Center for Ethics and Public Engagement

Connect Learning with Living

Connect your curiosity in the classroom to the individual and social elements of daily life. Imagine and evaluate your ethical responsibilities. Discover how to align your values with community action.

The Luther College Center for Ethics and Public Engagement (The CEPE, pronounced “The Keep”) designs opportunities to help you become an informed, engaged, and critical thinking global citizen. Experience one of our public events, join a book group, or partner with The CEPE in community outreach.

The CEPE Theme for Fall 2025: Artificial(?)

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Discuss The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics

Book Groups

The Podeia Podcast

Produced in partnership with KWLC, Podeia explores local stories at the intersection of ethics, place, and public life. Season 3 tells the story of the Kennedy family, a 19th-century African American family in Decorah.

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Dr. Michael Osterholm Visit

Roslien Lecture Series with internationally renowned epidemiologist, Dr. Michael Osterholm.

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Histories of Resistance in Times of Oppression

Wed. April 8 at 7pm in the Center for Faith and Life Recital Hall

If you have been participating in, reading about, thinking about, or training for resistance to governmental actions that you consider oppressive, this panel is a chance to learn from three previous examples of civic engagement in order to identify and modify oppressive policies and practices. Join history professors Mark Guerci, Richard Mtisi, and Anna Peterson for a moderated panel discussion. Prof. Guerci will discuss the implementation of, and resistance to, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Prof. Mtisi will introduce us to the forms of resistance adopted by those who fought against apartheid in South Africa. Prof. Peterson will detail how Germans resisted Nazism in the 1930s and 1940s. Each panelist will give a brief presentation, followed by a short discussion amongst the panelists. Audience members are invited to join a Q&A session to round out the event.

Year in review at The CEPE

Over the course of the 2024-2025 academic school year The CEPE arranged several major events for the Luther community and beyond, from hosting best-selling Author Jeff VanderMeer to a planetarium multimedia experience of Anishinaabe star knowledge. We collaborated with faculty, staff, and students in funding book groups, guest speakers, and more.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS YEAR AT THE CEPE

Meet The CEPE Faculty Research Fellow

The 2025–2027 Research Fellow is Associate Professor of Management Hongxiao Yu. Her research explores how users perceive and trust AI in decision-making contexts, particularly in hospitality, tourism, and education. She investigates the ethical challenges and human factors that influence AI adoption and misuse, with the goal of promoting transparency, informed use, and public trust. During her fellowship, she will conduct interviews and surveys, develop a theoretical framework on AI trust, and engage the campus through guest speakers, student research, and public events.