On the academic landscape of Qatar, an international ethics summit is set to appear which will cover dozens of topics having contemporary importance from corporate citizenship in global context to ethics revolving around gender, religion, business and conflict.
A three-day International Ethics Summit themed “Morality in the Global Era: Theory, Policy and Praxis” will start from December 4 at HBKU Students Centre at Education City.
The summit will be an international opportunity for scholars, academia and audiences representing various segments of society to explore and understand a number of issues such as: Ethical Leadership and Social Responsibility; Ethics in the Professions; Integrity in Business; Corporate Citizenship in a Global Context; Ethics and the Environment; Immigration and Moral Tragedy; Ethics and Technology in the Global Age; Ethics and Sports; Ethics and Gender among others according to university’s call-for-papers and leaflet pertaining to programme-details. The summit is being sposored by RasGas.
Talking to The Peninsula, Hassan Bashir, Conference Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M said: “The summit will attempt to develop a multi-disciplinary and global framework for engaging with questions of morality/immorality/amorality and rethink their meaning by delineating the moral conundrums which individuals face in the global era.”
Bashir said as many as 80 delegates from 19 countries will participate in the summit including 27 from various institutions of Qatar. He said 35 universities were participating in the event while nine industry-professionals and international development agencies would also attend the summit.
Dr Melissa S Williams, Professor of Political Science, Founding Director Centre of Ethics at University of Toronto Canada will speak on “An Agent–Centered View of Global Ethics”.
Dr. Joshua Mitchell, Professor of Government, Georgetown University, Washington D.C. & Doha will address on “The 21st Century Ethical Challenge to the Humanities.” Mitchell observes: “Geopolitically, both liberal and anti-modern tropes seem to have been exhausted, and we are in need to renewal of the sort that the hermeneutics of suspicion, alone, cannot provide.”
The topic of keynote address of Dr. Liviu Papadima, Professor of Literature, Vice-Rector, University of Bucharest, Romania is “Humility in Politics and Literature: Western and Eastern Traditions”.
“Humility has been for centuries a lesson to be taught to future leaders, but is rarely approached in the numberless texts and trainings which would open the gate towards leadership nowadays,” Papadima observes.
A discussion with industry leaders on ethical leadership themed “Ethical Leadership in Industry and Business: Responsibility and Risk in The Global Era” is another feature of the upcoming summit.
Dr. Eyad Masad, Vice Dean of Texas A&M University at Qatar; Dr. Mohammad Yousef Al-Mulla, MD and CEO of Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO); Dr. R. Seetharaman, CEO Doha Bank and Dr. Tod A Laursen, President Khalifa University UAE will take part in the discussion.
