In its first five years, the Institute launched a series of visiting faculty appointments and initiatives integrating ethics across the curriculum at Duke, which in turn helped fuel a university-wide conversation about the importance of ethics. These activities and the dialogue they generated were influential as the University undertook a comprehensive revision of Duke’s undergraduate curriculum. Now, as part of The Trinity Curriculum, all undergraduates must fulfill a two-course Ethical Inquiry (EI) requirement.

Ethical issues and values frame and shape human conduct and ways of life. Ethical Inquiry courses encourage students to develop and apply skills in ethical reasoning, to assess critically the consequences of  actions, both individual and societal, and to sharpen their understanding of the ethical and political implications of public and personal decision-making. A course offering exposure to Ethical Inquiry meets at least one of the following conditions:

1.It explores ethical arguments and beliefs within one or more cultures, religions, or philosophical, dramatic, or literary texts or traditions from a critical standpoint.

2.It examines ethical and political issues and controversies within a particular historical, disciplinary, professional, or policy context.

3.It combines coursework and service experiences with rigorous reflection and writing on ethical issues.