Every year, the Ethics Center is pleased to offer grants for students and faculty of diverse disciplines whose research centers around the study and impact of applied ethics. These grant opportunities, funded by an endowment from Joan and the late Michael Hackworth, have served our academic community for almost a decade. Please join us in celebrating the Spring 2021 recipients of Hackworth Grants.
Faculty Grants
William Dohar, Senior Lecturer, Department of Religious Studies, a $1,000 grant for “Where God Cannot Be: Searching for Grace in Same-Sex Relationships.” This interview-based project aims to explore with Catholic men and women in same-sex marriages their God-experience, individually and as a couple, and how what they share in their union manifests itself in other relationships and communities. The grant will fund expenses related to books and equipment to facilitate high-quality interviews.
Jesica S. Fernandez, Assistant Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies, a $3,500 grant for “Youth for Justice Project: A Ethical Participatory Action Research Collaboration.” This project aims to expand upon the concept of sociopolitical citizenship by attending to the ethical nuances of developing, supporting and sustaining youth critical civic engagement in a moment of heightened racial awareness, anti-racist praxis, and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Project funds will be used for participant compensation and student research assistance.
Danielle Morgan, Assistant Professor, Department of English, a $1,000 grant for “The Absurdly Real: The Satires of Jordan Peele.” This project investigates the satires of Jordan Peele to raise the question of what applied ethics might look like in the context of contemporary state-sanctioned violence and the popular satirization of real-life events. The funds will be used to support a student research assistant.
Laura Robinson, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, a $2,000 grant for “The Ethics of Collective Good: Identity and the Cultural Trauma from 9/11 to COVID-19.” This grant charts the ethical implications of cultural trauma, as well as how collective notions of ethical shared responsibilities have impacted notions of the collective good from the events of 9/11/01 to the COVID-19 pandemic across global case studies. This Hackworth Grant will fund student research assistance, computer equipment, and software.
Margaret Russell, Associate Professor, School of Law, a $3,000 grant for “Ubuntu Ethics: Restorative Justice in Native American Tribal Courts and U.S. State Specialized Courts.” Drawing upon the sub-Saharan African moral philosophical framework of “Ubuntu,” this project applies these principles to two legal systems that seek to foster restorative justice within their respective communities: 1) long-standing Native American tribal courts; and 2) newer U.S. state problem-solving courts. These funds will be used to cover travel and accommodations for research, and student research assistants.
Adele Xing, Assistant Professor, Department of Management, a $2,170 grant for “Reacting to spillovers: How misconduct at a peer institution affects organizational responses to consumer complaints in the financial services industry.” This project examines the spillover effects of organizational misconduct at one organization on routine organizational practices at peer institutions; and more specifically, how unethical behaviors (such as regulatory violations) at one banking institution change the way other banks respond to consumer complaints. Funds will be used for student research assistants.
Student Grant
Kendall Moore, Neuroscience and Ethnic Studies, ’22, a $2,480 grant for “Decoding Bias: Assessing and Testing the Ethics of Anti-Bias Virtual Reality Simulations.” The project aims to create anti-bias sympathy enhancing virtual reality simulations with a focus on micro-aggressions. This will allow for an assessment and discussion on the ethics behind anti-bias technology, and to provide a framework for what ethical considerations must be taken into account with anti-bias technology. The grant will provide for student wages to help create, film, and act in the simulations, as well as provide money for promotional materials and research needs.
Congratulations to our latest Hackworth Grant recipients!