The Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University is an interdisciplinary “think and do” tank committed to understanding and solving real-world ethical challenges facing individuals, organizations and societies worldwide. The Institute promotes ethical engagement through its research, education and practice in three core areas: Moral Education & Development, Organizational Ethics, and Civic & Global Ethics. Current projects include work on the nature and nurture of morality, workplace culture, and U.S. immigration policy.

Read the Kenan Institute for Ethics' Five-Year Strategic Plan: Making Ethics a Cornerstone of the Duke Experience.

The Institute has had a significant impact as a consultant, facilitator, and convener for ethics-related activities both at Duke and beyond. At Duke, the Institute has played a leadership role in the university’s strengthened focus on academic integrity (including a new honor code and code signing ceremony); the establishment of a two-course Ethical Inquiry requirement for undergraduates; the implementation of a research ethics requirement for all Ph.D. students (a national first); the creation of the IGSP’s Center for Genome Ethics, Law, and Policy; the launch of a research service-learning initiative that is now institutionalized under a new Office of Service Learning; and the launch of an undergraduate certificate program in ethics.

Beyond Duke, the Institute has supported the infusion of ethics in K-12 education and developed a business ethics program that helps companies improve their ethical awareness, ethical decision-making skills, and ethical culture.