We all believe we are competent to discuss ethical issues, afterall, we make ethical decisions all the time. We know what we should do! Furthermore, we typically believe that our ethics is "right" and at least as good or even better than someone else's. Regrettably this can be false thinking.

Our competency in discussing ethics is exceedingly limited without a strong grasp of the concepts and language of ethics. When, where, and how do most of us acquire this knowledge? Not having this knowledge our ability to communicate our views on ethical issues usually devolves to discussions of personal feeling and preference -"I know what is right," or "my conscience is my guide."

Another part of the limitation in discussing ethical issues lies in our not working with the tension that exists between understanding our moral obligations and finding the moral courage to actually deliver on those obligations. We have all come face to face with this dilemma.

Ethics is a discipline in its own right. It includes concepts, ideas and a language that delineates its field of inquiry. Ethics is also a discipline that is alive! Ethics is always searching, inquiring, and pursuing new ends. The ethical life is one filled with vitality!

The Ethics Boot Camp scheduled for Apri127 and 28, 2007 is intended to bring Ethics alive to our community, our campus and our classrooms. During this intensive one-and-a-half days together we will have an opportunity to explore what ethics means in a broad sense, what it means in a more personal and narrow sense, and how we can most meaningfully integrate ethics into our collaboration with one another and across our various disciplines.

The Christos and Mary Papoutsy Distinguished Chair in Ethics has been established to address Southern New Hampshire University's mission to develop within students the wisdom to lead ethical, professional, and personal lives. Ethics is understood to encompass a wide range of topics including social justice, human rights, civil rights and those essential ideals that extend back to our forbearers. The Chair promotes this goal through teaching community lectures, working with faculty and staff to enhance this dimension of their teaching and work, interacting with external constituencies, and playing a leadership role in campus-wide initiatives.

Dr. Annabel Beerel is currently Professor of Social Ethics at SNHU where she holds the Christos and Mary Papoutsy Distinguished Chair in Ethics. She Gained her Ph.D. in Social Ethics from Boston University; her Masters Degree in Theology; and an M.B.A. from Cranfield University in England. Annabel also has over twenty-five years of business experience. She is a Chartered Accountant who has held positions in Corporate Finance and Investment Banking. She also started and ran her own business in Artificial Intelligence for eight years.