About Us

Director: Christoph Hanisch, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Ohio University -- Department of Philosophy
Ellis Hall 212
Athens, OH 45701
Phone: 740-593-4544
email: appliedethics@ohio.edu

Mission: The Center for Applied and Professional Ethics (CAPE) aims to advance practical ethical and moral understanding, judgment, and decision making. It assists students and faculty of Ohio University and the larger community through interdisciplinary discussion, education, and collaboration. Its particular focus is on applied and professional fields, where real-life ethical dilemmas and conflicts need to be analyzed and resolved. Through research and educational activities -- such as public lectures, panel discussions, seminars and workshops -- it addresses academics, professionals, business managers, public officials, policymakers, and the general public. "Applied ethics" includes moral, social, and political philosophy, which is why the Institute may also contribute to public debates on social justice, environmental issues, or socio-political controversy.

Action plan: The Center emphasizes professional and applied ethics, particularly in departments and disciplines with a professional orientation, such as media and communication, engineering, medicine, nursing, and business, but also in the larger community. In addition to organizing events on ethics issues, the Center's goal is to contribute to both educating future professionals and providing training workshops for faculty in these disciplines. The Center also promotes well informed, critical reflection about economic, social, as well as environmental sustainability and climate change in relation to human rights and social justice.

History: The CAPE (formerly IAPE) was founded (as a Program) in 1988 as a result of an Ohio Board of Regents’ Academic Challenge Grant. The Program was officially given Institute status in 1995. The original grant was written under the auspices of Associate Provost David Stewart by the following Ohio University faculty members: Donald Borchert and Arthur Zucker (Philosophy); Ralph Izard and Michael Bugeja (Journalism); John Stinson and Richard Milter (Business); William Duerfeldt (Osteopathic Medicine); and Nicholas Dinos (Engineering). The first Board of Directors consisted of Borchert, Zucker, Izard, Bugeja, Stinson, and Milter. Zucker was chosen as Director while the other Board members served in an advisory capacity. Dr. Zucker retired in 2011.

The Center's Director from 2011 to 2016 was Dr. Alyssa R. Bernstein (Philosophy). She received her PhD in 2000 from Harvard University's Department of Philosophy, where her dissertation advisors included John Rawls, Hilary Putnam, and T. M. Scanlon (chair). Before coming to Ohio University, she was a Fellow of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government (2000-2001 and 2001-2002).

From 2016 to 2021, Dr. Bernhard Debatin (Journalism) was the Director of the Center. Debatin came to Ohio University in the Fall of 2000 as an IAPE visiting professor and was offered a tenure track position in journalism as of Fall 2001. Before coming to Ohio University, he was an associate professor at the Communication and Media Studies department of Leipzig University, teaching media ethics, communication theory, and theory of the public sphere.

Dr. Christoph Hanisch started his tenure as the Center's Associate Director in 2020, taking over the directorship from Bernhard Debatin in 2022.