The Rock Ethics Institute promotes engaged ethics research and ethical leadership from its home in Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts.
The Rock Ethics Institute promotes engaged ethics research and ethical leadership from its home in Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts.
Research
The Rock Ethics Institute’s research areas integrate ethical considerations into interdisciplinary scholarship at Penn State. Select a research area below to learn more or view all.

Public Life

Sustainability

Technology

Gender and Sexuality

Food and Agriculture

Health

Global Issues

Race
Upcoming Rock Ethics Institute Events
Nora Reikosky has joined Penn State’s Rock Ethics Institute as assistant director, bringing a research agenda focused on the influence of private power on public institutions and a professional background spanning academia, education and the private sector.
The College of IST recently announced the winners of its inaugural AI in Research Symposium. The event presented an opportunity for students and faculty to explore how AI is reshaping research and discuss how standards and practices might differ across academic communities.
Two free lectures by internationally respected ethics experts highlight the public portion of “Media Challenges to Digital Flourishing,” a two-day symposium coordinated by the Donald W. Davis Program in Ethical Leadership Penn State and scheduled Oct. 22-23 on the University Park campus.
Faculty member Patrick Plaisance in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications played a key role in revising the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics, a widely recognized guide to ethical journalism.
Sarah Brothers, assistant professor of sociology and public policy, is the recipient of the American Sociological Association’s inaugural Early Career Award for Community-Engaged Scholarship.
The Penn State Smeal College of Business Business Ethics Team debuted at the McGill Desautels Business Ethics Case Competition earlier this semester, earning a first-place finish.
Penn State's Rock Ethics Institute has announced the winners of the 2026 Stand Up Awards for Undergraduate Ethical Leadership.
The Penn State community is invited to register for the inaugural Research Ethics Conference, to be held on Sept. 10. The one-day event is open to faculty, students, staff and postdoctoral scholars interested in exploring how research ethics shape the quality, credibility and impact of scholarly work across disciplines.
Penn State faculty members and Rock Ethics Institute senior research associates Daryl Cameron and Alan Wagner recently collaborated with other scholars on a journal article assessing how empathy for and from robots is considered from an interdisciplinary perspective.
S. Matthew Liao, a leading scholar in bioethics and moral philosophy at New York University, will present a lecture titled “Artificial Intelligence and Moral Status” at 5 p.m. on April 16 in 062 Willard Building at Penn State University Park. The lecture is free and open to the public.