Student Leaders to Promote Integrity at Sept. 20 'courageous conversation' with Freshmen

Samford's Academic Integrity Advocates, a team of student leaders, will lead a Sept. 20 convocation for entering freshmen.  The program continues the Mann Center's ongoing Courageous Conversations series where students lead their peers in discussing the difficult ethical challenges of daily life.  

The September event is one component of the center's campus-wide initiative to promote academic integrity and reduce cheating.  The Academic Integrity Advocates will also speak to students in many Freshman Foundations courses.  In an effort to promote awareness of the issue at Samford, the center is also conducting research among faculty and students, meeting with faculty groups across disciplines, providing resources to Communication Arts and Foundations instructors, producing video vignettes with discussion guides, and providing online resources via the center's website. 

Academic dishonesty, made easier by today's communication technology, is an international epidemic affecting nearly all schools, colleges and universities.

2012 Election: Christian Ethicist Mark Douglas to Discuss the Role of Faith in American Politics

Mann Center programs during this fall's election season will address timely issues in politics.  The first will be on Thursday, October 11, as Mark Douglas speaks on "Faith and Politics: Do We Need Religion in the Public Square?" 

Mark Douglas

An Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA, Dr. Douglas is author of the new book, Believing Aloud: Reflections on Being Religious in the Public Square, and is founding editor of the seminary's online journal @ this point: theological reflections on church and culture.  The program, co-sponsored by Columbia Seminary, will be held at 6 p.m. in the Cumberland School of Law's Moot Courtroom following a 5 p.m. reception in the Robinson Hall Great Room.
More information is available online.

Service Practicum in South Africa Produces Curriculum for Micro-Enterprise Academy

Samford team leader Mallory James (left) with
an Agri-Academy student in a greenhouse

The Mann Center conducted a three-week service practicum in South Africa in July, with a team of Samford students researching and writing curriculum for a micro-enterprise program that serves people in townships in the Western Cape. The project, undertaken in collaboration with Samford's Office of Student Leadership and Community Engagement, produced more than 30 detailed lesson plans for courses on starting and managing a small agri-business.



The Mann Center annually works with Living Way, an economic empowerment organization based in Cape Town. The Agri-Academy is a year-long program that teaches people how to farm (through farming greenhouses on Living Way's campus). The practicum is designed to develop students' knowledge and competencies to act as agents of change in addressing social needs.

"I have seen how crucial this has been to my own personal development," said Mallory James, the student team leader and a social entrepreneurship major. "While internships are great and necessary, this experience equips students with so much more. Sometimes I feel like students see a huge disconnect between work and serving God, and the Mann Center's projects have taught me how to bridge that gap."

Nursing Students to Explore Professional Ethics by Participating in 'Better World Theater'

Students in Samford's Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing will learn about ethics this fall by performing and discussing dramatic productions illustrating real-life challenges in professional nursing practice.  The group projects will be part of academic courses using the Mann Center's Better World Theater instructional method. 

A collaborative venture with the university's Department of Theatre and Dance, the project immerses non-theater majors in all facets of planning, producing and performing short plays.  Each performance is designed to set up a student-led discussion of ethics with an audience of peers and faculty.

Reflecting the concluding words of Samford's vision statement - "The world will be better for it" - the initiative develops ethical awareness and competencies in leading peer-to-peer dialog. Last year's productions involved students and audiences in the Brock School of Business.

Samford Commemorates 50th Anniversary of Birmingham's 1962-63 Civil Rights Struggle

The Year of Birmingham: Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement is a year-long series of programs sponsored by Samford University and the Birmingham Public Library to commemorate the climactic events of 1962-63.  The Mann Center will organize a number of these activities in collaboration with other departments at the university.  The following are some of the programs now planned:



Taylor Branch

Oct. 17, 2012 - Taylor Branch, bestselling author of the landmark trilogy America in The King Years, will deliver the annual Roderick J. Davis Lecture.

Feb. 5, 2013 - "Ethnic Notions"; film screening and discussion of racial stereotypes.

Feb. 19, 2013 - "King: Montgomery to Memphis"; film screening and discussion.

March 5, 2013 - "Who Speaks for Birmingham?"; screening of the 1961 CBS News special report by Howard K. Smith, followed by a discussion with U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon, Samford History Professor Tennant McWilliams, and Freedom Rider Jean Thompson.

May 1, 2013 - "Crisis," a screening of the 1963 documentary about Alabama Gov. George Wallace's "stand in the schoolhouse door"; discussion forum to follow.

In addition, the Mann Center is planning Courageous Conversations and other opportunities to consider how Birmingham's past experience with the civil rights struggle continues to define and exacerbate the community's social, economic and political problems.

Other Recent Projects and Programs

Medical ethicist John Lantos is featured in the latest episode of the center's video series, Conversations on Ethics and Leadership.  Dr. Lantos, Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Pediatric Bioethics at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, discusses moral distress and the role of hospital ethics committees.  He spoke at Samford's 2012 Health Ethics and Law (HEAL) conference.

Mann Center Director John Knapp was co-convenor of an international retreat of scholars in July.  Conducted in conjunction with the Caux Round Table's Global Dialog on the world economic crisis, the event was held at Mountain House near Montreaux, Switzerland, and included delegates from countries including France, Japan, the United Kingdom, Sudan, Malaysia, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Australia, and the United States, among others.

Dr. Knapp recently provided programs on ethics for organizations including Alagasco/Energen, Double Oak Church (Chelsea, AL), Center for Christian Business Ethics Today (Philadelphbia, PA), and the Huntsville (AL) Rotary Club.

Program Series on Immigration in Alabama to Include Seminar, Film, Debate and other Activities

This week Samford University kicks off a semester-long series of programs addressing immigration in Alabama, an issue that has brought national attention to the state since the passage of the controversial immigration law, HB 56.  The Mann Center and others at Samford have led dialogues on this issue for the last two years, and this spring's events will continue this examination of both the moral and the public policy dimensions of the debate.

On Feb. 10 the Birmingham Area Consortium for Higher Education (BACHE) will sponsor an immigration forum at Samford.  Other events include a Feb. 20 film screening of "Gospel Without Borders," sponsored by Samford University Ministries' Reel Justice project; a Feb. 23 G92 South Immigration Conference; an April 3 student forum, "The Politics of Immigration: Making Decisions in an Age of Shouting," sponsored by the College Democrats and College Republicans; and an April 24 public debate on HB 56, sponsored by the Samford University Debate Team.

The semester’s activities will conclude with a Courageous Conversation on immigration, part of the Mann Center’s ongoing series designed to promote moral discourse by students on difficult issues.  Details on all of these events are available online.

Author of 'Faith in the Halls of Power' to Lead Two Programs on Christianity in Public Life

Sociologist and author Michael Lindsay will visit Samford Feb. 15 and 16 to present the A. Gerow Hodges Lecture in Ethics and Leadership and to lead an evening discussion forum. Dr. Lindsay, who serves as president of Gordon College in Wenham, Mass., has conducted extensive research on leadership and the influence of evangelicals in business, government, and other public arenas. Much of this research is reflected in his Pulitzer-nominated book, Faith in the Halls of Power.

On Wednesday evening, Feb. 15, Dr. Lindsay will join Mann Center Director John Knapp in a public forum on the topic, "Should Christians Seek Power?" The program at 6:00 p.m. in Samford’s Bolding Studio will be followed by a reception and book signing.  The following day, Dr. Lindsay will present the Hodges Lecture, "Does God Care How I Vote?," to students during 10:00 a.m. convocation. More information on these events is available online.

Samford Spring Conferences Address Critical Ethical Issues in Health-Care Practice

A March 9 symposium, "Palliative Care: In Search of the Good Death," will address critical questions related to health care reform and patient autonomy.  Cosponsored by the Mann Center and Cumberland School of Law's Center for Biotechnology, Law and Ethics, it will be open to the public.  Panelists include Professor Kathy Cerminara, Nova Southeastern University; Dr. H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., Rice University; Dr. Elizabeth Kvale, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Dr. Ryan Nash, University of Alabama at Birmingham; and Professor Leonard (Jack) Nelson, Cumberland School of Law. Professor David Smolin, director of the Center for Biotechnology, Law and Ethics, will moderate.  More information is available online.

On April 13, Samford’s Healthcare Ethics & Law (HEAL) Institute will host the conference, "Moral Distress at the Bedside: A Role for Hospital Ethics Committees?," featuring speakers Dr. David Brushwood, University of Florida; Dr. John Lantos, University of Missouri Kansas City; Professor Leonard (Jack) Nelson, Cumberland School of Law; and Dr. Joy Hinson Penticuff, Concordia University.  Registration information and more details are available online.