The Center for the Study of Ethics (CSE) was established in 1993 and was the first center of its kind in the State of Utah. At the time of the center’s formation, Utah Valley University (then UVSC) had developed a national reputation for its campus-wide Ethics Across the Curriculum programming. The EAC program was built on the idea that ethics is an extraordinarily effective curriculum enrichment vehicle. It started in 1986 with the creation of a core humanities requirement in our General Education Program. This interdisciplinary course was named Ethics & Values, the design of which was to integrate ethical issues informed by philosophy, history, literature, and religion. For over thirty years, Ethics & Values been a distinctive feature of the UVU curriculum. Funding for early EAC programming was provided by multiple grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Fund for Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), and the U.S. Department of Education.
The success of these efforts led to the formation of the Center for the Study of Ethics in 1993 under the direction of Elaine Englehardt. During this time, CSE became increasingly involved in the EAC movement and was awarded a two-year grant from FIPSE (1998) to disseminate EAC programming at four colleges and universities (Loyola University of Chicago, Rochester Institute of Technology, Chaffey College, and the University of Utah). The program was so successful that it led to further funding and the addition of two institutions (SUNY Plattsburg and Miami Dade Community College). To date, the CSE has consulted with over 40 institutions across the nation in the development of their EAC programming.
The growth of EAC activities across the country created the conditions for the establishment of the Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum (SEAC) in 2000. UVU was one of four founding institutions of this organization, and the CSE was selected to house and edit the society’s journal Teaching Ethics. Brian Birch, David Keller, Elaine Englehardt, and Michael Pritchard served as successive editors from 2001 until 2015.
The primary aim of the CSE is to advance ethics education at Utah Valley University, within our community, and in related fields of study. We host numerous annual events designed to engage our students. These include Ethics Awareness Week, the Environmental Ethics Symposium, the Kirk Englehardt Business Ethics Award & Lecture, the Student Ethics Symposium, and the Symposium on Religion, Culture & Diversity. We are also active in advancing ethics in public life and have received funding to support the Utah Democracy Project (2008-10) and the Appomattox Project (2017-21).
