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 2026-2027: COUNTS
Why Counts?
It’s a verb and a noun, each with multiple layers of meaning.
Counts invokes broad conceptual ideas and practices:
Who counts? Who doesn’t count? Who decides who counts in different contexts? How can people change the structures of who counts?
For 2026, the US national celebration and the November election involve counting.
Counting the years of national history & counting voters and ballots. These are vital acts where ethics and public engagement converge, and The CEPE strives to bring folks together on these matters through critical thinking, higher education, and transdisciplinary creativity.
In Fall 2026, The CEPE will host the award-winning & best-selling writer Stephen Graham Jones on campus for a public talk and informal gatherings with students. His novels have included winter counts and counting coup. Plus, his latest novel, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, features vampires, so, you know–Counts like Count Dracula and the loveable math-loving blood-sucker on Sesame Street.
At The CEPE, the upcoming academic year Counts.
Book Group for Next Fall - "The Only Good Indians" by Stephen Graham Jones.
Join us for a one-time book group, Thursday, Oct. 1st at 9:45 in Olin 214. Books provided by The CEPE.
Join Goup
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.
Listen Here!Author Stephen Graham Jones to visit campus October 29th, 2026
Stephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author of thirty-five or so novels and collections, and there’s some novellas and comic books in there as well. Most recent are The Buffalo Hunter Hunter and Killer on the Road. Next is Off the Reservation. Stephen lives and teaches in Boulder, Colorado.
Jones will be on campus for a public event October 29th at 7pm in the CRH.
Coming This Fall: Candidate Forum
Come hear from state and local candidates for office. This in-person event with provide you an opportunity to ask thoughtful questions of these candidates and to make informed choices as a voter.
More information coming soon!
Year in review at The CEPE
Learn about events across campus supported or planned by 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.
Save the Date
The CEPE Funding
The CEPE offers funding for conferences, seminars, on-campus programming, visiting lecturers and faculty research.
Learn about funding opportunities