Ethics Center Sponsors Conference in Africa
Ethics is a tricky subject. It's universal because no society is free from the need to examine right and wrong. Yet it’s also highly individual because different professions have their own codes and concerns.
Andrew Altman and Andrew Cohen, director and assistant director, respectively, of Georgia State's Jean Beer Blumenfeld Center for Ethics, know that this ethical duality has worldwide applications. And that's why they brought the subject to a place known for its ethical challenges: Africa.
This past May, the center sponsored its first overseas conference titled "Ethics in Africa" at the University of Capetown in South Africa. The conference covered issues such as the war in Darfur, female circumcision, children who have been orphaned by AIDS, and the problems of widespread hunger and poverty.
The meetings normally take place at Georgia State's Atlanta campus.Taking the conference across the Atlantic could be the first time an American university has ever sponsored an ethics conference at an African university, Altman says.
According to Altman, going to Africa allows the center to accomplish a form of global outreach, and it enhances the Blumenfeld Center’s international reputation and the university’s reputation as a whole.
"It is a forum for the exchange of timely ideas by leading names in the field," adds Cohen. "It gets Georgia State's name on the map."