UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Consortium on Moral Decision-Making had a successful first year of events and funding opportunities to further its mission in creating an interdisciplinary, collaborative network of social scientists and scholars studying how people make moral and ethical decisions.
Directed by Daryl Cameron, Sherwin Early Career Professor in the Rock Ethics Institute and associate professor of psychology at Penn State, the consortium received funding through a Social Science Research Institute Level 4 Seed Grant that supports interdisciplinary research initiatives. Cameron and Andrew High, associate professor of communications arts and sciences, are co-principal investigators on the grant.
In the last academic year, the consortium hosted multiple research talks delivered by Penn State faculty in various academic departments including psychology, public policy and political science. The recordings for these talks can be accessed under the “Events” tab of the consortium’s website.
In addition to individual research talks, the consortium hosted several events focused on political polarization.
“At the beginning of the year, we convened a ‘Political Polarization’ meeting, where we sandboxed ideas for future projects. We then hosted a hack-a-thon, where we talked about actionable ideas for the next academic year,” Cameron explained.
The consortium also hosted the sixth annual webinar series on expanding empathy with themes of empathy, forgiveness and conflict; moral convictions; and compassion and concern.
“I was pleased that we had three really exciting conversations between psychologists and philosophers,” Cameron said. “The first panel on empathy and conflict involved some deep reflection on empathy and morality in the context of ongoing conflicts and how we think about people’s emotional reactions and the ethical implications. The second panel on the moral circle involved a nice set of talks that really built on each other. And in the final panel, we had three very different talks about boundaries on empathy — whether that be with empathy and the environment, empathy and AI, or empathy and intergroup conflict.”
The series can be accessed on the Rock Ethics Institute’s YouTube channel under the "Expanding Empathy" playlist.
Additionally, the consortium held a hybrid conference on artificial intelligence (AI) in collaboration with the Center for Socially Responsible AI and University Libraries. The event featured flash talks, a virtual panel of speakers, and roundtable discussions on empathy and morality in the context of changing AI capabilities.
Along with hosting events, the consortium sponsored a seed grant program, funding 11 projects spanning a diverse array of disciplines, including anthropology, psychology, geography, international relations, philosophy, history and religious studies. At the end of the semester, recipients showcased their work by presenting an overview of their respective projects.
“Overall, this year laid the groundwork for the future of the consortium and underscores the consortium’s commitment to fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and project development,” Cameron said.
Next year, Cameron is aiming for a return of the "Expanding Empathy" series for a seventh year, another call for interdisciplinary seed grants, and continued exploration of research topics and conference events related to political polarization and morality.
“I want to build on our momentum and get more involvement from faculty and graduate students from across Penn State. There has been substantial external interest from scholars around the world — including a growing number of ‘external affiliates’ — and I want to build on that,” Cameron said.
The consortium is funded by the Rock Ethics Institute, College of the Liberal Arts, Social Science Research Institute, the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and Department of Philosophy, with additional support from the Department of Psychology.