After great harm, what are the ethics of repair? How do individuals and societies seek repair for injustice, heal from trauma or rebuild after experiences of major destruction? When a person commits a violent crime, what moral ideas shape how repair is sought both for the victim and the perpetrator? What differences arise in the ethics of working to repair harms from the past versus those that are more current or even ongoing? From examples of rebuilding communities after environmental disaster to pursuits for restorative justice in systems of racist exploitation, we see examples of struggle, radical hope and even ongoing harm in pursuit of repair. This series thus also asks us to consider the limits of repair. Are there some harms so great that they preclude the possibility of repair? What does moving forward look like when repair seems impossible?
Center Director
Mark Stein, professor of history
Program Directors
Sarah Runcie, assistant professor of history
Karen Tuerk, lecturer of environmental science
About the Muhlenberg College Center for Ethics
The Muhlenberg College Center for Ethics seeks to develop our capacities for ethical reflection, moral leadership and responsible action by engaging community members in scholarly dialogue, intellectual analysis and self-examination about contested ethical issues. Through thematic lectures and events, the Center for Ethics serves the teaching and study of the liberal arts at Muhlenberg College by providing opportunities for intensive conversation and thinking about the ethical dimensions of contemporary philosophical, political, economic, social, cultural and scientific issues. In service to its mission, the Center for Ethics hosts special events and programs, provides faculty development opportunities and provides support for student programming.
