Academics
Holzman Center of Applied Ethics

Next week at the Holzman Center: A special evening with The New York Times’ ‘Ethicist’

The Holzman Center of Applied Ethics welcomes The New York Times’ “The Ethicist” columnist, Kwame Anthony Appiah, for an evening discussion open to parents, alumni, grandparents and other members of the RE community at 7 p.m., February 16, at the Posner Lecture Hall in the Fernandez STEM Center. A New York University philosophy and law professor, Appiah will address the topic of "A Liberal Education and an Ethical Life," examining the connection between inquiry-based learning in a liberal arts curriculum and the practice of ethical living and leadership.
During an upper school assembly that morning, Appiah will talk to RE students about "Ethics: In Theory and In Practice.” The address will consider the practical challenges of moving from the academic study of ethics to ethical decision-making in everyday life. Appiah has published extensively on language, identity and ethics. 

Since its opening in November 2021, the Holzman Center of Applied Ethics has offered lectures and other programming on ethics to encourage students to engage in ethical decision-making and act with honor, excellence and integrity at RE and beyond. The idea and seed funding for the center came from Steve Holzman P’21, a former Parent Chair for The Fund for RE, and attorney John O’Sullivan P’14 ’21 offered additional support.

Also, mark your calendars for another evening at the Holzman, this one with Valerie Kondos, former UCLA gymnastics coach who led the Bruins to seven national championships and is the third winningest coach in NCAA gymnastics history. Kondos, the third Holzman center speaker of the school year, will address RE student-athletes and their parents at 7 p.m. on March 29 during a talk open to all members of the RE community; she will also speak to the upper school student body during the school day on March 30.

Finally, through the Holzman Center of Applied Ethics, RE has joined the Students Shoulder to Shoulder consortium. The organization aims to inspire ethical leadership in large part through travel experiences for students in the seventh through 12th grades. The experiences include case study work done in advance to prepare for "learning service" while in the field, and some reflection on applying the learning once the field experience is concluded. All trips are in partnership with local NGOs and are led by faculty members from schools in the consortium. Students and their parents may review the programs offered for the summer of 2023 (including destinations in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Kenya, Nepal, Panama and Peru, as well as several sites in the United States). Interested students should apply directly with Students Shoulder to Shoulder at their website.

 
 
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Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.