14 Undergraduates Chosen for Ethics Fellowship Program

Fourteen Harvard College students have been selected as the first group of Edmond J. Safra Undergraduate Fellows. The fellowship seeks to provide a community of undergraduates and faculty members who are interested in conducing interdisciplinary research with an “ethical dimension.”

The 14 undergraduates, the scope of whose projects ranges from bioethics to the environment, will participate in a series of interdisciplinary workshops designed to develop their competence in modes of inquiry that are critical to addressing the important moral issues in public life.

Led by government professor Eric A. Beerbohm, the workshops will bring both theory and practice to a range of topics that will stimulate debate and allow students to develop their own research and writing.

To foster cross-disciplinary connections, the students will also participate in activities such as meals with faculty and a mentorship program.

In addition, the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, which runs the fellowship, has revived the Lester Kissel Summer Grants in Practical Ethics, which will provide the undergraduate fellows with the opportunity to extend their research into the summer.

In a press release, Law School professor and director of the Center Lawrence Lessig said he was enthusiastic about meeting a goal in the Center’s long-term agenda.

“In recognizing the value of engaging young scholars at an early stage of their education, the Center has been eager to extend its activities in ways that encompass the Harvard undergraduate community,” Lessig said.

Oliver C. Wenner ’14. who is interested in the intersection of law and philosophy, said he was “very excited” to be named as one of the 14 undergraduate fellows.

“I started the research on military conscription in Israeli military last summer, and when I saw this opportunity on the Harvard Philosophy Department email list, I felt like it was a good way to refine the research,” Wenner said.

The rest of this year’s fellows are Sheyda M. Aboii ’14, Nisha A. Deolalikar ’14, Medha B. Gargeya ’14, Isabelle W. Glimcher ’13, Jirka Jelinek ’13, Adam B. Kern ’13, Jared Lopez ’14, David G. Miller ’14, Lily H. Ostrer ’14, Ketan Ramakrishnan ’13, Chloe E. Reichel ’15, William H. Ryan ’14, and Celestine E. Warren ’14.