The Rock Ethics Institute

he mission of the Rock Ethics Institute is to promote ethical literacy and catalyze ethical leadership throughout the Penn State community and to foster interdisciplinary ethics research designed to address significant social issues and pressing world problems. 

Our aspiration is that students, faculty, and community members—Meet the challenge. Stand up.  Make a difference.

We are an Institute “without walls:”

Guiding the work of the Rock Ethics Institute is our commitment to ethical literacy, which we define as:

The Rock Ethics Institute aims to help people better understand the different cultural contexts of ethical problems, disagreements, and solutions. We believe that in today’s world, ethical literacy is essential to being active, informed citizens, and to living vibrant professional and personal lives.

Through education, research, and outreach, we catalyze ethically informed scholarship, promote ethical literacy, and encourage ethical decision-making at Penn State and beyond.

• Education
• Research
• Outreach