Upcoming Levan Coffeehouse Conversations

• Past Levan Coffeehouse Conversations
• Are We Responsible for Government Gridlock?

  

  A majority of Americans today report dissatisfaction, even disgust, with Congress, largely because of its perceived inability to pass what all acknowledge to be needed legislation. Yet we are part of the electorate responsible for the composition of our dysfunctional Congress. If we elect representatives on their promise that they will not compromise on the issues we care about, and our opponents do as well, who is responsible for the ensuing paralysis of our government?

  Is it ethical to vote solely on the basis of our personal interests and our particular ethical or religious values—even as it threatens gridlock in a pluralistic society like ours? Or does morality require us to vote on the basis of our society’s common interest in functioning government in common matters, recognizing that others in our free society will disagree with our personal and particular values, and that ours may lose out?

  Wednesday, March 13, Noon

• MESSENGER OR MENACE: Can Media Still Act Responsibly?

  

  In the not-too-distant past, there was a fairly clear line separating journalists from mere consumers of media. With the recent proliferation of media outlets, magnified by the rise of consumer-generated and disseminated “news,” the distinction between reporter and consumer has been blurred, if not entirely obliterated. We are all members of the media. Should we embrace a perfectly free “marketplace of ideas” totally unconstrained by moral values of honesty, fairness and concern for the welfare of others? Or is an entirely new ethical standard needed?

  
  Wednesday, February 20, Noon

• My Body Made Me Do It!

  

  October 24, 2012

  Sadness is a medical condition. Addiction is a medical condition. Shyness is a medical condition. Lack of concentration, anxiety, fear, sleeplessness, hyperactivity- it's as if to lead a successful life, we must first get a medical diagnosis, locate causal factors in toxins and chemical imbalance. Rather than problems to be medicated, are these conditions simply personality features that can be improved by personal effort? What remains of personal responsibility?  

   

  Guest Panelists:

  Erin Quinn, Co-Director, Primary Care Community Medicine Program, USC Keck School of Medicine

  Michael Shapiro, Dorothy W. Nelson Professor of Law, USC Gould School of Law

  Joshua Crabill, Levan Graduate Ethics Fellow, Philosophy, USC Dornsife

  Sydney Thayer, Biomedical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, Bacc/MD program, USC Dornsife  
• Reimagine Citizenship

   

  September 26, 2012

  From facing down riot police to tweeting, our ways of protesting have evolved from the Vietnam era to the present. The sixties saw sit-ins and the burning of draft cards, in the eighties we had economic boycotts of apartheid-era South Africa, while the recent Arab Spring protesters took it to the street with Twitter and other social media. And then there's WikiLeaks, flash mobs and the Occupy movement. Voting seems almost passé. Are the demands of active citizenship changing? Or, in this post-Citizens United era, have all but superwealthy citizens become irrelevant to the political process?

  Guest Panelists:

  Niels W. Frenzen, Clinical Professor of Law, USC Gould School of Law

  Ralph Wedgewood, Professor of Philosophy, USC Dornsife

  Ron Osborne, Bannerman Fellow, Politics and International Relations, USC Dornsife

  Scott Lepisto, Ph.D. student, Classics, USC Dornsife

  Michel Martinez, Ph.D. student, Political Science, USC Dornsife 

   

  Read About the Coffeehouse Event Featured on the Front Page of USC's Daily Trojan:  

  Click Here

  
  
• HARD-WIRED: Do We Choose Our Politics Or Do Our Brains Choose Them For Us?

   

  April 11, 2012 

  Recent research in neuroscience suggests that political preferences reflect differences in the very structure of the brain. How does this affect our ability to defend our political affiliations on rational grounds?

   

  Guest Panelists:

  Jesse Graham, Assistant Professor of Psychology, USC Dornsife

   

  Dan Schnur, Director, Unruh Institute of Politics, USC Dornsife

   

  Wendy Wood, Provost Professor of Psychology and Business, USC Dornsife

   

  Vanessa Singh, Ph.D. Candidate, Brain and Creativity Institute, USC Dornsife

   

  Ben Rolnik, Inquisitive Undergrad, Interdisciplinary Studies and Biology, President of the USC Philosophy Club, USC Dornsife 

• MIRRORS AND WINDOWS: Understanding Oneself By Knowing Others

  February 8, 2012  

  Can we gain self-knowledge through the study of the lives of other people, historical or fictional? Panelists discuss how learning about the lives of others can affect one's sense of self.

  Guest Panelists:

  James Collins, Assistant Professor of Classics, USC Dornsife 

  Thomas Habinek, Professor and Chair, USC Dornsife

  Greg Thalmann, Professor of Classics and Comparitive Literature, USC Dornsife 

  Hilary Schor, Professor of English, Comparitive Literature, Gender Studies and Law, USC Dornsife

  Miruna Barnoschi, Inquisitive Undergrad, International Relations, Philosophy and Classics, USC Dornsife 

• THE AUTHENTIC SELF

  November 9, 2011

  Does our "self" depend in any meaningful way on our ancestral history? Could we reject that inheritance while preserving our identities? Is our identity at any given time nothing more than the result of our life experiences up to that point? Or is there an "essential" self that survives through all the changing causal influences that affect our desires, ambitions and roles in life?

  Guest Panelists:

  Ara Astourian, Graduate Student of Philosophy, USC Dornsife

  Ronald Garet, Carolyn Craig Franklin Professor of Law and Religion, USC Gould School of Law

  Rebecca Lemon, Associate Professor of English, USC Dornsife

  Ed McCann, Professor of Philosophy and English, USC Dornsife

• SELF-KNOWLEDGE: A Perilous Pursuit?

  September 21, 2011

  The quest for self-knowledge often involves concentrated attention on oneself. Could this inward focus actually prove counter-productive to developing the external interests, attachments and relationships that make our lives satisfying and worthwhile?

  What does it mean to know thyself?

  Guest Panelists:

  Scott Altman, Vice Dean and Virginia S. and Fred H. Bice Professor of Law, USC Gould School of Law

  John Dreher, Associate Professor of Philosophy, USC Dornsife

  Jesse Graham, Assistant Professor of Psychology, USC Dornsife

  Alida Liberman, Graduate Student of Philosophy, USC Dornsife

• TRUTH OR PREJUDICE: When Does a Professor's In-class Comments Cross the Line into Improper Advocacy?

  April 27, 2011

  (SEE LESSON PLAN)

  Should professors disclose their personal and professional opinions in class? What does it mean to expect professors to teach all views equally? Should they state which views they find most compelling?

  Does knowing the professor’s opinion make a student feel that she needs to agree with the professor to receive a better grade? What has been your experience as a student or professor? When do a professor's in-class comments cross the line into improper advocacy?

  Guest Moderator:

  Dallas Willard, Professor of Philosophy

  Guest Panelists:

  Karen Sternheimer, Sociology, Center for Excellence in Teaching, Faculty Fellow

  John Holland, Director of Writing Program, Dornsife College

  Alyssa Min, Inquisitive Undergraduate 

• ENGAGING GEN Y: How Do We Engage Iran and North Korea for a More Productive Dialogue and Ethical Foreign Policy?

  March 30, 2011

  (SEE LESSON PLAN)

  Historical conflict and more recent nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea have fueled long-standing moral and political concerns in the US about these two adversarial nations. 

  As the boom of Generation Yers -- those born in the 1980s and after -- begin to act in international politics, what can we expect and/or hope to see? 

  Most Yers around the globe are facing increased inter-connectivity with the web, migration, and communication systems, while at the same time facing increased stakes for global resources, increased arms build-ups, and fall outs from years of conflict. Will old conflicts and ideologies continue to dominate international dialogue or can we expect something different?

  Guest Panelists:

  Hannah Garry, Director of International Human Rights Clinic, Gould School of Law

  Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich, Iranian-American researcher, writer and political commentator

  Victoria Gu, Executive Director, International Student Assembly, USC Undergraduate Student Government and Program Board (double-major in Communication and Political Science)

  Heba Abdelgader, Director of Alumni Relations, International Relations Undergraduate Association (International Relations Global Business major) 

• SECRETS IN CYBERSPACE: When Is It Ethical to Keep and Reveal Secrets on the Internet?

  February 23, 2011

  (SEE LESSON PLAN)

  In September, Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge after being outed by his roommate on Twitter and Facebook.  A couple of months later the release of hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. government documents by WikiLeaks led to both death threats and worldwide praise for founder Julian Assange.  As new leak-sharing organizations modeled after WikiLeaks appear, the issues of exposure, censorship and safety in cyberspace have come to the forefront of our public discussion.

  
  While truth is a worthy ideal, clearly some things are better kept secret. It may be easy to label lies as unethical, but what about revealing the truth? What might put others in danger and how do you decide?
  When is it ethical to reveal secrets on the Internet?

  Guest Panelists:

  Nicholas J. Cull, Professor of Public Diplomacy and Director of the Master’s Program in Public Diplomacy 

  Douglas Thomas, Associate Professor, Annenberg School for Communication and author of “Hacker Culture”

  Douglas Becker, Assistant Professor (Teaching) of International Relations and President of International Studies Association- West

  Ravi Iyer, Inquisitive Graduate Student, Social Psychology and Founder of YourMorals.org 
  

• ROBOTS AND ALIENS: When the Time Comes, Should Human Rights Apply?

  November 17, 2010

  (SEE LESSON PLAN)

  As robotic and Artificial Intelligence technologies that aim to imitate human beings continue to improve, we face the possibility that our creations may someday claim for themselves some of the rights and protections we take to be universal to man. Less likely, but also possible, is that if contact with aliens is made, they could also make this demand of us.

  What, if anything, would justify giving moral rights and protections to robots and extraterrestrials?

  Guest Moderator:

  Richard Fliegel, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs in USC College

  Guest Panelists:

  Paul Rosenbloom, Ph.D., Viterbi School of Engineering

  Andre Bormanis, Screenwriter/ Star Trek scientific advisor

  Michael H. Shapiro, J.D., USC Gould School of Law

  Katharine Marder, Inquisitive Undergraduate 

• THE NEIGHBOR WITHIN: What Should We Do About America's Illegal/Undocumented Immigrants?

  October 20, 2010

  (SEE LESSON PLAN)

  Calls for immigration reform are coming from across the political spectrum. The one thing almost everyone seems to agree on is that the current situation is unsustainable. Immigrants who circumvented the legal immigration process in order to find a better life in the United States are accused of being a burden on social services, increasing unemployment and crime, and undermining the rule of law. Meanwhile, their undocumented status makes them subject to exploitation and forces them to live with the persistent fear that their families could suddenly be torn apart. 
  What should our “nation of immigrants” do about our 11 million uninvited neighbors within?

   Guest Panelists:

  Lanhee Chen, Ph.D., J.D., formerly a senior official in the Bush administration, strategist for Mitt Romney presidential campaign, and Deputy Campaign Manager for Steve Poizner’s gubernatorial campaign

  Sonia Narario, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother (2007)

  Jody Agius Vallejo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Sociology (USC College), specialist in immigration, immigrant integration, race/ethnicity and the Mexican-origin population

  Jay Juster, Philosophy major, Critical Approaches to Leadership minor and Inquisitive Undergrad

• WAR OF WORDS: Where Do We Draw the Line Between Free Speech and Hate Speech?

  September 22, 2010

  (SEE LESSON PLAN)

  Winning the fight for justice requires that you change the minds of those who disagree with you — or at least of the undecided. When the debate is passionate and increasingly divisive — Muslim mosques, gay marriage, abortion — what are the proper rules of engagement? How can you be true to yourself and your most strongly held beliefs, while respecting those who vehemently disagree with you? Where legal lines may provide protection, they may not promote conversation or meaningful dialogue. Beyond drawing a bright legal line between free speech and hate speech, are there other ethical limits to how you can publicly express your opinion?

  Where do we draw the line between speaking our mind and expressing hate?

  Guest Panelists:

  Varun Soni, J.D., USC Dean of Religious Life

  Cynthia A. Merrill, Ph.D., J.D., Attorney, O’Melveny & Myers LLP

  Robert Link, J.D., Chair of Communications Committee, ACLU of SC, Pasadena Chapter

  Mir Amaan Ali, Internal Vice President, USC Muslim Student Union and Inquisitive Undergrad

• PAST AND DISTANT PEOPLE: What Are Our Obligations to the Dead?

  April 30, 2010

  (SEE LESSON PLAN)

  "Dead men tell no tales," so why should it matter how we treat them? What's wrong with partying on their graves, violating the terms of their wills, or speaking ill of them? What could be the basis of any moral obligations in the treatment of those no longer living among us?

  Guest Panelists:

  Lynn Swartz Dodd, Lecturer, Religion, USC Dornsife; Curator, USC Archaeology Research Center; Director, Tell al-Judiadah Publication Project; Co-Director, Kenan Tepe Excavations (Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project), Research Associate, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA

  Dallas Willard, Professor of Philosophy, USC Dornsife

   Ben Rolnik, Inquisitive Undergraduate, Philosophy 

• PARENTING OUR PARENTS: How Should We Manage the Care of our Parents as They Get Older?

  March 26, 2010

  (SEE LESSON PLAN)

  We all know that parents have to take care of their children. But does there come a time when we have to start taking care of our parents? What if it costs us serious time and serious money? What if they fight us and tell us to go away and leave them alone? Should we respect their autonomy as we watch them deteriorate, or should we force them to do what we think best for them? How should we parent our parents?

  Guest Panelists:

  Shawn Herz, M.S.G. L.M.F.T. Marriage, Family and Child Therapist, Director of Program Development for the Los Angeles Caregiver Resource Center

  Merril Silverstein, Ph.D., Professor of Gerontology and Sociology, USC Dornsife

  Jack Peace, Inquisitive Undergrad, Pre-Med

• XXTREME MINORS: When Should We Allow Minors to Put Themselves in Dangerous Situations?

  February 26, 2010
  (SEE LESSON PLAN)

  Our society often complains that teenagers waste their time with idle senseless distractions. We like to see teenagers push themselves, strive to achieve great things, and take risks. And we turn those who are the youngest ever to accomplish anything of significance into celebrities. But taking risks can mean putting oneself in dangerous situations – particularly in extreme sports and natural expeditions. How dangerous is too dangerous? What principles should guide us when determining when should we allow minors to put themselves in dangerous situations?

  Guest Panelists:

  Sharon Lloyd, Professor of Philosophy, Law and Political Science, USC College

  Donna Spuijt-Metz, Keck School of Medicine

  Jillian Schlesinger, Independent filmmaker and television writer-producer

  Laura Small, Inquisitive Student, Anthropology and Whitewater Rafting Guide

• NOT OKAY TO PAY THIS WAY?

  November 20, 2009

  (SEE LESSON PLAN)

  For those who find themselves at the top of the corporate executive ladder it’s become both accepted and expected to receive a salary based on very favorable terms that can bear little resemblance to those offered other employees. While this is perfectly legal, is it moral? Must executive compensation depend on the standard metrics of performance, merit, or contribution? Is there anything wrong with paying an executive a salary that dwarves that of those at the bottom of the corporate latter? And what about payment incentive structures that lead to risky behavior that could lead (as it has in the past) to economic disaster? When is it not okay to pay in a particular way?

  Guest Panelists:

  Ed Lawler, USC Marshall School of Business

  Nina Walton, USC Gould School of Law

  Victoria Chernova, Inquisitive Student, Business and International Relations

• THE ETHICS OF EATING: Is it Possible to Eat With a Clear Conscience?

  October 30, 2009

  (SEE LESSON PLAN)

  We live in a world today where our food choices are almost limitless. So much so, that there is a television network devoted entirely to food. But as our food-options multiply, so do the methods of killing, raising, transporting, preparing, and engineering food for our consumption. How can we indulge in the vast array of food options open to us but still ensure that our choices are morally responsible ones? What we choose to eat may help perpetuate the cruel or unjust treatment of animals, utilize resources that have a profound impact on others around the world, and negatively impact the environment in a myriad of ways. Is it possible to eat with a clear conscience?

  Guest Panelists:

  Edwin McCann, Professor of Philosopy

  John Strauss, Professor of Economics

  Kory DeClark, Inquisitive Graduate Student, Philosophy, USC Dornsife 

• LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HEALTHINESS

  September 25, 2009

  (SEE LESSON PLAN)

  It may be legal in the United States for medical insurance companies to deny healthcare coverage in certain situations, but is it ethical? Is access to healthcare coverage a basic human right? And if we expect our employers and/or our government to provide coverage, do we have a responsibility to take care of our own bodies and keep them as healthy as possible? How much of the burden is ours and how much can we justifiably place on others? At the end of the day, do we have a moral right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of healthiness?

  Guest Panelists:

  Alexander Capron, Professor of Law and Medicine, Scott H. Bice Chair in Healthcare Law, Policy, and Ethics, USC Gould School of Law

  Pamela B. Schaff, M.D., Assistant Dean for Curriculum; Director of the Program in Medical Humanities, Arts and Ethics; Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Family Medicine, USC Keck School of Medicine

  Stephen Finlay, Associate Professor of Philosophy, USC College

  Jennifer auf der Springe, Inquisitive Student, Health and Humanities major, USC Dornsife 

• FUTURE AND DISTANT PEOPLE

  April 24, 2009

  (SEE LESSON PLAN)

  Are you obligated to consider future generations of human beings? Are you responsible to people you've never met on the other side of the globe? It is so easy now to harm people without knowing we are doing it. What you eat, what you buy, what you drive profoundly affects the life prospects of other people. How do we behave ethically in such an interconnected world?

  Guest Panelists:

  Gary Watson, Provost Professor of Philosophy and Law, USC College

  Carl F. Cranor, Professor of Philosophy, UC Riverside

  Francesco Denakar, Inquisitive Undergraduate and senior majoring in Biomedical Engineering

• GOOGLE HUMAN RIGHTS

  March 27, 2009

  (SEE LESSON PLAN)

  When you Google for information, are you supporting Chinese political censorship? Do global information gatekeepers like Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google have a responsibility to protect and promote human rights overseas? Aren't they businesses after all? And if you want them to stop blocking democracy sites for the Chinese government, what can you do—boycott? Come on, how could we live without Google? Does morality require that much of us?

  Guest Panelists:

  Steve Lamy, Vice Dean of USC College, Professor of International Relations

  Scott Voelz, Attorney at Law, O’Melveny & Myers, LLPlp (Partner)

  Chelsea Mason, Co-Managing Editor of US-China Today, Business Ethics Representatives, USC Marshall School of Business 

• SELLING BODY ORGANS

  February 27, 2009

  (SEE LESSON PLAN)

  Desperately need some money? Sell yourself. Blood, sperm, eggs: Why not a kidney? It's yours after all! Shouldn't you have the right to sell your organs? In the US alone, more than 77,000 people are on the waiting list for kidney transplants. Many of them will die because the organ they need is not available. Shouldn't they have the right to purchase these organs from those willing to part with them for monetary compensation? Or is there something fundamentally immoral about treating our body parts as a commodities to be bought and sold? Would a market in body organs result in the unfair exploitation of poor people who have little else to sell? Or could we devise an international legal system that precludes exploitation?

  Guest Moderator:

  Dallas Willard, Professor of Philosophy, USC College

  Guest Panelists:

  Michael Shapiro, Dorothy W. Nelson Professor of Law, USC Law School

  Sharon Lloyd, Professor of Philosophy, Law and Political Science, USC College

  Christina Yen, Health and Humanities major, Pre-Med, USC College