus events designed to explore issues related to ethics and the concept of honor. Major events during the year include addresses by legal scholars Stephen L. Carter and Mary Ann Glendon.

Carter, a scholar and observer of contemporary American issues including affirmative action, race, democracy and religion, will deliver the Opening Convocation address on Sept. 28.

Carter is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Yale Law School. He has written numerous nonfiction books including, “The Culture of Disbelief: How American Law and Politics Trivialized Religious Devotion,” “Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby,” “Civility: Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy” and “Integrity.”

Carter joined Yale’s law school in 1991. He teaches courses on Constitutional law, contracts, intellectual property, law and religion, and law secrets and lying.

On Feb. 8, Glendon, the Learned Hand Professor at Harvard University Law School, will deliver the Founders’ Day Convocation address. Glendon’s research interests include international human rights and comparative constitutional law in the United States and Europe. Known for her writings about family and feminism, her books include, “Abortion and Divorce in Western Law” and “Rights Talk: The Impoverishment of Political Discourse.” Glendon was appointed by Pope John Paul II to serve on the Pontifical Academy of Social Science. She has also worked on special projects for the Vatican.

Other events during the year will include panel discussions on topics such as business and medical ethics. A series of films, chosen because of the various moral and ethical dilemmas faced by its characters, will be shown on campus. Films under consideration include, “On the Waterfront,” “Raise the Red Lantern,” “Husbands and Wives,” and “Paths of Glory.”

Through lectures, panel discussions and other events, Gladding said he hopes the concepts of ethics and honor will go from being abstract to something more personalized for students and others attending events during the year.

“Participants will be exposed to people who wrestle with these issues on a daily basis and I hope they will incorporate what they hear into their lives.”

The Year of Ethics and Honor is the fifth theme year celebrated at Wake Forest. Previously, the university has celebrated Science and Technology: the Next Millennium (1999-00), the Year of Globalization and Diversity (1998-99), Year of Religion in American Life (1997-98) and Year of the Arts (1996-97).