Exploring Ethics

Cumberland Lodge strongly encourages all visiting student groups hosting subsidised retreats to include an Exploring Ethics session in their programme.

Inspired by our founding principles as an educational charity focused on developing ethical leadership, our Exploring Ethics sessions are designed to encourage students to reflect critically on the moral, cultural, and intergenerational dimensions of contemporary social challenges. 

These reflective and interactive sessions usually last one to two hours, although longer sessions from half to a full day can also be developed.

Available Exploring Ethics sessions

The following sessions are indicative. We are happy to discuss your needs and adapt workshops to suit your timetable and areas of interest:

Disagreeing Well

Dialogue and debate is at the heart of what we do. We argue, we disagree, but we aim to disagree well. At a time when our politics is so polarised and social media has created echo chambers and trolls, this interactive workshop is designed to help participants understand their own communication preferences, to recognise the different values systems from which communication styles and disagreement can emerge, and to develop strategies in order to argue well alongside respect for differences of opinion.

Participants will:

  • learn how value systems impact on communication styles and content,
  • develop the ability to recognise their own and others’ communication styles and preferences,
  • identify and practice strategies to enable them to ‘elegantly challenge’ differences of opinion with respect.
Ethics and AI

The intersection between ethics, AI, machine learning and our digital futures is a pressing concern. This session explores how ethical frameworks might impact on the creation, ownership, dissemination and use of artificial intelligence and digital technologies, from the workplace to home. 

Everyday Ethics

Working with participants we develop an understanding of where our ethical frameworks come from, how they inform our ideas about what is ‘good’, and how they impact on our decision making in both our personal and professional lives.  

Navigating Differences

Living in complex, culturally diverse societies, where debates on national values and identity can generate conflict, there is a need to develop skills that enable us to live and work together better. This session focuses on understanding cultural differences, where they come from, their impact on communication, leadership and team work, and how we can negotiate moving forward.

Participants will:

  • develop an understanding of what culture is and how it impacts on their work and social environment,
  • identify how to work with personal and emotional responses to difference that can fuel discomfort and conflict,
  • identify and practice skills to enable them to work more effectively in diverse settings,
  • and begin to analyse and develop strategies to enhance social cohesion and belonging.
The Ethics of Free Speech

Polarisation in current political debates centres on the limits of ‘free speech’: is the answer to ‘bad’ speech more ‘good’ speech, or do we have a responsibility at times to restrict speech in order to prevent harm. This session provides space for that ethical dilemma to be analysed and discussed from different perspectives.

The Future of Democracy

In light of a perceived decline in democracy globally, we explore questions such as: 

  • how politics and ethics could/should work together? 
  • how can ethics be embedded in our democratic institutions and practices?
  • what is the role of ethics in the rule of law?

Find out more

To find out more, please contact our Programme team at programmeteam@cumberlandlodge.ac.uk