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Center for Ethics in Society broadens scope

By Staff | Apr 14, 2021

MANCHESTER — Is the lack of affordable housing in New Hampshire affecting our children’s education?

Why should consumers know where their clothes are made, and how can they use this information to make better choices in the marketplace?

How can we improve political dialogue in America?

Can business be an inherently honorable profession?

Encouraging the constructive conversations surrounding these and other ethical questions is at the core of the Center for Ethics in Society.

Originally known as the Center for Ethics in Business and Governance, the Center recently changed its name to better reflect its mission of “transformation through dialogue” on a broad range of ethical problems.

“We realized we had outgrown the name,” says Max Latona, Executive Director of the Center for Ethics in Society. “Our communities are grappling with urgent problems that go deeper than business and corporate governance, and they need our help. Almost every week, our Center finds itself addressing new and complex ethical issues in society.”

With an advisory board that includes 18 leaders from New Hampshire’s business, non-profit, and public policy communities, the Center represents a real partnership between the College and those who live and work in New Hampshire. Many of the programs the Center addresses emerge from concerns raised by its board members or by organizations and communities across New Hampshire. “Our new name reflects this attentiveness to others,” Latona says.

The Center’s impact is being felt amid the housing crisis facing New Hampshire. Governor Chris Sununu’s state housing action plan incorporated recommendations by a task force assembled by the Center, and the Center developed, on the advice of national experts, detailed recommendations for changes to Manchester’s zoning code that have been incorporated into a report from the Mayor of Manchester’s office. The Center’s statewide poll of attitudes on housing issues made front-page news in 2020, and its housing research has made an impact on advocacy and scholarship in the field.

The Center has also engaged experts, decision-makers, and concerned community members to address timely issues in public policy, business, governance, and society at large through a variety of events. It launched a new series, Corporations and the Common Good: How Should Businesses Respond to Social Issues?, on April 7 with a conversation with guest speaker and author Paul Argenti, Professor of Corporate Communication at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a communications consultant to Fortune 500 companies.

Upcoming events include:

April 21: Ethics of Fast Fashion webinar and panel discussion

April 22: Ethics Lab with Janice Baker on Ethics and Economics of Health Insurance

April 27: Honorable Business webinar and panel discussion with Notre Dame professor James Otteson

“Our educational programs, publications, roundtables, panel discussions, and podcast episodes are generating vigorous discussion about ethical issues, as well as insights into possible solutions that can contribute to the well-being of society as a whole,” Latona says. “Our new name better reflects those initiatives.”

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