Center for Ethics

Transform, Translate, Transcend

Spring 2026 Programming

Explore the continuation of the Center for Ethics theme, Transform, Translate, Transcend as our spring 2026 programming gets under way.

“A Conversation with Amadou Diop”
February 16, 7 p.m.
Moyer Hall, Miller Forum

Amadou Diop, founder and director of the Regenerative Agriculture Resource Center for Africa (CRARA), will discuss his work on transforming food production systems in Senegal, a nation itself undergoing a transition from a neocolonial government to a democracy. Diop will be joined in conversation by Richard Niesenbaum, professor of biology and director of sustainability studies at Muhlenberg College.

James Brusseau, Ph.D.
“One-Way Tickets, Recommendation Algorithms, and Identity Transformation”
February 25, 7 p.m.
Moyer Hall, Miller Forum

James Brusseau, a professor in the philosophy and computer science departments at Pace University in New York City and a visiting professor in computer science at the University of Trento in Italy, describes his talk this way: “There exist few artifacts of my youth: some yellowed photos, lovers’ letters in airmail envelopes, stories over holiday dinners. It’s not enough information to make a claim on who I am now. For many of you, the reality is different. You are digitally bound to all your sent text messages and uploaded videos, to the list of Netflix movies you have watched, and to the professional trajectory that LinkedIn is already accumulating and predicting. For you, there will be no easy escape from who you have already been. So how is transformation possible in today’s encompassing digital reality? To answer, we will investigate the ethics of the pure unknown — the kind of change that exists when you don’t know what the change will be. We will also ask how recommendation algorithms can be tuned to propose entertainment (Netflix), jobs (LinkedIn), and partners (Hinge) that diverge from your familiar interests and established preferences.”

“Trans/formative Work: The Poetics of Fandom”
March 17, 7 p.m.
Moyer Hall, Miller Forum

A poetry reading by influential trans poet and critic Stephanie Burt (Harvard) will be followed by a panel discussion about fandom and transformative works featuring Burt as well as Archive of Our Own founders Rebecca Tushnet (Harvard Law School) and Francesca Coppa (Muhlenberg). A book sale and signing will follow. 

Burt is the Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Professor of English at Harvard University. Her most recent books include “Taylor’s Version: The Musical and Poetic Genius of Taylor Swift” (Basic, 2025), “Super Gay Poems” (Harvard University Press, 2025), and “We Are Mermaids: Poems” (Graywolf, 2022). She is a fangirl. 

Coppa is professor of English and film studies at Muhlenberg College and one of the founders of the Organization for Transformative Works and the Archive of Our Own. Her recent books include “The Fanfiction Reader: Folk Tales for the Digital Age” (University of Michigan Press, 2017), “Vidding: A History” (University of Michigan Press, 2022), and the edited collection “Theatre Fandom” (University of Iowa Press, 2025). She is a fangirl.

Tushnet is the inaugural Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment at Harvard Law School and faculty co-director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. She clerked for Associate Justice David H. Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court and later co-founded the Organization for Transformative Works, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting and promoting fanworks. She is also a fangirl.

“Transform, Translate, Transcend: 24-Hour Play Festival”
March 21–22 (Performance: March 22, 2 p.m.)
Baker Center for the Arts, Empie Theater

This year’s ’Berg New Works project will be a community-wide 24-hour play festival centered on the Center for Ethics theme “Transform, Translate, Transcend.” All members of the Muhlenberg community, alumni, LVAIC schools, and neighbors in the Lehigh Valley are invited to participate. Participants may register as performers, playwrights, or directors and will be randomly partnered into teams to collaborate in a fast-paced creative process and present short new plays on the Empie stage. Kicking off the festival will be guest playwright and Muhlenberg alum Avery Deutsch ’16. Sign up here by January 31.

Krishanu Saha, Ph.D.
“Translating CRISPR into Medicines: Challenges and Opportunities”
April 13, 7 p.m.
Seegers Union, Event Space

Since its discovery in 2012, CRISPR gene editing has transformed biology and is now reshaping medicine. This talk examines the translation of CRISPR from its discovery in bacteria to its approval as a drug, situated within the ethical, social, and political contexts that shape modern biomedicine. Drawing on work with national and international efforts, like the NIH Somatic Cell Genome Editing Consortium and the Global Observatory for Genome Editing, this talk will explore what it means to guide this powerful technology toward societal benefit.

Kirshanu Saha, a professor of biomedical engineering at University of Wisconsin-Madison and a faculty associate at the Global Observatory for Genome Editing, holds the Retina Research Foundation Kathryn and Latimer Murfee Chair at the McPherson Eye Research Institute. His lab, located at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, focuses on gene editing of the retina and cell therapy production through genome editing.