This year, the UCF Center for Ethics continued to serve as the university’s central hub for ethics research and programming. Under the leadership of Jonathan Beever (founding director and professor of philosophy), along with Steve Kuebler (associate director and professor of chemistry and optics), the center advanced novel ethics research, mentored postdoctoral scholars, supported student interns, hosted impactful programming and delivered lectures on a wide range of ethical issues.
As in previous years, here are some of the Center for Ethics’ key outcomes:
People
We continued to support two postdoctoral researchers who have been integral to our NSF-funded research team:
- Alex Nikolaidis (Ph.D. in Philosophy from Ohio State), advised by Beever, contributes to both the research team and the Center for Ethics.
- Josh Kissel (Ph.D. in Philosophy, Northwestern), advised by Laurie Pinkert (associate professor in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric) works with the research team, the Center for Ethics. and the Center for Writing Excellence.
Victor Milanes, a former undergraduate research assistant and UCF graduate, has remained involved in our NSF funded research “ER2” project while pursuing graduate studies at The Ohio State University.
We also celebrated the Spring 2025 graduation of Grace Guedouar, a C4E intern whose contributions to the center are featured on our Ethics Experts podcast.
Research
Beever (PI), along with Kuebler and Pinkert, continues leading a multi-year NSF-funded project studying how the intersections of individual value foundations and organizational ethics frameworks challenge recruitment and retention of STEM students. The project has resulted in good conversations with faculty and student participants about their experiences in ethics and their perspectives on how values shape disciplinary enculturation. Expect several publications from this work in the coming year.
Beever also serves as co-investigator and ethics lead on a federally-funded multi-year grant (PI: Gregory Welch, College of Nursing) to design and implement an accessible XR (virtual and augmented and extended reality) platform. Beever’s role focuses on identifying and addressing ethical considerations throughout the project.
AI ethics continues to be a central theme of the center’s programming: In collaboration with colleagues in computer science, Beever is part of a third NSF-funded project examining the impact of AI ethics modules in computer science courses.
Kuebler, with support from Beever, led ethics workshops for Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs in partnership with the Office of Undergraduate Research. The REU programs are STEM-based research training programs that bring students from across the country to UCF for summer-term research programs. In collaboration with researchers, the Center for Ethics develops and facilitates compulsory conversations about research ethics for students in these programs. These workshops are essential components of federally-supported STEM education initiatives, ensuring that ethics remains central to undergraduate research training. We feel strongly that ethics is a necessary part of these conversations and are grateful to our colleagues for inviting the center to participate.
AI
The Center for Ethics continues to lead university-wide conversations on the ethical implications of generative AI. Both Beever and Kuebler have delivered numerous invited talks to:
- Students (via classroom lectures)
- Faculty (through FCTL workshops and conferences)
- The broader community (via Ginsberg Center events and national conferences and workshops)
We also have partnered with the Provost’s Office on the AI for All initiative, where we lead ethics workshops and discussions to support the responsible integration of AI across academic and campus life. Beever will also serve on UCF’s AI Academic Governance committee in the coming year.
Pathways to Success
The C4E continues its partnership with the College of Graduate Studies and the Pathways to Success graduate student workshops series to lead workshops on integrity for all graduate students across the university. We remain committed to supporting graduate education and welcome new faculty collaborators interested in contributing to this important initiative.
Ethically Speaking
Our university-wide seminar series, Ethically Speaking, hosted five distinguished speakers from around the nation this year:
- Kiran Bhardwaj – Creepy Privacy
- Maeve McKeown – With Power Comes Responsibility: The Politics of Structural Injustice
- Blake Hereth – Resurrecting Dangerous Minds: The Ethics of Using AI to Preserve Military Strategists
- Marc Cheong – “Someone Else Got the Job”: AI for Hiring and Its Biases
- and UCF’s own Em Walsh – Cognitive Transformation, Dementia, and Advance Directives: What Clinical Practice Teaches Us About the Moral Weight of Advance Directives
This series continues to offer a breadth of challenging topics, fresh perspectives and high-quality scholarship on pressing ethical issues. The 2025 series is shaping up well – more details soon!
Be Better Club
The C4E’s Be Better Club focused on two themes: democracy and voting (fall 2024) and effective altruism (spring 2025). Both were led by postdoctoral research Joshua Kissel, who paired each topic with a podcast and facilitated an engaging discussion around key themes. All events are captured on the Center for Ethics’ YouTube playlist and linked on our website. The fall 2025 Be Better Club will be facilitated by Beever, with a focus on agricultural and environmental ethics.