News: Tech Museum to Integrate Ethics into Exhibits

An exhibit at the San Jose Tech Museum of Innovation shows how information speeds into homes and schools along the information superhighway. But as visitors learn about the technological marvels of the Internet, they may also be considering its impact on privacy rights and freedom of speech.

Ethical considerations like this are the focus of a working relationship between the Tech Museum and the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics that has developed during the past two years. As Tech designers begin to plan exhibits for their new facility scheduled to open in 1998 staff of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics are "helping them incorporate considerations of values and ethics," according to Mark Ravizza, S.J., visiting assistant professor of philosophy at SCU and a participant in the project.

Currently, the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics is conducting a series of workshops for the Tech. Says Skip Wall, executive director, museum project the workshops will "help address specific content and foster awareness among Tech staff of the ethical techniques the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics trains people to use."