Friday, November 1, 9:30am-4:30pm, Thompson Library [11th floor], 1858 Neil Ave. Mall

CEHV [OSU Center for Ethics and Human Values] is pleased to host the first of two one-day conferences as part of our Work COMPAS [Conversations On Morality, Politics And Society] program. This first conference, entitled “The Meaning of Work,” aims to explore questions about the place of work in a flourishing society and the beneficial or harmful nature of one’s relationship to work.

This event is part of a larger series we call “Conversations on Morality, Politics, and Society” (COMPAS). Over the years, COMPAS has supported interdisciplinary exchange on difficult social issues with special attention to underlying ethical challenges. Last year, we celebrated 10 years of this program with a series called COMPAS Directions that reflected on earlier programs on immigration, inequality, religion in public life, technology, sustainability, and more. We are excited this year to focus on work.

Schedule

9:30-11am panel: Is some work unjust?

• Eyal Press, author of Dirty Work

• Lori Watson, co-author of Debating Sex Work

• Moderator: Dana Howard, Division of Bioethics/Department of Philosophy, CEHV Steering Committee, The Ohio State University

11:15am-12:45noon panel: Is work part of a meaningful life?

• David Blustein, author of The Importance of Work in an Age of Uncertainty: The Eroding Experience of Work in America

• Julie Rose, author of Free Time

• Moderator: Ben McKean, Department of Political Science, The Ohio State University

3:00-4:30 keynote: “Reconsidering the Puritan Work Ethic as a Moral Resource for Workers”

• Elizabeth Anderson, author of Hijacked: How Neoliberalism Turned the Work Ethic against Workers and How Workers Can Take It Back and “The Struggle for Meaningful Work” in Dissent Magazine

•Moderator: Winston Thompson, OSU Department of Educational Studies and CEHV Steering Committee

All sessions will take place on the 11th floor of the Thompson Library.

Please join us for the whole day. The event is free and open to the public.

Hosted by OSU Center for Ethics and Human Values [CEHV].