UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Rock Ethics Institute invites applications for its 2019-2020 Faculty Fellows Program. Penn State faculty members at all career levels and established research scientists are encouraged to apply. The deadline for applications is Nov. 1.
Through these fellowships, the Rock Ethics Institute aims to continue its mission to promote ethical literacy and catalyze ethical leadership throughout the Penn State community, and to foster interdisciplinary ethics research designed to address significant social issues and pressing world problems.
The program provides funding that will allow up to a two-course release from teaching during a single academic year to support ethics-related research projects by Penn State faculty. For each fellowship, the Rock Ethics Institute will award up to $7,000 in compensation to alleviate course load to allow for additional research.
The Rock Ethics Institute is particularly interested in projects that complement or engage with the research initiatives of Rock faculty. Current research interests focus on themes of agricultural and food ethics; ethics and health; climate and sustainability ethics; critical philosophy of race; democracy and human rights; engineering, technology and ethics; gender and sex equity; moral agency and moral development; religion, spirituality and public life; and restorative justice.
The institute will also strongly consider applications with curricular and research components that will advance its aim of integrating ethics into the Penn State curriculum. Priority will be given to interdisciplinary collaborations that have the potential of continuing beyond the funding period by securing external support. Through education, research and outreach, each Fellow will help the Rock Ethics Institute promote ethically informed scholarship, cultivate ethical literacy, and encourage ethical decision-making at Penn State and beyond. The Rock Ethics Institute also welcomes proposals that engage with community partners, incorporates students as research collaborators, or are likely to lead to curricular innovations.
The deadline for submitting proposals is Nov. 1. Faculty members at all career levels from all Penn State campuses are eligible; however, those not in residence at University Park should describe how they will meet the Institute’s expectations for active involvement in collaborations with Institute faculty when submitting application materials. For additional information about eligibility, application requirements, and the submission process, visit the Rock Ethics Institute Faculty Fellows Program website.
The Rock Ethics Institute was established through a $5 million gift in 2001 from Doug and Julie Rock to the College of the Liberal Arts. The institute’s mission is to promote ethical awareness and inquiry across the University, and in the public and professional sectors, through a three-fold emphasis on teaching, research and outreach. Recently, the Rocks endowed the Nancy Tuana Directorship of the Rock Ethics Institute with an additional $5 million gift, which was part of a broader commitment they made to the college during "For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students."