Ethics at Villanova University

The Ethics Program is pleased to welcome Rev. Dr. Wonchul Shin (Ph.D., Emory University) as an incoming Assistant Teaching Professor! 🎉

Prior to Villanova, Dr. Shin taught graduate courses at Columbia Theological Seminary and Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.

He is the author of the newly published Moral and Theological Virtues of the Oppressed: Practicing Salim in the Face of Violence (Bloomsbury, 2026).

His current grant-supported research and pedagogy engage Asian immigrant church sanctuary movements, transnational religious activism, ecological formation in immigrant congregational settings, and the ethical implications of AI for moral and political life.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXXEH4RDkEz/?igsh=OTJ5dDN2ZGJkbW5k

The Ethics Program is pleased to welcome Rev. Dr. Wonchul Shin (Ph.D., Emory University) as an incoming Assistant Teaching Professor! 🎉 Prior to Villanova, Dr. Shin taught graduate courses at Columbia Theological Seminary and Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. He is the author of the newly published Moral and Theological Virtues of the Oppressed: Practicing Salim in the Face of Violence (Bloomsbury, 2026). His current grant-supported research and pedagogy engage Asian immigrant church sanctuary movements, transnational religious activism, ecological formation in immigrant congregational settings, and the ethical implications of AI for moral and political life.

Drs. Shin, Covey, and Waters are in Boston this weekend for , alongside faculty from , to present their research! 📚

Academic conferences are a great time to meet with colleagues from across the academy and find fresh inspiration for research and teaching!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DRX08sZkokx/?igsh=bTczMDVqN3JncnU3

Drs. Shin, Covey, and Waters are in Boston this weekend for @aarsbl25 , alongside faculty from @villanovatheology , to present their research! 📚 Academic conferences are a great time to meet with colleagues from across the academy and find fresh inspiration for research and teaching!

The Ethics Program is hiring!
Please spread the word to your networks about opportunities at Villanova for ethicists at the postdoctoral, Assistant, and/or Associate levels!

Assistant or Associate Teaching Professor - Ethics The Ethics Program seeks a full-time continuing non-tenure faculty member whose primary responsibility will be to teach ETH 2050 (The Good Life: Ethics and Contemporary Moral Problems), a critical element of the core curriculum for undergraduates. 4/4 teaching load and service to the Ethics Program....

https://www.instagram.com/p/DJwmm1wxTXP/?igsh=M29xZzlzYm90OG5t

Congratulations to the Class of 2025!! 🎓 We had a great time celebrating your success yesterday and can't wait to see what you do next! ✌️

💥NEW COURSE: Ethics & Social Media💥

ETH3010-002
TR 2:30pm-3:45pm
with Dr. Allison Covey

Since the early 2000s, social media has re-shaped the world. The way we communicate, the way we shop, even the way we vote are influenced by content pushed to us by algorithms on a small number of apps. With nearly ¾ of Americans using some form of social media, these platforms are very profitable and very powerful. Facebook and Instagram have been credited for helping to facilitate the Arab Spring and BLM movements. TikTok and Facebook have been faulted for providing data to foreign entities intent on interference. Is social media a force for good, helping us to maintain bonds with friends and loved ones and democratizing news and information? Is social media a force for evil, facilitating the spread of misinformation and exacerbating our deepest insecurities?

In this course, we will explore the ethical challenges posed by the widespread use of social media. We’ll consider its impact on our mental health and development, on our friendships and communities, on our elections and political processes, and on the way we conduct business and report the news. We’ll read work from philosophers, psychologists, theologians, journalists, and social scientists as we trace the tremendous impact this technology has had on our world in less than 25 years. This course asks who bears responsibility for ensuring that social media serves the Common Good and what our own relationship to it ought to be in the meantime?

Attributes:
*Upper Level Theology
*Humanities
*Upper Level Ethics
*Peace & Justice

Please join us Wednesday, April 2, at 5 p.m., in The Villanova Room, for the 19th Annual Praxis Award in Professional Ethics.

This year we will honor Sister Mary Scullion, co-founder of Project Home. Sister Mary is a tireless advocate for the homeless in the Philadelphia area. Sister Mary has spent a lifetime addressing the systemic dimensions of homelessness and is very active politically in promoting programs to assist homelessness and mental illness.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DH7jGIBM33k/?igsh=c2lhNTJnemdlZ3Y1

Please join us Wednesday, April 2, at 5 p.m., in The Villanova Room, for the 19th Annual Praxis Award in Professional Ethics. This year we will honor Sister Mary Scullion, co-founder of Project Home. Sister Mary is a tireless advocate for the homeless in the Philadelphia area. Sister Mary has spent a lifetime addressing the systemic dimensions of homelessness and is very active politically in promoting programs to assist homelessness and mental illness.

The Ethics Program is pleased to welcome Any Gustafson of Creighton University School of Business to discuss "From Profit to Purpose: The Distinctive Proposition of the Economy of Communion Approach."

Villanova faculty and grad students are invited to join us Thursday, 3/27, 12:00pm in Mendel 103 for lunch and discussion of the piece.

Find the paper here: https://philpapers.org/rec/GUSFPT

Join us April 9th for a discussion of AI and Political Theology featuring Dr. Wonchul Shin of the Villanova Ethics Program and special guest Dr. Mark Douglas of

Contact Denis Farrell for a copy of the pre-circulated paper and to RSVP for lunch.

While we prepare to head back to class, Drs. Fay, Shin, and Covey are in snowy Chicago presenting their research at the conference! We wish them a productive trip and a safe journey home, just in time to start the semester! ✈️

While we prepare to head back to class, Drs. Fay, Shin, and Covey are in snowy Chicago presenting their research at the @sofcethics conference! We wish them a productive trip and a safe journey home, just in time to start the semester! ✈️ #sofcethics25

On December 7, Villanova University’s Ethics Debate Team competed in the Chesapeake Regional Ethics Bowl competition in Baltimore, Maryland. With an incredibly impressive performance in the preliminary rounds, where Villanova went 3-1 with wins against Penn State, Notre Dame of Maryland, and Montgomery College, the team advanced to the semifinals with an impressive +55-point differential against the competition.

One judge went out of his way to say that he thought Villanova would be the next national champions. Unfortunately, Villanova lost a close match in the semifinals against a very strong Virginia Tech team that ultimately won the regional competition.

The Ethics Program is incredibly proud of our team members: Michael Blake, Justin Williams, Mikaela Anthony, Samuel Rowland, Gabe Donovan, Ryan Neu, and Hope Digiovanni. A special thanks to our seniors, Mike and Justin, both of whom have given four outstanding years to the team and were part of the first Villanova team to win the regional championship in 2021. Thanks also to the Ethics Bowl coach, Dr. Mark Wilson.

"My time at Villanova was wonderful. Working with Mark, Brett, and the other teaching fellows prepared me for what it would be like in a tenure-track position. Many of the collegial relationships and friendships I made during my time as a Catherine of Sienna Fellow continue to this day and some have resulted in collaborative writing projects. I've also enjoyed seeing how the other fellows' careers have developed and flourished. My memories of my time at Villanova are extremely positive, and I am thankful for the opportunity to have been a small part of the robust tradition of the Ethics Program at Villanova!"

Cynthia R. Neilsen, PhD, MA
Professor of Philosophy, University of Dallas

Catherine of Siena Teaching Fellow in The Ethics Program at Villanova, 2012-2014

As the Ethics Program turns 25, we celebrate the current and former faculty who have made the program what it is today!

"My time at Villanova was wonderful. Working with Mark, Brett, and the other teaching fellows prepared me for what it would be like in a tenure-track position. Many of the collegial relationships and friendships I made during my time as a Catherine of Sienna Fellow continue to this day and some have resulted in collaborative writing projects. I've also enjoyed seeing how the other fellows' careers have developed and flourished. My memories of my time at Villanova are extremely positive, and I am thankful for the opportunity to have been a small part of the robust tradition of the Ethics Program at Villanova!" Cynthia R. Neilsen, PhD, MA Professor of Philosophy, University of Dallas Catherine of Siena Teaching Fellow in The Ethics Program at Villanova, 2012-2014 As the Ethics Program turns 25, we celebrate the current and former faculty who have made the program what it is today!