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Pursuing the best in ethics and values.

Our Mission

The Hoffberger Center for Ethical Engagement is dedicated to the pursuit of the best in ethics and values through a program that stimulates scholarship; addresses important topics in applied and professional ethics; encourages ethical engagement within the University, the surrounding Mid-Atlantic region, and beyond; promotes the integration and teaching of ethics across the curriculum; and provides an active forum for ethical reflection and critical inquiry.

Programming

The University of Baltimore

Ethical engagement is one of The University of Baltimore’s core values. The Center sponsors ethics-related scholarship and programs for faculty, students, staff and the community; supports faculty fellows and student fellows; leads the University of Baltimore collegiate Ethics Bowl team; and includes the A. in Philosophy, Law, and Ethics (PLE) program. PLE joins a select group of interdisciplinary programs in the United States with ethics as a core part of its design. Finally, the Center administers a distinctive upper-division University-wide ethics course that satisfies a general education requirement in ethics: IDIS 302 Ethical Issues in Business and Society. In 2021, the Center initiated a thorough revitalization of this course, sponsoring ongoing workshops, continuing education, honors sections, enhanced integration of Writing Fellows, and a revised curriculum to support a vital and dynamic educational experience for today’s students. The Hoffberger Center is a key partner for promoting ethical engagement at UBalt.

The Mid-Atlantic Region

For more than a decade and a half, the Hoffberger Center has sponsored the Mid-Atlantic Regional High School Ethics Bowl, which annually draws 10-20 high school teams from Baltimore and the surrounding region. In 2023, the Hoffberger Center celebrated the return of the Intercollegiate Northeast Regional Bowl to The University of Baltimore. After months-long preparation, each team joins a day-long conference that tests students’ abilities to think through ethical puzzles and intriguing case studies in ethics. The Center brings together a large team of moderators and judges (over forty volunteers from the University and region) to select a winning team whose members continue to a national championship conference. In 2023, this Ethics Bowl enrolled the largest number of teams in its history, supported by the generosity of a great number of volunteer judges and moderators. The Center has also sponsored a Leadership in Action series, featuring regional leaders who share their experiences and inspire dialogue in the community about leadership and ethics. The Center gathers a regional network of faculty researchers interested in ethics. In 2024, The Hoffberger Center will host a panel of regional experts and activists from the Disability Advocacy community for a discussion centered on the ethics of digital accessibility in the midst of rapid technological advancements.  

National and International

Frequent Author Meets Critics sessions at the Hoffberger Center bring together national and international scholars for debate and cross-disciplinary conversation that serve to connect local, national, and international authors. The Center also organizes international conferences and periodic colloquia in scholarship related to ethics and values. Center associates often present research at academic conferences, such as those hosted by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics and the American Philosophical Association.

About the Center

Founded in 1987 through a matching grant from the Hoffberger Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Hoffberger Center for Ethical Engagement is located in Baltimore, Maryland at The University of Baltimore, University System of Maryland. The Center has provided over thirty years of ethics-related programming.

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