decision, often in the service of ambition and prestige and not ideology.
As Fellows gain an understanding of the power of their professions in modern society, FASPE addresses the ethical issues currently facing individual professionals and their institutions, drawing on curricula developed by leading scholars at schools such as the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, Columbia Journalism School, FH Wien University of Applied Sciences in Vienna, Yale Medical School, Yale Law School and Georgetown University.
In addition to specific ethical challenges facing particular professions, FASPE raises several topics that span the professions. Questions, for instance, about the role of ambition and the impact of economic pressure on ethical behavior, the challenge of balancing multiple loyalties and the impact of technology in shaping the ethics of the future.
FASPE offers an approach to ethics and professionalism that differs from the usual classroom or workplace experience, providing an intensive and interactive curriculum that looks beyond formal rules. Daily seminars are led by specialized faculty who engage Fellows in discussions and critical thinking about ethical problems faced by individual leaders in both the historical and contemporary professional settings. The program is further strengthened by the diverse perspectives of its participants, the power of place and the rich contextual education that FASPE provides. In addition, the fellowships are enhanced by combining multiple disciplines within trips. Business, Journalism and Law Fellows travel together, as do Medical and Seminary Fellows. In formal and informal settings, Fellows participate in discussions on how ethical constructs and norms in their respective professions align and differ.
FASPE Fellows spend two full days at Auschwitz-Birkenau, led through the camps by personnel from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum whose presentations often also address the specific professions represented by the Fellows. This visit to Auschwitz is the culmination of FASPE’s study of the perpetrators — as Fellows witness the tragic impact that a departure from ethical norms and behavior can have. Fellows see firsthand the machinery of murder produced by Topf & Sons; they stand in the rooms where the doctors conducted their sterilizations; they witness the impact of the laws drafted in bland offices in Nuremberg; they understand the failure of the media to report; they ask how the clergy did not universally speak out.
2015 Journalism Fellows meeting with Survivor Inge Deutschkron in Berlin