Overview

The Ethics Program, a freestanding unit within CLAS, is an integral part of the core curriculum of Villanova University. As one of the five “legs of the stool” in the Augustinian tradition the study of ethics in general i.e. “whom we ought to be and what we ought to do” is a guiding principle in the Villanova community. As such, all students in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and the School of Business are required to take the introductory course in ethics (ETH 2050) as part of their general education requirements for graduation. In addition to this introductory course, the ethics program also provides both a concentration and minor that is available to students in any of the University’s undergraduate colleges.

Highly interdisciplinary by design, Ethics courses are taught by faculty from a wide range of disciplines including, but not limited to, Theology and Religious Studies, Philosophy, Humanities, and the Center for Peace and Justice Education.

Departments/programs/subject areas supported

Subject areas supported include history of ethics, Christian ethics, continental ethics, biomedical ethics, scientific/engineering ethics, business ethics, environmental ethics, feminist ethics, individual ethics/character/virtue, ethics of social groups, and applied ethics

 

Resources Collected

NOTE: Electronic format is preferred for all Library holdings unless otherwise noted.

  • Scholarly monographs in electronic and print format (academic and trade press preferred)

  • Academic Journals in electronic (Peer reviewed preferred)

Resources and materials collected selectively or by request:

  • Audiovisual materials

  • Academic journals in Print format (Only if electronic is unavailable)

  • Reference data, handbooks, dictionaries, and other material (electronic strongly preferred)

 

Resources not collected:

  • Microform

  • Non-Villanova theses and dissertations

  • Conference proceedings (selectively)

  • Textbooks 

  • Ephemera

  • Preprints

  • Government documents

  • Hardware and software manuals

  • Instructor’s materials

  • Juvenile works

  • Manuscripts

  • Pamphlets

Collaborations within the library

Ethics has strong crossover titles in general philosophy, theology, and psychology. Ethics titles are also collected for specific courses including titles regarding biomedical ethics, science/engineering ethics, business ethics, environmental ethics, and applied ethics.

 

External collaborations

The library collects specific titles to support annual departmental events such as the “Ethics for Lunch” and “Ethics lecture” series as well as the annual intercollegiate Ethics Bowl. In accordance with the collaboration agreement with the PALCI library consortium, the Library also maintains a collection of journals titles in Ethics.