Programs
It is The Center's position that we live more fulfilling lives when we are motivated to make positive contributions to society. There are many technological advances, crises in world economies, and environmental changes that are motivating many to act today. Programs at The Center are designed to help each of us redirect our creative energies into enlightened actions that not only renew our personal motivations, but sustain our communities and societies as well.
Program Overview
Upcoming Programs
Think. Apply. Impact: Ethics as Optimization
Ethics can mean not just moral constraints but also positive platforms and avenues for doing good. This seminar will focus on developing an ethical framework in the realms of research, innovation, and invention. Through discussion and debate, and with occasional guests, we’ll reflect on the ways science and technology impact society at large, and how we can and should participate in that impact. We’ll discuss whether working and living on an ethical trajectory contributes to a sense of meaningfulness and happiness. Our weekly meetings will be augmented by readings, films, and role-play and negotiation exercises. Perhaps we will even resolve some of the ethical issues that directly affect our work and our lives.
The Ethics Initiative
Focusing on the long-term and global effects of ethical choices and sustainable practices, the Ethics Initiative will use dialogue and collaboration between students, faculty, and leading researchers to catalyze ethical thinking in relationship to technology, bio-medical and scientific research, energy and public policy, economics, and the environment. The semester-long program begins in fall 2009, for both undergraduate and graduate students with plenary sessions open to the public.
Transformative Leadership Programs:
Becoming an Extraordinary Leader: Transforming yourself to transform others.
In conjunction with the MIT Sloan School of Management, the Center offers a three-day workshop introducing transformative leadership practices to MBA students, in October 2009, and repeating in January and March 2010. The workshop uses negotiation exercises and contemplative techniques to focus on social/emotional aspects of leadership, the development of personal leadership signatures, and meaningful purpose and happiness as measures of professional success.
The Enlightened Leadership Conference
A five-day conference/workshop focuses on principled leadership, sustainability and innovation, transformative social impacts of business institutions, self-awareness in organizations, and personal leadership signatures. It includes negotiation exercises and training in contemplative techniques to self-monitor emotions, decision-making processes, and engagement with others. This conference currently scheduled for the summer of 2010 is targeted towards:
- Business and corporate leaders
- MBA students
- MBA and Management Faculty, as a “peer reflection and review” program
Ethics and Heroism
Beginning in Fall 2010, the Center offers a freshman seminar course on transformative leadership, integrating negotiation exercises and contemplative techniques with a study of the values and methods of notable heroes, leaders, and role models for personal integrity, including Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King Jr.
“The Human Impact” Conference
The Center plans to host its second public conference addressing some of the most challenging issues that face humanity today: conservation of the biosphere, conflict resolution, and meaning-making. The weekend-long event includes lectures, public workshops, and multimedia installations designed for wider community involvement.
