In an extended interview, philosopher Douglas B. Rasmussen responds to a series of questions about his life and work.

Dr. Rasmussen is a professor of philosophy at St. John’s University in New York. In addition to the books discussed in the interview, he is the author of articles in American Philosophical Quarterly, The Review of Metaphysics, International Philosophical Quarterly, and many scholarly anthologies.

Watch the interview at Dr. Stephen Hicks’s site.

Related: Stephen Hicks interviews Douglas Rasmussen about Philippa Foot’s Natural Goodness.

Dr. Stephen Hicks, CEE’s Executive Director, was invited last month to the Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala to give a series of lectures on business ethics and political economy. Here is a Spanish-language interview in Siglo 21, in which Dr. Hicks discusses business ethics and entrepreneurship. Below is a video interview with Dr. Hicks conducted by Luis Figueroa on corporate social responsibility:

CEE Professor Shawn Klein announced a call for abstracts for the First Annual Rockford College Sports Studies Symposium on his Who Needs Philosophy blog. From the announcement:

Call for Abstracts

1st Annual Rockford College Sports Studies Symposium:
An interdisciplinary conference on the study of Sport.
Date: April 28, 2012

Rockford College
5050 E. State. St.
Rockford, IL 61073

Whether one is a participant, a casual spectator, a die-hard fan, or a critic, sport, in all its varieties and forms, play a significant role in the lives of most people through out the world. Sports and competitions have long been a part of human civilization and raise a wide range of important philosophical and ethical issues.

This symposium will bring together a panel of scholars to discuss philosophical themes or issues arising in the study of Sport. The focus of the panel will depend, in part, on the submitted abstracts. Each presenter on a panel will have 20 minutes for their presentation. This will be followed by 10-15 minutes for panelists to respond to each other and then 15 minutes or more for audience Q&A. There will also be a panel on the Rhetoric of Sport.

Abstract Submission:
Submissions are welcome on any philosophical theme or issue arising in the study of Sport. Abstract should be 300-500 words. Send via email (as PDF) to sklein_at_rockford_dot_edu.

Deadline: January 6th, 2012
Notification of Acceptance: February 1st, 2012

If you have any questions, please contact Shawn Klein (Assistant Professor, Philosophy Department) at 815-226-4115 or sklein_at_rockford_dot_edu or Michael Perry (Assistant Professor, English Department) at 815-226-4098 or mperry_at_rockford_dot_edu.

Dr. Stephen Hicks, CEE’s Executive Director, talks with Federico Fernández and Martin Sarano, co-founders of Bases Foundation, on the political and economic climate in Argentina.

Part I:

Part II:

Dr. Stephen Hicks, CEE’s Executive Director, talks with Phyllis Johnson about entrepreneurship, coffee, and empowering women in Africa.

Part I:

Part II:

For more information about the organizations Ms. Johnson works with, go to:

International Trade Center

Export Impact For Good YouTube Channel

International Women’s Coffee Alliance

Dr. Stephen Hicks, CEE’s executive director, talks with guest speaker Alexei Marcoux about moral partiality in business practice.

Part I:

Part II:

The Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship welcomes Dr. Alexei Marcoux to Rockford College this Thursday, September 29, from 11 am to 12:15 pm, in Scarborough 208. Dr. Marcoux will give a talk on moral partiality in business practice.

Alexei Marcoux is Associate Professor of Business Ethics in the School of Business Administration at Loyola University Chicago, Senior Research Fellow in the Center for Spiritual Capital at Loyola University New Orleans, and Policy Advisor to the Heartland Institute. His research and teaching in business ethics focus on the moral contours of commercial transactions and the role of partiality in ethical business practice.

All members of the campus community are welcome to attend.

View a PDF of the flyer for Dr. Marcoux’s talk here.

Dr. Stephen Hicks, CEE’s executive director, talks with guest speaker Douglas Den Uyl about the essence of capitalism.

In our latest issue of Kaizen we feature an interview with Francesco Clark, founder and CEO of Clark’s Botanicals. At age 24, he became paralyzed from the neck down after a swimming pool accident. Some physicians thought he would never move or breathe without assistance again. But with great effort over several years, Mr. Clark made strong progress and, given his physical-therapy experiences, developed an award-winning line of skin-care products that became Clark’s Botanicals, now sold in Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Also featured in Kaizen are: student essay contest winners Nicole Schnack, Jake Maliszewski, and William Newkirk; High School Entrepreneur Day, Professor Jules Gleicher’s new course, and guest speaker Dr. Al Gini.

A PDF version of Kaizen is available here. We will soon post separately the full interview with Mr.Francesco Clark.

If you would like to receive a complimentary issue of the print version of Kaizen, please email your name and postal address to CEE [at] Rockford.edu.

In “Teaching Capitalism in the Last Days of the USSR,” Steve Mariotti discusses his experience teaching capitalism and business to students in the final days of the USSR as it was changing to Russia.

Mariotti is a Kaizen interviewee and the founder of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). Before NFTE, Mariotti was a successful entrepreneur and a teacher in some of New York’s most challenging schools. Because of his innovative methods for teaching business concepts, Mariotti was named Teacher of the Year for New York State in 1988.