Program on Global Ethics and Social Trust

What is the role of universities in rebuilding public trust during this time of decreasing trust in institutions?

We are proud to see Chris Higgins, member of the GEST Working Group on Democracy, Governance, and Education, and Chair of the Department of Formative Education at Boston College, participate in this timely roundtable hosted by Luiss Guido Carli University and promoted by Reset DOC Dialogues on Civilizations .

According to Higgins, "the task is to revive the public purpose of higher education: creating spaces where people experience and practice that democratic way of life." To do so, universities must "shape character—what one might even call virtue—including respect for others, the ability to confront inherited prejudices, and to understand difference and power."

Over the course of two years, the GEST Working Group on Democracy, Governance, and Education brought together experts in politics, education, history, law, ethics, journalism, and communication to think seriously about the threats we face and the prospects for recovery through education strategies.

Chris Higgins: Pursuing an Ethos, Not Just a Curriculum The issues discussed in this interview will be taken up in the roundtable “Reclaiming Legitimacy: Universities, Elites, and Democratic Renewal” (May 14, 6–8 PM, Rome), held as part of an international seminar on higher education.   At a moment when universities are increasingly caught between...

A recent analysis in The Lancet Global Health examines the relationship between physical inactivity and high temperature, predicting increases in deaths and productivity loss caused by increasing temperatures. Oscar Melo, a member of the GEST WG on Climate Change and Migration, contributed to this article by The Lancet Global Health

Effects of climate change on physical inactivity: a panel data study across 156 countries from 2000 to 2022 Rising temperatures are projected to increase the prevalence of physical inactivity, translating into additional premature deaths and productivity losses, especially in tropical regions. Prioritising heat-adaptive urban design, subsidised climate-controlled exercise facilities, and targeted heat-ris...

Hanqin Tian, member of the GEST WG on Climate Change and Migration, was among 150 global researchers and institutional leaders invited to attend the inaugural convening of the Global Alliance for Integral Ecology on March 9 and 10 in Rome.

The Global Alliance is envisioned as a hub for connecting, amplifying, and spearheading research, curriculum, and action initiatives for a sustainable future.

Global Alliance for Integral Ecology Three BC scholars attend the inaugural convening focused on action initiatives for a sustainable future

In early March, members of the GEST Working Group on Democracy, Governance, and Education (DGE) met during a weeklong fact-finding mission organized by the Clough Center in Bogota, Colombia. Jonathan Laurence, Director of the Clough Center and chair of the DGE working group, and Francisco de Roux, a member of the DGE working group and former head of the Colombia Truth Commission, participated in the mission, which also included faculty and students from the Clough Center, and former Colombian presidents Juan Manuel Santos and Ernesto Samper Pizano.

The event focused on the theme of Democratic Resilience. Laurence commented, “None of us will forget seeing former enemies sit down, acknowledge one another’s suffering and vow to exit the cycle of revenge. By placing victims at the center of its peace process and offering lighter sentences to those who acknowledge culpability, Colombia shows one way that a hopelessly polarized conflict can end —and reminds us that mutual commitment to democratic institutions is necessary to maintaining peace.”

Read the Report:https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/bc1/centers/clough/annual_reports/colombia%20report.pdf

This Thursday and Friday, March 19th & 20th, the Boston College Clough Center will host their Spring 2026 Symposium on Democratic Resilience, co-sponsored by the Program on Global Ethics and Social Trust. The theme of this symposium overlaps significantly with our Working Group on Democracy, Governance, and Education (DGE), with GEST members chairing several panels:
- March 19 at 5:15pm: Keynote “Remaking a Resilient Liberal Democracy” chaired by Jonathan Laurence (DGE Chair) and featuring Daron Acemoglu of MIT.
- March 20 at 9:45am: Panel on “Educating for Resilience” chaired by Erik Owens (GEST Director) and featuring Carol Ferrara, (Emerson College), Raul Fernandez (Boston University), Mary Churchill (Boston University) and Peter Levine (Tufts University).
- March 20 at 11:00am: Keynote “A Crisis of Liberalism, Not a Crisis of Democracy” chaired by Jonathan Laurence (DGE Chair) and featuring Ross Douthat of the New York Times.

We are proud to sponsor this timely event on Democratic Resilience.

Spring Symposium 2026: Full Schedule The Clough Center's Spring Symposium 2026 schedule of lectures is available, and you can register to attend. This event will focus on Democratic Resilience.

This Thursday and Friday March 12th and 13th, Boston College Law School and the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences will host a conference, “Rule of Law and the Common Good: An Emerging Synergy between Legal Theory and Catholic Social Thought.”

Co-organized by Cathy Kaveny, a member of the GEST Working Group on Democracy, Government, and Education, the conference will feature theologians Patrick Reardon, SJ (Campion Hall), Michelle Becka (Würzburg), and Anna Rowlands (Durham), and legal scholars Jed Purdy (Duke), David Luban (Georgetown), and Mary Ellen O’Connell (Notre Dame).

According to Kaveny, “Protecting the rule of law and safeguarding human dignity are intertwined goals. Legal scholars and experts in Catholic social thought need to work together to achieve them in these troubling times.”

Reserve attendance through the Eventbrite link below. Students are also encouraged to attend. Space is limited, so register soon.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-rule-of-law-and-the-common-good-tickets-1980411920365

This Friday, Maryanne Loughry, a member of the GEST Working Group on Climate Change and Migration, will be speaking at the Law, Conscience, and Migration Today conference at Boston College.

On February 20 at 11:00am, Loughry will present on the panel “Understanding New Migration Challenges: Legal, Moral, and Humanitarian Perspectives,” along with Mario Russell, Daniel Kanstroom, and Alejandro Olayo-Mendez, SJ, with moderator Kristen Heyer.

Learn more and register to attend this free, in-person event: https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/academics/sites/ila/events/law--conscience--and-migration-today-

Boston College

Law, Conscience, and Migration Today Over the past year, the United States has witnessed sweeping changes to its immigration policy, communities and families torn apart by mass deportations, and a sharp rise in fear and uncertainty due to new enforcement tactics. Amid this landscape, voices of prophetic courage on the local, national,....

Join us at noon today for a lecture featuring GEST member Maryanne Loughry, a key participant in our GEST-sponsored collaborative project with Christ University, Bangalore on climate displacement along the Kerala coast of India.

The lecture will be on February 11 at 12:00pm in the Schiller Institute Convening Space. Registration is required and lunch will follow.
More information: https://bit.ly/4rrYwhZ

The HISLAND-SA data (1950-2020) is a 1-km, annual, crop-specific land-cover dataset for South America.

We're proud to have supported this excellent data on land transformation by humans in South America, co-authored by members of the GEST Working Group on Climate Change and Migration: Hanqin Tian (Boston College), Óscar Melo (UC Chile, Santiago), Anne McDonald (Sophia University, Tokyo), and Katharine G. Young (Boston College).

HIStory of LAND transformation by humans in South America (HISLAND-SA): annual and 1 km gridded data for soybean, maize, wheat, and rice (1950–2020) Abstract. South America is a global hotspot for land use and land cover (LULC) change, marked by dramatic agricultural land expansion and deforestation. While previous studies have documented land use and land cover changes in South America over recent decades, there is still a lack of spatially exp...

On November 6, 2025, the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy hosted a panel on the Quest for Democracy in North Africa, featuring Dr. Mohammed Hashas and Dr. Youssef Chahed. We're proud to have co-sponsored this event.

The Quest for Democracy in North Africa On November 6, 2025, the Clough Center hosted Dr. Mohammed Hashas and Dr. Youssef Chahed to explore the trajectory of democratic institutions in North Africa.