Meet the Spartan researchers shaping MSU’s Ethics Institute

Technology is changing how decisions are made. Trust in public institutions is shifting. And many of the choices shaping daily life — across education, health care, government and business — bring into question society’s shared values.

These issues reflect how a changing world is constantly shaping our lives. For many Spartan scholars working across disciplines, asking critical questions about complex situations with the goal of doing good — ethical inquiry — has long been central to their work.

With the creation of Michigan State University’s Ethics Institute, established in 2025 by President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D., that work now has a shared home and a renewed focus on helping students, researchers and the public navigate ethical challenges with clarity and purpose.

“MSU has a responsibility to serve the public and not just generate knowledge,” says Bree Holtz, professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations and director of the Ethics Institute. “We are working to translate the work that’s happening to the public by having difficult conversations around ethics and what it means to be an ethical person.”

A catalyst for ethics research

Though the institute is still in its early days, new scholarship ideas and fresh collaborations have already emerged across campus. Sparking new topics of exploration, the inaugural Ethics Research Fellows program has awarded three $15,000 seed grants to Spartan scholars who turn ethical questions into applied research with real-world implications.

The winning proposals reflect the institute’s broad view of ethics, spanning across how we treat one another, our environment and our institutions, and emphasizing interdisciplinary teams and student engagement.

In her project, Keunhye Park, assistant professor in the School of Social Work, examines how race, ethnicity and gender shape the child welfare decisions professionals and caregivers make, which have lasting impacts on young people’s lives. The fellowship has meaningfully informed her research, says Park, and deepened her "understanding of ethics as a collaborative practice rather than a framework.”

Michelle T. Pham and Megh Marathe, both assistant professors affiliated with the Center for Bioethics and Social Justice, have put forward an investigation of the ethical risks involved in implanting neural devices in individuals with disabilities.

Assistant Professor Courtney Venker and her team in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders are examining how friendship is portrayed in more than 100 children’s books about autism. The funding is important, says Venker, because the findings “will inform recommendations for more inclusive and ethically grounded storytelling and educational practices.”

In addition to receiving funding, the fellows participate in a year-long learning community, sharing regular updates with MSU leaders, students and partners.

Unlocking ethical thinking in the Spartan community

Various events hosted by the Ethics Institute create space for dialogue around ethical issues shaping higher education and public life.

As part of a group charged with examining issues around free speech and academic freedom in classroom and learning contexts, Dànielle DeVoss, interim chairperson and William J. Beal Distinguished Professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric and Cultures, participated in sessions that to her were “emblematic of the importance of ethics-infused, values-anchored work happening across the university.”

“As we’ve witnessed academic freedom and freedom of speech erode across our country,” says DeVoss, “the Ethics Institute has provided space for us to engage in dialogue and find ways to build a strong campus culture together.”

Events like MSU’s Ethics Week offer a public entry point into the institute’s work, with events tackling some of the most pressing ethical questions of the moment. In 2026, Ethics Week will take place Feb. 16–20, with wide-ranging topics on the menu that include how corporate complicity helped enable the Holocaust, ethical considerations in the complex and evolving sports and entertainment industries, and how to use AI responsibly while doing research and creative activities. On the final day, a leadership panel including President Guskiewicz, Provost Laura Lee McIntyre, Executive Vice President for Administration Vennie Gore, Vice President and Chief Communications Officer Emily Guerrant and Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning Innovation Marcio Oliveira will discuss the impacts and outcomes of ethics and leadership on a university campus.

Faculty, staff, students and the wider community — anyone who is interested — are encouraged to attend, says Holtz, noting that this year, hybrid and virtual events are making participation even easier. “You don’t have to be an ethicist to join,” she adds. “You just have to be a person who’s trying to learn more and wants to be involved in this conversation.”

Undergraduate students especially can participate in some of the more student-focused events happening across campus, like the Ethics in the News Case Competition, where students team up to try and solve an ethical dilemma, competing for prize money. (Students who are interested in tackling this year’s ethical challenge can sign up until noon Jan. 30 via this form).

Shadi Khamis, a supply chain management student in the Honors College, took part in the fall 2025 semester competition. His team analyzed a factual and timely issue — pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk’s response to the GLP-1 drug shortage. “Our recommendations felt real because the decisions we debated could directly impact patients’ access and health outcomes,” Khamis recalls, adding that Ethics in the News “helps students practice making people-centered decisions under pressure.”

And each fall, the Ethics Institute organizes an Ethics Symposium centered on one topic, like sustainability, which faculty, staff, students, practitioners and community members explore together.

Shaping how students learn, lead and collaborate

How students learn — and the choices educational institutions make — is a key area of focus for the Ethics Institute. Through efforts to adapt general education to an increasingly complex and digitally enabled world, MSU scholars are working to integrate ethical judgement into undergraduate education.

“Integrating ethics into general education is especially impactful,” says Oliveira, vice provost for Teaching and Learning Innovation. “It helps ensure all students develop the capacity to think critically about the consequences of their decisions, technology adoption and professional practices.”

For Assistant Professor of Philosophy Megan Dean, who is also involved in modernizing the general education curriculum, the collaborative nature of the Ethics Institute is central to its value.

“We do a lot of teaching on important ethical questions about personal, professional and political life — like how to be a good friend, how to be a good health care provider, how to be a good citizen and how to live a good life,” Dean says.

Those questions align with the exciting research faculty and graduate students are pursuing in science and ethics, environmental ethics, bioethics and ethics and technology — as well as with panel discussions planned for the upcoming Ethics Week.

“It’s really valuable to share our work with our MSU community and to learn what other folks are working on around campus,” says Dean.

That campuswide dialogue is essential to identifying the shared values that ground teaching and learning at MSU, such as academic integrity, equity and accessibility, respect for intellectual property and thoughtful consideration of social and environmental impact, Oliveira says.

By helping ensure innovation is technically effective as well as principled and human-centered, the Ethics Institute reflects MSU’s commitment to preparing students to lead thoughtfully, responsibly and in service to the common good.