The Consortium on Moral Decision-Making at Penn State is seeking proposals for Ember Grants to support up-start interdisciplinary research related to the conceptual and empirical study of human morality and ethical decision-making. The deadline for submissions is Feb. 27 at 5 p.m.

Augustín Fuentes, professor of anthropology at Princeton University, will deliver the 2026 Darwin Day Lecture on Feb. 19 and participate in a panel discussion the following day.

The Rock Ethics Institute has extended the nomination deadline for the 2026 Stand Up Awards. The Stand Up Awards recognize and celebrate undergraduate students from any Penn State campus who demonstrate exceptional ethical leadership by standing up for a cause, idea or belief. The nomination deadline is Feb. 20.

Earlier this month, empathy experts, youth representatives, youth-serving organizations and policy makers took part in a three-day summit on how empathy research can be translated into both government policy and into classrooms worldwide, as well as in non-formal, experiential learning environments.

Two members of the Penn State Smeal College of Business Ethics Case Team collaborated to sweep both categories of the 23rd Annual Undergraduate Collegiate Ethics Case Competition held in October at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.

A Penn State faculty member was selected to serve on the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Ethics Committee and help review and possibly revise the SPJ Code of Ethics, the nation’s most-cited journalism ethics code, through an effort that coincides with the code’s 100th anniversary in 2026.

The Rock Ethics Institute and the Maurice K. Goddard Chair in Forestry and Environmental Resource Conservation are now accepting applications for the 2026–27 Faculty Fellows program. The program offers a one-course release from teaching during a single academic year to support Penn State faculty with ethics-related research projects.

Kathryn Kearney, a Penn State student majoring in criminology with an enhanced minor in communication arts and sciences, is using the skills gained through her liberal arts education to help the residents of Washington, D.C.

Penn State University Libraries will sponsor two speakers on open scholarship topics in conjunction with the second Penn State Open Scholarship Boot Camp, set for Aug. 13-15 on the University Park campus. Both presentations are free and open to the public.

Scholars from around the globe attended Penn State’s Consortium on Moral Decision-Making conference on political polarization and moral decision-making.