News

In Conversation with Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Faculty Fellow Murray Smith
May 3, 2018

Murray Smith is a professor of film and co-director of the Aesthetics Research Centre at the University of Kent, and until recently, was president of the Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image.

This year, he is at the UCHV as a Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Faculty Fellow, where he is…

Melissa Lane Featured on "History in the Making" Show
April 27, 2018

Director Lane talks about eight political ideas discussed in her book, "The Birth of Politics."

You can listen to the show here.

Cass Sunstein delivers the 2018 James A. Moffett ’29 Lecture in Ethics, “Unleashed: #MeToo and Beyond”
April 25, 2018

Watch the full lecture here:  http://www.kaltura.com/tiny/wtm73 (link is external)

Men did not start sexually harassing women in the fall of 2017.  Why did the Me Too movement spring up just then?  And why did it have (as it appears) such a rapid and broad impact on revising social norms?  More generally, why is social change so hard…

Professor Mueller To Give Distinguished Lecture in Ethics at Ohio State University's Center for Ethics and Human Values
April 24, 2018

On Wednesday, April 25th, Jan-Werner Mueller will give a CEHV Distinguished Lecture in Ethics titled “What is Populism?  Politics in the Age of Trump.” 

More information at:  https://cehv.osu.edu/events/cehv-distinguished-lecture-ethics-jan…

In conversation with LSR Visiting Faculty Fellow Inés Valdez
April 22, 2018

Inés Valdez is an assistant professor of political science at Ohio State University. Her work examines the problem of racial, gender, and religious difference in political theory, with a particular focus on the theorization of migration and cosmopolitanism. 

As an LSR Visiting Faculty Fellow at the UCHV, Valdez is working on finishing…

Frick Awarded Richard Stockton Bicentennial Preceptorship
April 18, 2018
Johann Frick has been awarded the Richard Stockton Bicentennial Preceptorship, Ferris Thompson Foundation, for a term of three years from July 1 2018 – June 30, 2021.
Tanner Lectures on Human Values with Raj Chetty: Videos Now Available
April 12, 2018

Tanner Lectures on Human Values on Human Values with Raj Chetty:

https://uchv.princeton.edu/media-page

Mueller to give Amicus Curiae Lecture at Marshall University
April 11, 2018

Jan-Werner Mueller will give an Amicus Curiae lecture in Marshall University’s series on Constitutional Democracy on April 16th.  The title of Mueller’s talk is “What is Populism?”

In conversation with Lori Gruen, Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching
April 9, 2018

Lori Gruen is the William Griffin Professor of Philosophy at Wesleyan University. She is also a professor of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and coordinator of Wesleyan Animal Studies. This semester, Gruen is at the UCHV as the Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching.

“I've found Princeton to be…

The University Center for Human Values' Visitors for 2018-2019
March 30, 2018
The University Center welcomes the following Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Faculty Fellows and Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Professors for Distinguished Teaching for the 2018-19 academic year.
Mueller Writes on "The People Versus Democracy" in Project Syndicate
March 6, 2018

In Jan-Werner Mueller's commentary, The People Versus Democracy, Mueller urges people to focus on the structural causes of Populist's success (Italy, Brexit, Trump) rather than the irrationality of the people.

In Conversation With LSR Visiting Faculty Fellow Amy Sepinwall
Feb. 23, 2018

Amy Sepinwall is an associate professor in the Department of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. She has two main research streams, one interrogating the notion of corporate constitutional rights and the other calling for an expansion of the conceptions of responsibility standardly advanced in…

VPL Alumnus Ben Taub '14 Wins Journalism's George Polk Award
Feb. 21, 2018

 

At Princeton, Taub was a philosophy major who displayed significant interest in and inclination towards a career in journalism, demonstrated by his photo exhibit from the frontlines of the war against ISIS on the Turkey/Syrian border, as well as in his participation in journalism classes offered through the Humanities Council's…

Three Values and Public Life Certificate Students Named SINSI Scholars
Feb. 15, 2018
Three students pursuing a Values and Public Life (VPL) undergraduate certificate are among the ten selected to the 2018 cohort of the Woodrow Wilson School’s Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative (SINSI).
Professor Mueller Comments on Steven Pinker's Book in the "Financial Times"
Feb. 15, 2018

Mueller's article, "Is the world getting better or worse?" in the Financial Times examines claims made in Enlightenment Now: the book written by Harvard psychologist, Steven Pinker, that defends scientific rationality and liberal humanism.

Ethics in the STEM Classroom Event
Feb. 8, 2018
The purpose of the event is to explore how ethical questions figure in STEM courses – in course design, and in the classroom experience of reading, writing, seeing, hearing, and discussing. All faculty, postdocs, graduate students and others are welcome to attend.
Religion professor Shaun Marmon teaches UCHV-sponsored freshman seminar, “Sanctuary”
Feb. 7, 2018

The Dean Eva Gossman Seminar in Human Values explores questions such as: "Does citizenship determine human rights?" and "Why has sanctuary become a key term in current debates about immigration?"

Marmon created her course in response to the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the 2016 presidential election and changing U.S. policies toward…

Jan-Werner Mueller on "post-establishment politics" at the World Economic Forum
Feb. 5, 2018
Jan-Werner Mueller, Executive Committee Member and Founding Director of the UCHV-based Project in the History of Political Thought, participated in the World Economic Forum in Davos this past week.
In Conversation With LSR Visiting Faculty Fellow Andrew Schroeder
Feb. 1, 2018

Andrew Schroeder is an associate professor of philosophy at Claremont McKenna College and a Laurance S. Rockefeller (LSR) Visiting Faculty Fellow. His research and teaching cover a range of issues in ethics, political philosophy, and the philosophy of science, with a special focus on problems that lie at their intersection. 

This year…

Peter Singer responds to Angus Deaton op-ed in the New York Times
Jan. 30, 2018
Peter Singer, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values, wrote a letter in response to the op-ed “America’s Deep Poverty Problem.” The op-ed was written by Angus Deaton, professor of economics and international affairs emeritus at Princeton University.  
In Conversation With LSR Visiting Faculty Fellow Shaun Nichols
Jan. 25, 2018

Shaun Nichols is a professor of philosophy at the University of Arizona and a Laurance S. Rockefeller (LSR) Visiting Faculty Fellow. His research focuses on the psychological underpinnings of ordinary thinking about philosophical issues. 

This year, Nichols is working on a book titled “Rational Rules,” which explores how statistical…

Lane Delivers First of Six Carlyle Lectures at the University of Oxford
Jan. 19, 2018

Lane delivers first of six Carlyle Lectures at the University of Oxford.

Class of 1943 Professor of Politics, Melissa Lane, is lecturing on “Constitutions before Constitutionalism: Classical Greek Ideas of Office and Rule.”

On January 16th, Lane gave the first lecture titled “Office and Anarchy.”

Pettit Writes Piece in Brave New Europe: "Living With a Hard Brexit"
Jan. 16, 2018

Philip Pettit, Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor in the Center for Human Values at Princeton and Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at the ANU, Canberra, published an OpEd in The Irish Times, which has also been cross-posted on…

Mueller Will Give Max Weber Lecture at the European University Institute
Jan. 16, 2018

Jan-Werner Mueller’s lecture “After Populism” addresses the question of how best to understand populism and also what structural changes in modern democracies might facilitate its emergence. 

Mueller considers how professional politicians and citizens at large should deal with the challenge of populism, specifically referencing…

Mueller on "Movement Politics" in Project Syndicate
Jan. 3, 2018

Read Professor Mueller's article, "Can Movement Politics Renew European Democracy?" in "Project Syndicate, The World's Opinion Page" here.

"Poisonous Flowers: Radical Women in Latin America" Course Takes Field Trip to Los Angeles
Dec. 11, 2017

Over fall break, students enrolled in “Poisonous Flowers: Radical Women in Latin America” took a trip to Los Angeles to view the art show, “Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1975.”

Designed and taught by assistant professor Javier…

"Poisonous Flowers: Radical Women in Latin America" Course Takes Field Trip to Los Angeles
Dec. 11, 2017

Over fall break, students enrolled in “Poisonous Flowers: Radical Women in Latin America” took a trip to Los Angeles to view the art show, “Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1975.”

Designed and taught by assistant professor Javier…

The Advantages of Altruism
Dec. 7, 2017

As the statesman Edmund Burke put it, “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”

Peter Singer, the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values, was recently featured in a Business Insider article, “

Andrew Chignell to join Princeton Faculty on January 1, 2018
Nov. 20, 2017
Princeton University is proud to announce that Andrew Chignell will join the faculty on January 1, 2018, as a Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor, teaching in Religion and Philosophy, and directing a Project in Philosophy and Religion in the University Center for Human Values.
Princeton and Humboldt Faculty and Graduate Students Convene To Discuss The Rise of Authoritarian Constitutionalism
Nov. 8, 2017
A recent two-day workshop convened by Jan-Werner Mueller, professor of politics at Princeton University, and Silvia von Steinsdorff, professor of social sciences at Humboldt University, offered faculty and graduate students the opportunity to develop a clearer conceptual understanding of authoritarian constitutionalism.
UCHV Director Melissa Lane To Give Three Named Lectures in Coming Weeks
Oct. 23, 2017

This week Professor Lane is giving Wesleyan’s annual Philip Hallie Lecture (previously given by Pulitzer Prize winner Saul Friedlander and others).

Next week Lane is giving two other named lectures:

Jan-Werner Mueller Will Deliver Tanner Lectures on Human Values in Cambridge This Fall
Oct. 16, 2017
His two lectures, “Designing for Democracy: Architecture, Public Space, and the Ideal of Collective Self-Determination,” will take place November 15th and 16th.
A Conversation with John A. Hall, Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching
Oct. 16, 2017

John A. Hall is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching. Hall comes to the University Center for Human Values (UCHV) from McGill University in Montreal, where he is the James McGill Professor of Comparative Historical Sociology.

As a comparative historical sociologist, Hall has always worked on social…

In Conversation With LSR Visiting Faculty Fellow Stephanie Beardman
Sept. 29, 2017
Stephanie Beardman is a Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Faculty Fellow who specializes in metaethics and moral psychology. She sat down with UCHV to share more about her work and experiences as a scholar.
Climate Change Panel takes on tipping points
Sept. 28, 2017

The September 25 Climate Futures Initiative panel discussion, Theorizing Tipping Points in the Context of Climate Change, was featured in The Daily Princetonian.

University Center for Human Values Annual Report 2016-17
Sept. 15, 2017
Just released: highlights of our past year at the Center.
Einstein Ethics Group to Hold Workshop on Johann Frick's Work: "Contractualism, Risk, and Population Ethics"
Sept. 7, 2017

The Einstein Ethics Group in Berlin, led by Professor R. Jay Wallace (Berkeley) will be holding a two-day workshop on Professor Johann Frick's work in Berlin, October 6-7. The title of the workshop is "Contractualism, Risk, and Population Ethics". View the announcement…

On Migration: Stephen Macedo and Sandra Bermann Discuss Its Interdisciplinary Nature
Aug. 23, 2017

University Center for Human Values Faculty member Stephen Macedo and UCHV Executive Committee member Sandra Bermann held a coffee conversation on migration issues. Having met with colleagues from across campus, Bermann noted how…

In BBC Radio’s “Decoding the News,” Aditya Chakrabortty Investigates Populism
July 28, 2017

Chakrabortty speaks with experts, including Princeton's Jan-Werner Mueller, on the origin and impact of populism; Mueller wrote "What is Populism?" - Princeton's Pre-Read for 2017-18.

Click here for the show.

"How Populists Win When They Lose" by Mueller in Project Syndicate
June 15, 2017

Read Professor Mueller's latest opinion piece on populism in Project Syndicate here .

Philip Pettit Awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC)
June 12, 2017
Professor Philip Pettit has been made a Companion to the Order of Australia for eminent service to philosophy through contributions to moral and political theory, as a distinguished academic, and as a leader of public debate on social, economic, and environmental issues.