Ethics, moral values get deeper focus at Saint Rose

Dr. Michael Brannigan's appointment may be a first for The College of Saint Rose in Albany, but his field of expertise is hardly new to the institution.

In fact, CSR's requirement that all students take a core course on ethics and values was one thing that attracted Dr. Brannigan to the college, where he just become the first holder of a new endowed chair in ethics and moral values.

"I'm really excited about it. I've found a lot of support from the [college] community; I'm very impressed by the faculty. They're genuinely committed to working with their students," he told The Evangelist.

Ethical areas

Dr. Brannigan comes to the position from Kansas City, Missouri, where he was vice president for clinical and organizational ethics at the non-profit Center for Practical Bioethics.

He worked with healthcare professionals, covering 25 to 30 hospitals in that region, on issues in four areas:

* aging and end-of-life care;

* clinical and organizational ethics;

* disparities in health and health care related to class, race and ethnicity; and

* life science and research ethics.

The center's website defines bioethics as the application of ethics to the medical field, noting that "ethicists ask two questions: 'What is the right or good thing to do?' and 'What are our obligations to one another?'"

Campus life

Having previously taught at other institutions (including Mercy College in Westchester County), Dr. Brannigan said, "I really missed teaching. I was impressed by [CSR's] class sizes, emphasis on teaching, the required course in ethics. That told me a lot about the college."

Since ethics and moral values are all about character development, he believes his hands-on experience will help him to mold his students.

Dr. Brannigan will teach CSR's required ethics course; design and teach other related courses; and organize seminars, forums and other outlets to address ethical issues facing both students and the community.

Coming together

"Ethics is not just a theoretical exercise; it has to be practiced. That's the basic idea in ethics," Dr. Brannigan stated. "Especially today, there's a crucial need for that [education]. So many forces impinge upon younger people to not think for themselves or examine issues more thoroughly."

Ironically, he noted, the technologies that claim to "network" the world often drive people further apart -- for instance, cell phones, which he said create "an illusion of connection that's a poor substitute for interpersonal connection."

He hopes to help people of all cultures in the Albany Diocese to make real connections by establishing an ethics center locally. He speculated that such a center might have a specific emphasis like "intercultural perspective in ethics."

Ecumenical view

Raised a Catholic, Dr. Brannigan plans to work with Rev. Christopher DiGiovine, the college's chaplain and dean of spiritual life, and with other institutions and organizations to explore ethical issues.

"I take an ecumenical perspective -- 'catholic' in the literal sense of the word, [meaning] 'universal,'" he said, noting that it's important to include all faith traditions in a dialogue on ethics.

Further aspects of his new position are still in development. "There's no track to follow; what the endowed chair means to the college and community has to unfold," he stated.

One thing is clear, he noted: Ethics is about "cultivating a moral community. You can do that in classrooms by emphasizing character. It's a matter of reflecting back on your own values, beliefs, principles, priorities....Looking outward is also looking inward."

(Dr. Brannigan also heads the diversity committee of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, examining cross-cultural ethics. He is currently at work on several books, including one on applied ethics and another on "cultural competency: in health care, and several articles. The new position was established through a $1.5 million gift from George and Jane Pfaff, formerly of Loudonville, with the goal of "fostering integrity among all members of [CSR's] community and cultivating a setting where its graduates develop into critical thinkers and civic leaders." Learn more about CSR at www.strose.edu.)

(9/13/07)