Professor Joel Rosenthal —a celebrated scholar in international affairs—will visit the University of Utah on Sept. 12 for the 2019 Tanner-McMurrin Lecture.
His lecture, “Ethics for a Connected World: Three Cases That Impact You,” will examine how technological achievement will set the pace for the future. He will discuss how as the world changes more rapidly than ever before, technological advancements bring with them unprecedented ethical crises that impact all people. Such advances arrive at a time when democracy is in retreat. Rising tides of nationalism and isolation dominate just when collective action is needed most, according to Rosenthal. The lecture will cover three areas: the natural world, the virtual world and the political world. There is a need for norms, standards and rules of the road in all of these areas. Some of this work has begun, and he will explore some examples for the public.
The event, co-sponsored by the S.J. Quinney College of Law and Westminster College, will take place from 6 to 8:30 p.m. in the Moot Courtroom on the sixth floor of the College of Law, 383 S. University Street. A reception starts at 6, followed by the lecture and a Q&A from 7 to 8:30. The event is free and open to the public.
“The topic is especially important for our time. In today’s interconnected world the distant is not distant anymore, yet the world still remains deeply divided over the various issues of human well-being locally and globally,” said Deen Chatterjee, a fellow at the College of Law who co-organized the event.
“Hence there is an urgent need to explore the prospects of value-based dialogue in a turbulent world where norms clash. Bringing this important event to our campus also relates well to the University of Utah’s ongoing focus on fostering global knowledge and global engagement.”
Rosenthal is president of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. He is also an adjunct professor at New York University and chairman of the Bard College Globalization and International Affairs program in New York City. He received his doctorate from Yale University and his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. As a scholar and teacher, Rosenthal has focused on ethics in U.S. foreign policy, with special emphasis on issues of war and peace, human rights and pluralism. His first book “Righteous Realists” (1991), is a study of Hans Morgenthau, George Kennan, and Reinhold Niebuhr, among other American realists.
He is the editor-in-chief of the Carnegie Council’s flagship journal, Ethics & International Affairs. Its articles have appeared over 1,100 times in hundreds of university syllabi in 28 countries.