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Parr Center Invited Speakers
A key component of the Parr Center’s programming is its dynamic speakers’ series,
which brought nine renowned speakers to campus to deliver public lectures on ethical
themes in 2018-19. To customize and differentiate our offerings, we run several different
branded lecture series, which are described below. The public, as well as UNC students
and faculty, is invited to all of these lectures; audience size for these public programs
typically ranges from 30 to 75+.
Parr Center Presents
Our “classic” evening lecture series, in which nationally renowned scholars and
practitioners give a talk to a diverse public audience, followed by discussion. Total
session length is 90 minutes. The speaker’s visit to campus usually lasts two days and
has room for ancillary activities such as lunch with undergraduates, dinner with faculty
members and graduate students, and other occasions for individual and small-group
discussion.
Five events under this banner in 2018-19:
• September 25: Adelle Waldman (novelist), “Reading Austen and Eliot in the #MeToo
Era”
• October 15: Justin Erlich (Voyage, formerly Uber), “The Ethics of Autonomous
Vehicles” (co-sponsored by UNC PPE)
• November 13: Jennifer Morton (CUNY), “The Ethical Costs of Upward Mobility” (cosponsored
by UNC PPE)
• February 4: Jason Smith (Aspen Center for Environmental Studies), “Changing Our
Food Perspectives: A New View of Eating and Farming”
• March 21: Jennifer Hawkins (Duke), “Artistic Achievement, Suffering, and Living a
Good Life”
Ethics Around the Table (E.A.T.)
This popular lunchtime lecture series, a little more informal than Parr Center Presents,
features a public presentation by a researcher or practitioner of their ethics-related
work, followed by discussion over lunch (provided). Total session length is 60 minutes.
We often feature UNC scholars from different departments and schools, or other
notable figures from the Triangle area, on this series, although we are also opportunistic
about booking speakers who are on campus for other reasons for a lunchtime talk.
Two events under this banner in 2018-19:
• March 7: Karolyn Tyson (UNC), “Trust in Times of Crisis and Change: Black Parents
and Trust in Schools in the Aftermath of Desegregation”
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