Students, PhD candidates, PostDocs, and senior academics are invited to take part in this workshop to deepen the collaborative work on empirical ethics, exchange ideas, and contribute to a vibrant academic community. The aim is to build a dedicated group of collaborators who will continue to work together on shared ideas and projects within the Empirical Ethics research line.

Programme

Background on the Empirical Ethics Project

Empirical Ethics is a dynamic research area that bridges the gap between empirical research methods and value considerations. It moves beyond abstract principles to focus on what different actors and stakeholders perceive as desirable or undesirable practices at various levels. This approach emphasises ethics in practice, situated ethics, and ethical interventions, drawing from diverse traditions such as Science and Technology Studies (STS), Care Ethics, Postphenomenology, and Praxeology.

The Empirical Ethics Workshop Series

The IAS is launching the Empirical Ethics Workshop Series to explore innovative visions and practices for ethics at the intersection of empirical research and normative assessment. Through interdisciplinary conversations, this series aims to stimulate methodological and conceptual reflection, foster connections, and inspire new research horizons. Keynote speakers include esteemed scholars like Arjun Appadurai, Amade M'Charek, Sabina Leonelli, and Simone Natale.

EASST-4S Panel on Observation, Collaboration, Intervention: Navigating Tensions and Opportunities of Engaged Methodologies

Engaged research requires both specific methods and increased ethical reflection on its normative dimensions. To meet these demands, a variety of methodological approaches have been developed that share some defining characteristics. These characteristics are at the center of this panel.

About the organisers

Selin Gerlek is an assistant professor in philosophy of technology and politics at the University of Amsterdam. Her research focuses on digital citizenship, transformative processes in human-technology relations, mediated cultural practices, empirical ethics & value change, as well as embodied and hermeneutic relations. She is the co-scientific coordinator of the research line “Empirical Ethics” at the IAS and a member of several projects, commissions and groups on digital citizenship, medical ethics, AI and visual technologies.

Paula Helm is an assistant professor in Critical AI Studies and merges disciplines to address AI ethics. With affiliations with institutions like the Technical University Munich and the University of Frankfurt, her work emphasizes embedding ethics within AI development. She is the co-scientific coordinator of the research line "Empirical Ethics" at the IAS. Helm's recognition among the '100 Most Brilliant Women in AI-Ethics' underscores her contributions to fostering an ethically conscious AI landscape.

Collaborative Organiser:

Aysel Sultan is a Lecturer at the STS Department funded by the Elite Network of Bavaria and is affiliated with the Eastern Health Clinical School at Monash University. Her interdisciplinary research lies at the intersection of sociology of health and illness, childhood and youth studies, and critical public health. She is the Editor of the international, peer-reviewed academic journal Drugs, Habits and Social Policy published by Emerald and a frequent consultant to the EU Drugs Agency.

Angela Filipe is Assistant Professor of Global Sociology and Health, and Co-Director of the Institute for Medical Humanities (IMH) at Durham University, UK. Prior to this, she was a Wenner-Gren Foundation Fellow, Senior Researcher at McGill University in Canada, and digital visiting scholar at the University of Edinburgh, Usher Institute (CBSS). She also held post-doctoral and pre-doctoral researcher positions at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Coimbra University (Portugal). In these various positions, she co-designed flagship interdisciplinary programs and delivered and co-convened numerous courses at UG and PGT/R levels.

SEMINAR SERIES

1. Pre-Conf plus EASST Panel & Roundtable “Empirical Ethics: Observation, Collaboration, Intervention”

     July 15th 2024, 14.00-17.00, 17th, 16.00-17.30, 18th, 8.30-10.00

Speakers:

• Tanja Ahlin (University of Amsterdam)
• Loys Bakker (University of Amsterdam)
• Tobias Blanke (Kings College London)
• Mark Brown (California State University)
• Benjamin Lipp (Technical University Denmark)
• Jane Calvert (University of Edinburgh)
• Huub Dijstelbloem (University of Amsterdam)
• Angela Filipe (University of Durham)
• Alice Fill (École Normale Supérieure)
• Selin Gerlek (University of Amsterdam)
• Paula Helm (University of Amsterdam)
• Klaus Hoeyer (University of Copenhagen)
• Karen Huang (Georgetown University)
• Marjolein Lanzing (University of Amsterdam)
• Wulf Loh (University Tubingen)
• Jeannette Pols (University of Amsterdam)
• Renée Ridgway (Aarhus University)
• Mone Spindler (University of Tübingen)
• Aysel Sultan (Technical University of Munich)
• Roanne van Voorst (University of Amsterdam)
• Theresa Willem (Technical University Munich)

2. Workshop: Empirical Ethics and Socio-technical Entaglement

     Nov. 26th 2024, 12.00-20.00

Speakers:

• Simone Natale (University of Turin)
• Federica Russo (University of Utrecht)
• Tamar Sharon (Radboud University, to be confirmed)

3. Workshop: From Practice to Ethics & Back

     Jan. 15.-16th 2025, 17.00-19.00, 10.00-15.00

Speakers:

• Arjun Appadurai (New York University)
• Amade M’Charek (University of Amsterdam)

4. Workshop: Research & Values

     May 22nd 2025, 12.00-20.00

• Sabina Leonelli (University of Exeter)
• Shannon Vallor (University of Edinburgh)

This is an invitation-only event.