Reflections on Raleigh
LANGURE senior fellows Alan Beck and A. G. Rud bang the big drum
It has been about two weeks since I attended the LANGURE seminar in Raleigh. Some thoughts.
- I was impressed by how participants saw research ethics as encompassing larger issues of institutional and societal context. Certainly bread-and-butter research ethics topics such as plagiarism and human subjects are vital, but we need to keep in mind the context in which we do our research.
- I am still unclear, but maybe it is just me, on how a land grant institution's focus on research ethics is different from other types of institutions. Clearly at the meeting discussion of ethics in agriculture, veterinary sciences, and so forth is tied to land grant institutions (though not exclusively of course). Would others venture some ideas on how we can sharpen the identity of land grant research ethics?
- Somewhat to that end, the module of which I was part was on extension and expert advice. From an initial example of Florida citrus canker, we broadened the scope to include larger contextual issues.
posted by A. G. Rud @ 2:14 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I see what Alan is getting ready to do, but, um, AG, the big drum is thataway.
I am getting ready to whack Alan!
Gary asked for an evaluation of the Friday afternoon sessions.
Session 1: I attended the “Extension and Expert Advice” session, as I am part of that team. We had a number of visitors, mostly NCSU graduate students, who helped us conceptualize our module. We talked mostly about how the module started with a very specific case for extension in quarantine, namely citrus canker in Florida, and due to the presence of participants other than plant pathologists, developed into a broader discussion of the role of the extension agent, the responsibility of the community and the university, and other issues. So in addition to the draft done by Brooke and Gerald, we have added questions that broaden the discussion, and would make the module more valuable to many different types of people. We also thought that it would be good for people to suggest location specific quarantine issues, such as those for Hawaii, Wisconsin, and so forth. Though we did not have a formal presentation, I believe the module is going to be ready very soon for a web designer to put it up on the site. It just needs some additional questions to be added by Gerald or Brooke from our discussions.
Session 2: I must admit, I am confused. I thought I was attending the “Use of animals in food and fiber” session with Alan Beck, but it was presented by Rob Streiffer, and it was mostly on ethical theory of animal use! In any case, this was a well developed PPT that Rob presented. I know that the food and fiber folks changed the name of their module, but I am not sure what it is now! I know that the two Garys were there, perhaps they can fill in more on what was done. It seemed like an amalgam of ethical theory and more specific animal use discussions. In any case, it was well-organized, and dealt with Singer, Regan, and some other theorists, largely dealing with the pro and anti animal use in research issues.
AG Rud, posted by Gary with AG's permission.
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