LSU Ethics Institute
Virtue, happiness, & living well.
The LSU Ethics Institute is the center of research, teaching, and training in the domain of ethics and human values. Ethics is an ancient field of study that wrestles with some of the weightiest human questions:
- What does a good life look like?
- How ought justice be enacted?
- What are our obligations to our environment?
- What are our obligations to future generations?
- How can we navigate the ethics of new technologies?
- What values and ends should orient our actions?
Affiliated with the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies, the LSU Ethics Institute provides a forum for scholars and students to grapple with these and other such questions by hosting lectures, sponsoring reading groups, and organizing academic workshops.
We are especially interested in fostering interdisciplinary relationships with other disciplines, departments, and colleges in order to build intellectual bridges that will serves students, faculty, staff, and all Louisianans.
"Critical thinking, moral reasoning, and intellectual exploration stand at the core of the LSU Ethics Institute. We strive to implement ethical thinking not only across the curriculum at LSU, but also throughout the greater community of Louisiana. If you're interested learning more, feel free to touch base. We're always excited to learn new ways to collaborate!"
- Dr. Anthony Kelley
Director of the LSU Ethics Institute
Information & Resources
Director210 Coates Hall
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Associate Director208A Coates Hall
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Director Emerita106 Coates Hall
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Administrative CoordinatorCarrie Powell 102 Coates Hall 225–578–2220
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Campus Office208 Coates Hall 225-578-2220
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Mailing AddressLouisiana State University LSU Ethics Institute 102 Coates Hall Baton Rouge, LA 70803 |
Philosophy of AI & Emerging Technologies Working Group
This working group consists of weekly discussions aimed at developing our understanding of the foundations of contemporary AI and emerging technologies both for its own sake and to interrogate the legitimating ideas most closely associated with contemporary technological culture. We also workshop in-progress work by the participants.
Weekly meeting times for the 2026-2027 academic year will be announced shortly here. For more information, please contact LSU Ethics Institute Associate Director Mike Ardoline at michaelardoline@lsu.edu or LSU Ethics Institute Administrative Coordinator Carrie Powell at cpowell3@lsu.edu.
Embedding Ethics in STEM @ LSU
In 2022, the LSU Ethics Institute was awarded a $103,900 Departmental Enhancement Grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents for this project. We have continued to carry out the work of this grant by partnering with STEM faculty affiliates and outside experts to develop course modules that are focused on ethical literacy and moral issues. These modules may be implemented into STEM courses across LSU to supplement and enhance existing course materials, all with the goal of expanding ethics education and awareness throughout STEM courses. The modules are all open source and can be found by following the link above.
Carceral Studies
The Carceral Studies Group brings together students, scholars, artists, practitioners, and activists who study, interrogate, and challenge the harms of the carceral system, policing, criminalization, and punishment as they exist in the United States today.
The Cecil L. Eubanks Ethics Bowl Team at LSU enhances understanding an ethical issues by enlisting undergraduate students onto a competitive team. Members train by studying a set of cases in advance.
In a typical match, a moderator poses a question to which the presenting team gives a detailed answer. The commentating team then responds with questions and criticisms, and the presenting team follows up with a reply. Finally, the presenting team takes questions from a panel of judges. Teams are evaluated on the basis of the clarity of their presentation, the degree to which they clearly identify and thoroughly discuss the central moral dimensions of the case, and whether they properly consider objections that would loom large in the reasoning of individuals who disagree with the team's position. Winners of regional competitions in San Antonio, TX advance to the national competition.
The Ethics Bowl is a tremendous opportunity for students looking to enhance their ability to think critically and to communicate effectively about matters of pressing ethical concern.
Interested in joining? Reach out to Dr. Kelley (akelley@lsu.edu)!
Updates Coming Soon!
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April 16, 2025, 4:00pm |
143 Coates Hall |
Laura T. Murphy (Center for Strategic and International Studies) |
"How Researchers, Government, and Civil Society Collaborate to Fight Authoritarianism: Lessons Learned from the Uyghur Region in China" |
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February 26, 2024, 3:30pm |
Hill Memorial Library |
Joanna Wuest (Mount Holyoke College) |
"Born This Way: Science, Citizenship, and Inequality in the American LGBTQ+ Movement" |
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November 6, 2023, 4:00pm |
French House Sternberg Salon, Ogden Honors College |
Dr. Adolph Reed, Jr. (University of Pennsylvania) |
"Making Sense of Race: What It Is and Isn't, What It Means and Doesn't, and Its Implications for Medical and Public Health Practice" (co-sponsored with the Department of History for the Fall 2023 Lecture Series: Race, History, & Medicine) |
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October 27, 2023, 3:30pm |
Hill Memorial Library |
Kathryn Olivarius (Stanford University)
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"Necropolis: Disease, Power and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom" (co-sponsored with the Department of History for the Fall 2023 Lecture Series: Race, History, and Medicine) |
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October 23, 2023, 3:30pm |
Hill Memorial Library |
Kevin McQueeney (Loyola University) |
"A City Without Care: 300 Years of Racism, Health Disparities, and Health Care Activism in New Orleans" (co-sponsored with the Department of History for the Fall 2023 Lecture Series: Race, History, & Medicine) |
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December 1, 2021, 3:00pm |
Zoom |
Dr. Alex Hanna (Ethical AI Team at Google and University of California, Berkeley) |
"Beyond Bias: Algorithmic Unfairness, Infrastructure, and Genealogies of Data" |
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May 26, 2020, 12:00pm |
Zoom |
AI Ethics/Algorithmic Justice Panel Discussion |
Dr. Michael Kearns (University of Pennsylvania), Dr. Safiya Noble (University of California, Los Angeles), Dr. Mark Coeckelbergh (University of Vienna), |