Diverse range of topics to be covered by speakers, discussions

Though husbands and wives can tell each other “I love you” year round, next week is the time many couples will display it through flowers, chocolates and other gifts.

“You’ve got to get real explicit about it on Valentine’s Day,” said Ken Milani, professor of accountancy at the University of Notre Dame.

In the same way, Notre Dame is taking a little time next week to focus on a topic that has been a priority throughout the year:

Ethics.

From presidential elections to rebuilding New Orleans, experts will explore ethics in a range of real-world contexts during the 11th annual Ethics Week, which lasts Monday through Thursday.”We’ve got a variety of topics,” Milani said. “So it’s kind of whatever you happen to be interested in.”

Speakers include Robert Schmuhl, a Notre Dame faculty member and author and expert on the media and American politics.

Next week’s event will also feature former Notre Dame head basketball coach Digger Phelps, a longtime participant in community service efforts who is currently helping with the “Walking to New Orleans” rebuilding project.

Each lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place in Mendoza’s Giovanini Commons from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., except as noted.

Sponsored by Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, Ethics Week was established to encourage the discussion of ethical matters in undergraduate and graduate business classes at Notre Dame and to secure a foundation for future discussions inside and outside the classroom. The week was started to help continue the legacy of John Houck, who died in 1996, Milani said. “He’s kind of the Godfather of business ethics at Notre Dame,” Milani said.

Typically drawing between 30 and 40 people for each event, Ethics Week provides attendees with a chance to do more than learn about theory. They get to see how business in ethics is applied in a variety of settings, Milani said.

“This is more of a hands-on-type thing,” he said.

And it’s important at a time when ethics will never go out of style.

“Essentially, you’ve got to do the right thing,” Milani said. “Because, if you don’t do the right thing, in the long run, certainly that business or that procedure is going to fall by the wayside.”

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