On Thurs., September 5 Creighton played host to a presentation called “Religion in the Workplace: A Support for Ethics or an Obstacle to Business?” The presentation was given by Robert Audi, Ph.D. John A. O’Brien Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Management, University of Notre Dame. Powering through the ever-present sound of construction at the Harper Center, Audi examined the role of religion in business and public policy.
“Religion is a growing presence in the work place…Now religion can unite people and it can also divide people” Audi said. “One question for business is how to draw on the strength and inspiration that religion at its best can bring while preventing the splintering and fragmentation that can occur when religion divides people.”
In an attempt to answer this question, Audi touched upon church-state relations, questions of institution and individual, business relationships, and more. The lecture focused on ethics, what one ought to do, rather than what one has the right to do.
Itself a religious institution, hosting students and staff of varying backgrounds and beliefs, the lecture was of great pertinence to Creighton. Of academic institutions, Audi said, “Teaching is a sacred trust…There must be a distinction made between teaching about religion and preaching it.”
The event was sponsored by the Kripke Center, an organization that, in the words of its director, Ronald Simkins, Ph.d Professor of Old Testament and Near Eastern Studies, “seeks to address the intersection of religion and society”. Simkins went on to say that the lecture was, “right in line with the mission of the center”.
The lecture was additionally sponsored by the College of Business, to which the lecture’s topic was particularly relevant.
“Creighton’s College of Business understands that we are part of the greater Jesuit mission of Creighton University” said Andrew Gustafson, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Business Ethics and Society. “Business is the most powerful institution in society today, and so people of faith who are involved in business can have a transformative effect on society as we apply our values to the way we live and work.”
The co-sponsorship of the event by the Kripke Center and the College of Business afforded the opportunity for a cross-disciplinary event the kind of which Gustafson said we ought to “encourage.”
On the collaboration between the Kripke Center and the College of Business Gustafson said, “The Business College needs to learn from Arts and Sciences and professional schools, and they can learn things from the College of Business as well. The more collaboration, the better!”
The event was the first in a series called “Business, Faith and Society”, which will be continued in future lectures annually.