WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LIVE AN ETHICAL LIFE?
Seven Kenan Summer Fellows will answer that question in the program’s inaugural season. They’ll conduct research on three continents, examine everything from refugee communities in Boston to the ethics of vaccine development, and provide weekly updates throughout the summer on the Kenan Summer Fellows blog.

Sadhna Gupta (T’13): Politics and Religion in Refugee Resettlement in the US
Sadhna’s project developed from her experience with the 2012 Winter Forum. She will examine how religion and politics affect the refugee resettlement process. Beginning with an analysis of the historical and political development of current US refugee resettlement policies that rely heavily on the work of faith-based organizations, she will also examine what alternative models exist. She will then turn her focus to the particular practices and viewpoints of resettlement organizations and refugees in the Boston area, and especially the relationship between Hindus and Christians at various points in the process. Her project addresses issues of responsibility, religious pluralism and tolerance, and the challenges of multi-culturalism. Faculty mentor: Katie Hyde (CDS/Education)

Mark Herzog (T’15): Ethical Duties in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Mark’s project is to map the ethical viewpoints and practices of various players in the pharmaceutical system regarding how incentives are currently used to create and distribute drugs, as well as other models (besides incentives) for encouraging the development and distribution of drugs. He’s particularly focusing, at this point, on a comparison between the approach and experiences of a not-for-profit vaccine developer in the RTP and the approach and experiences of the more common for-profit manufacturers. His project addresses issues of accountability, regulation, and social justice, and doesn’t expect to find any easy answers. Faculty mentor: Jason Cross (DGHI)

Gautam Joseph (T’13): Ethics of Humanitarian Aid in Cairo, Egypt
Gautam’s project developed from his experience participating in the 2012 Winter Forum. Through contacts he met at Winter Forum, Gautam has obtained an unpaid internship with the Resettlement Legal Aid Project in Cairo, Egypt. Gautam’s project addresses two ethical issues. One raises a question that reflects on a general concern for how to determine what qualifies an undergraduate student to assist people in urgent need of effective and efficient assistance. The second ethical issue addressed by this project focuses particularly on refugees and the ethical implications of the legal requirement that refugees tell and retell their stories to complete strangers in order to obtain resettlement. Faculty mentor: Catherine Admay (Sanford)

David Mayer (T’14): Grandfather’s Diary: Documenting a Life’s Search for Meaning
David’s project is to make a film investigating a diary written by his grandfather while living in Germany during WWII. He will research the diary by traveling to Germany and deepening his understanding of the life his grandfather recorded in his diaries before, during, and after his time spent in a German labor camp in the Harz Moutnains. David’s documentary project will explore the ethical challenges faced by his grandfather and other family members during the Holocaust, but in the context of developing an understanding of how his grandfather defined an ethical life prior to as well as after the Holocaust. Faculty mentor: Gary Hawkins (CDS)

John McLean (T’13): Personal Computing and Christian Ethics
John will explore the moral challenges of personal computing and social media use from a Christian perspective. How do ethically-minded Christian communities respond to rapid changes in technology? What would “a Christian ethic of personal computing” entail? John will examine personal computing/mobile technology use in a variety of settings and forms, the potential constructive and destructive ways these technologies can be used, and how a Christian ethic can guide Christian communities in their responses to these possibilities. Faculty mentor: Adam Hollowell (Divinity/Public Policy)

Rosaria Nowhitney (T’15): Discovering Radical Hope at Kagoma Gate, Uganda
Rosie’s project takes her to Uganda to explore the creation of a multi-ethnic/multi-national community by people who had all experienced violence either in Uganda or in their home countries of Rwanda, Sudan, the Congo, and Kenya. What does community mean in such a setting? What provides the foundation for trusting social relations among people who have a background of betrayal by close friends and neighbors? Currently living in extreme poverty and with few economic opportunities outside of work on a local sugar plantation, what, if anything, gives them a sense of purpose and hope for the future? Rosie draws on philosopher Jonathan Lear’s concept of “radical hope” to develop these questions. Faculty mentor: Suzanne Shanahan (KIE/Sociology)

Nyuol Tong (T’14): Leading an Ethical Life: The Moral Dilemmas of South Sudanese Americans
Nyuol’s project is to examine how South Sudanese Americans live an ethical life. How do they manage the tension between the ethical life defined by their Dinka heritage and the ethical life as defined by many Americans? For example, how to balance an ethic that would require sharing among one’s peers with an ethic that requires respect for private property? Nyuol’s project addresses ethical issues related to multiculturalism and moral development, as he is particularly interested in how South Sudanese American parents instruct their children in proper behavior. Faculty mentor: Charles Piot (Cultural Anthropology)