The Mansfield Ethics and Public Affairs Program (MEPAP) at the University of Montana is charged with conducting research and educational activities focusing on the relationship of values to institutions and public affairs. Our courses, seminars, lectures, and conferences examine the role that ethical values can and should play in public life, the moral quandaries faced by those who govern, including both philosophical and practical dimensions of political ethics, and the issues of leadership and character in public service.

In recent years, MEPAP has received two highly competitive awards from the National Science Foundation to conduct research on ethical issues involving science and technology. These issues include biotechnology, nanotechnology, climate change and geoengineering. MEPAP has held several national level workshops on these issues involving scientists, ethicists and graduate students. In addition, MEPAP has hosted conferences, workshops and lectures offered by leading scholars on ethical issues in the areas of end of life care, global justice, health care policy and agricultural policy. Finally, MEPAP has offered professional development courses on Teaching Ethics and Conservation Ethics.