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Character and the Moral Sense Conference Agenda

 

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2014

8:15 AM     Welcome
                   James R. Wilburn, Dean, School of Public Policy, Pepperdine
                   University

8:30 AM     James Q. Wilson and the Continuing Search for Moral
                   Responsibility
in Public Policy

                   Chair: William Kristol, Editor, Weekly Standard; former student
                            of James Q. Wilson
                            John J. DiIulio, Jr., Frederick Fox Professor of Politics,
                            Religion, and Civil Society, University of Pennsylvania
                            R. Shep Melnick, Thomas P. O' Neill, Jr. Professor of
                            American Politics, Boston College

Three former students of James Q. Wilson, each of whom has worked closely with him and written extensively about his life's work, will discuss the evolution of his thought and frame the larger theme of the conference, considering the importance of the moral sense in human nature as it relates to the pursuit of public policy.


10:30 AM   Moral Sense: The Defining Encounter

                   Chair: Susan Marquis, Dean, Pardee RAND Graduate School
                             John J. DiIulio, Jr., Frederick Fox Professor of Politics,
                             Religion, and Civil Society, University of Pennsylvania
                             Sally Satel, Psychiatrist; Lecturer, Yale School of Medicine
                             Scott Soames, Director and Distinguished Professor,
                             Department of Philosophy, University of Southern California

A philosopher, a psychiatrist, and a political scientist explore the ways in which humans apprehend and comprehend the way the world works, especially reflecting on the most current research and deepest understanding of how we develop and understand the moral sense.


12 Noon     Lunch

                  "Does the Public Interest Depend on Private Virtue?:
                   Reflections on James Q. Wilson"

                  Speaker: William Galston, Ezra K. Zilkha Chair, Governance Studies
                                Program, Brookings Institution


1:30 PM    Science, Social Science, and the Humanities: Can Public
                   Policy Be
the Nexus for the Conversation?

                   Chair: Ted McAllister, Edward L. Gaylord Chair and Associate
                           Professor of Public Policy, Pepperdine University
                           Mark Kleiman, Professor of Public Policy, Luskin School of   
                           Public Affairs, University of California, Los Angeles
                           Harvey Mansfield, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of
                           Government, Harvard University

Against the current lively conversation about the role of natural science, the social sciences, and the humanities, each of which tends to operate in isolation in the academy, the interdisciplinary nature of schools of public policy, with their need to draw on all of these sectors, may provide a unique demonstration of their interrelatedness through interdisciplinary curricula and interdisciplinary faculty.


3:30 PM     The Moral Sense Beyond the Classroom

                   Chair: Michael Shires, Associate Professor of Public Policy,
                          Pepperdine University
                          Angela Hawken, James Q. Wilson Fellow and Associate
                          Professor of Public Policy, Pepperdine University
                          Mark H. Moore, Hauser Professor of Nonprofit Organizations
                          and Faculty Chair, Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations,
                          Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
                          Steven Teles, Associate Professor, Department of Political
                          Science, Johns Hopkins University

Three scholars deal with their work in three environments discussing how their research is enlightened by foundational insights from James Q. Wilson regarding Religion and the Institutions of Civil Society, the Response of the Judicial System to Substance Abuse, and unique insights from senior business and government executives faced with moral uncertainties and cloudy priorities.

 

SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 2014

 8:30 AM     The Moral Sense and American Exceptionalism

                   Chair: Colleen Graffy, Director of Global Programs and Associate
                            Professor of Law,London Program, Pepperdine University
                            Victor Davis Hanson, Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow,
                            Hoover Institution, Stanford University; William E. Simon
                            Distinguished Visiting Professor, School of
                            Public Policy, Pepperdine University
                            Robert Kaufman, Professor of Public Policy, Pepperdine
                            University
                            James Piereson, President, William E. Simon Foundation

James Q. Wilson's final project at Pepperdine was the design of a course sharing the title of his book, jointly edited with Peter Schuck,  Understanding America: The Anatomy of an Exceptional Nation. Although the course was to be taught by a four-faculty team, Wilson was not able to cover the final section as he had planned. His three fellow faculty members from that course at Pepperdine comprise this panel, addressing the many dimensions, moral and otherwise, of Wilson's "exceptional nation."                           


10:30 AM   Encountering the Moral Sense in the Public Affairs Classroom:
                   A
Response

                   Henry Brady, Dean, Goldman School of Public Policy, University of
                   California, Berkeley; Former President, American Political Science
                   Association
                   Angela Evans, Clinical Professor in Public Policy Practice, Lyndon
                   B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin;
                   President, Association of Public Policy Analysis and Management
                   Jack H. Knott, Dean, Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of
                   Southern California; President, Network of Schools of Public Policy,
                   Affairs, and Administration

While the Washington Post recently headlined "Want to Govern? Skip Policy School," this panel of three presidents or recent presidents of the American Political Science Association; the Association of Public Policy and Management; and the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration will summarize the conference and discuss ways that its recommendations may strengthen and enrich the curricula of schools of public policy, public administration, and public affairs to make them more effective and relevant to today's challenges.


11:30 AM    Concluding Remarks

                   James R. Wilburn


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