Center for Ethics Events

Join students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members as we read through Pope Leo IV’s first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas. 

There will be four reading groups:

• Wednesdays (10/14, 10/28, and 11/11), 12:30-1:20pm, In-person (Saint Anselm College)
• Tuesdays (10/13, 10/27, and 11/10), 4-5pm, In-person (Saint Anselm College)
• Mondays (10/12, 10/26, 11/9), 7-8pm, Zoom
• Wednesdays (10/14, 10/28, and 11/11), 7-8pm, Zoom

Join students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members as we read through Pope Leo IV’s first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas. 

There will be four reading groups:

• Wednesdays (10/14, 10/28, and 11/11), 12:30-1:20pm, In-person (Saint Anselm College)
• Tuesdays (10/13, 10/27, and 11/10), 4-5pm, In-person (Saint Anselm College)
• Mondays (10/12, 10/26, 11/9), 7-8pm, Zoom
• Wednesdays (10/14, 10/28, and 11/11), 7-8pm, Zoom

Register here (in-person and livestream options) →

Does the United States have a moral obligation to help people around the world when so many challenges remain at home? Is foreign aid an expression of American values, a strategic investment, or an ineffective use of taxpayer dollars? In today's political climate, foreign aid has become one of the most debated aspects of U.S. foreign policy—but much of that debate is shaped by misconceptions about how aid is funded, where it goes, and the oversight that governs it. At the same time, history shows that not every aid program has achieved its intended goals, raising important questions about how the United States can provide assistance more effectively while balancing the needs of Americans at home.

Join the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire and the Center for Ethics in Society on November 10 for a moderated Q&A featuring retired Ambassador Mark Storella. Through this moderated Q&A, this global community will grapple with the challenging questions surrounding the ethics, effectiveness, and future of U.S. foreign aid, with the goal of fostering a deeper understanding of the realities of this field.

• Some questions that this community conversation will focus on include:
• Whose interests are served in providing aid?
• Does aid create dependency?
• Is it ethical to cut aid abruptly and what are the consequences if you do?
• Is it ethical to support some crises and not others?
• How does one balance the ethics of humanitarian aid and the moral question of the means it might take to deliver that aid?

We invite anyone interested in this conversation to participate in this fascinating community conversation. This event is free and open to the public, but space is limited. Advanced registration is highly recommended. A pre-event reception will be held to welcome the community together (5:30 p.m. - 6 p.m.)
 

About the Speaker:

Ambassador Mark Storella is professor of the practice of diplomacy at Boston University the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. Ambassador Storella was a United States Foreign Service Officer for over three decades serving as Ambassador to Zambia, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, and Dean of the Leadership and Management School of the Foreign Service Institute. Other postings include as Deputy Chief of Mission in Brussels, at the U.S. Mission to the UN in Geneva and in Phnom Penh.

Ambassador Storella is a recipient of the Presidential Rank Award, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Excellence in Service Award, the Thomas Jefferson Award presented by American Citizens Abroad, and several Department of State superior and meritorious honor awards.

He was Senior Department of State Fellow and Dean and Virginia Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service where he taught graduate and undergraduate courses. His areas of expertise include humanitarian crises, health diplomacy, multilateral diplomacy, as well as diplomatic negotiation and theory.

Register here (in-person and livestream options) →

Join students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members as we read through Pope Leo IV’s first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas. 

There will be four reading groups:

• Wednesdays (10/14, 10/28, and 11/11), 12:30-1:20pm, In-person (Saint Anselm College)
• Tuesdays (10/13, 10/27, and 11/10), 4-5pm, In-person (Saint Anselm College)
• Mondays (10/12, 10/26, 11/9), 7-8pm, Zoom
• Wednesdays (10/14, 10/28, and 11/11), 7-8pm, Zoom

We invite you to apply to the upcoming Learning Liberty Colloquium on Civil Disobedience, hosted by the Center for Ethics in Society and facilitated by Tom Larson (Philosophy) and Erik Cleven (Politics). This colloquium will feature meaningful discussions about the role civil disobedience and protest should play in society, as articulated in two essays from Hannah Arendt and Henry David Thoreau.

Students will read 75-100 pages in preparation for this colloquium and will receive a $150 stipend for their participation. Food and a copy of "On Civil Disobedience" will be provided.

Dates:

- Friday, November 13th, 6-9pm

- Saturday, November 14th, 9am-1:30pm

Apply today (deadline midnight on November 1st): https://forms.gle/8X6Lu4G8mQWj9dVp6

We invite you to apply to the upcoming Learning Liberty Colloquium on Civil Disobedience, hosted by the Center for Ethics in Society and facilitated by Tom Larson (Philosophy) and Erik Cleven (Politics). This colloquium will feature meaningful discussions about the role civil disobedience and protest should play in society, as articulated in two essays from Hannah Arendt and Henry David Thoreau.

Students will read 75-100 pages in preparation for this colloquium and will receive a $150 stipend for their participation. Food and a copy of "On Civil Disobedience" will be provided.

Dates:

- Friday, November 13th, 6-9pm

- Saturday, November 14th, 9am-1:30pm

Apply today (deadline midnight on November 1st): https://forms.gle/8X6Lu4G8mQWj9dVp6

What happens to self-governance when we forget how to be neighbors? In a country marked by loneliness and political division, and in a culture that emphasizes individuality and avoiding discomfort, what does it mean to live with the people around us—not because we chose them, but because we share a time and place? And what might it take to recover the habits of neighborliness that allow free people to live together, and perhaps even flourish together?

Join the S1 Project, the Center for Ethics in Society, New Hampshire Humanities, and the Ethics Forum at Souhegan High School on Wednesday, November 18, for Are We Forgetting How to Be Neighbors? an intergenerational conference of high school students and adults learning and practicing civic character.

Through guided conversations based on readings, visual art, and short presentations, participants will consider the habits and dispositions that make a common life possible—or impossible: the walls we build, the people we exclude, our capacity to turn away, and small acts of attention and obligation that keep us connected.

The conference will ask: What if hope is something we practice together? The day will move from conversation to action: participants will identify how they want to practice neighborliness, choose a concrete act, and commit to take that first step. The goal is not simply to have rich conversation about what sharing a life in common requires of us, but to leave ready to create it.

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Lunch is included. Register today: https://s1project.org/calendar/the-big-conference/

2026 Housing We Need Forum: A New Generation of Starter Homes for NH

Friday, December 11, 2026 | 9 AM–2 PM

New Hampshire Institute of Politics, Saint Anselm College

Join housing practitioners, policymakers, community leaders, SAC students and faculty for the 9th Annual Housing We Need Forum, hosted by Saint Anselm College’s Initiative for Housing Policy and Practice and the Center for Ethics in Society.

This year’s forum will explore innovative development approaches, policy reforms, and practical strategies to expand starter home production and affordable homeownership opportunities in New Hampshire. The program will feature Jeffrey Lubell, Senior Fellow at the Urban Land Institute’s Terwilliger Center for Housing.

Please join the Center for Ethics as we welcome Michael O'Loughlin '07 for a discussion on Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica humanitas and what it means to be human in the age of artificial intelligence.

     Register to attend in-person →

     Register to attend virtually →
 

Meet the Speaker: 

Michael J. O’Loughlin '07 is the CEO and executive editor of the National Catholic Reporter, and the author of “Hidden Mercy: Catholics, AIDS, and Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear,” which is based on the podcast series, “Plague: Untold Stories of AIDS and the Catholic Church.” He is also the author of The Tweetable Pope: A Spiritual Revolution in 140 Characters.

In 2023, Mike was a nominee for the GLAAD Media Awards for his reporting on HIV and AIDS. He has won awards from the Catholic Media Association, the National LGBT Journalists Association, and the Religion News Association.

Before joining NCR in 2026, Mike was the executive director of Outreach, the LGBTQ Catholic organization founded by Father James Martin, S.J.; national correspondent for America: The Jesuit Review; and a former staff writer for The Boston Globe and its Catholic site Crux. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy and the Advocate. He has been interviewed by a number of media outlets, including NPR, The BBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, and MSNBC. He frequently gives talks on a range of Catholic issues.

He previously served on the board of the Ignatian Spirituality Project.

He lives in Boston.

Despite having held the governorship and other prominent State House positions, New Hampshire women continue to face significant barriers to representation and influence across the state’s legislative, corporate, and municipal leadership structures.

This half-day workshop led by Makiyah Moody (Kairos and Heart Consulting) invites women leaders across generations, racial identities, sectors, and professional experiences to examine how power operates within their organizations and communities—and what ethical leadership requires of those who hold positions of influence. Through facilitated dialogue, mini lectures, individual reflection, and an intergenerational panel, participants will examine how power is exercised, how exclusion can be reproduced, and how leaders can widen access for women who follow them.

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

* Distinguish visibility and representation from meaningful decision-making power.

* Apply fiduciary, strategic, and generative lenses to leadership challenges.

* Identify formal and informal structures that shape access to influence.

* Reflect on how their own leadership practices may reinforce or disrupt barriers.

Apply Today

Meet the Speaker:

Makiyah Moody, Founder & President, helps organizations ask and answer critical questions about how to deliver their missions more effectively. A skilled facilitator and governance specialist, Makiyah launched Kairos & Heart LLC in August 2021 after realizing that being and doing are different and she wanted to explore different design choices for partnering with organizational leaders.

For five and a half years, Makiyah sharpened her consulting skills at La Piana Consulting, a national management consulting firm where she also led business development for three years. Prior to joining La Piana in 2016, she directed governance initiatives for the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, founded the New Orleans regional office of Leading Educators and held various roles over six years with the KIPP Foundation. She is a Pahara Fellow, an Executive Scholar with the Center for Nonprofit Management at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and a BoardSource Certified Governance Consultant.

Prior to graduate school, Makiyah was a Civil Rights Investigator with the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, an experience that vividly confirmed the disparate impact of structural racism. She is most energized by the opportunity to work with organizations that support underinvested communities and people of color, and that advance democracy and racial equity. Past clients include State Innovation Exchange, Outward Bound USA, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, YWCA USA, Children’s Defense Fund, NH Women’s Foundation, and The Endowment for Health.

Makiyah has an MA in Humanities from the University of Chicago, a BA in Hispanic Studies, magna cum laude, from Wheaton College in Massachusetts, and is currently pursuing her MA in Theology and Ministry at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary with a focus on racial justice. From 2014 to 2019 she served as a trustee at Wheaton College.