Ethics and Economics

From Business to Government - Where Ethics and Economics Meet

The Ethics and Economics Summer Program encourages students to consider the tradeoffs that ethical leaders must consider when determining the economic needs of society.

What happens when ethics and economics meet? Some say they don’t. Others say they can’t. Still others say they won’t. We say they do.

The Ethics and Economics program supports participants as they broaden their awareness of ethical issues surrounding business and financial best-practices, and their overall impact on the economy at large. Students consider values such as fairness, justice and empathy while also weighing opportunity costs, scarcity risks and consequences.

PROGRAM DETAILS

During this week-long program, students will engage in thinking ethically about economics. Each day will feature a guest speaker, including leading economists, government officials and experts in the industry. As the participants learn about the complexities of an economy, they will apply that knowledge as a leader of a society that they will create along the way. Students will:

Consider tradeoffs, understanding opportunity cost
Explore land, labor and capital in terms of scarcity
Compare and analyze competing viewpoints
Understand that all economies are built on three questions:
What goods and services are produced?
Who produces them?
Who consumes them?

OUTCOMES

At the end of the week, students will be able to :

Apply the Ethical Decision-Making Method to complex economic situations
Understand key economic principles, including tradeoffs, scarcity, inflation, goods and services, supply and demand, revenue and markets
Determine the best economic system for a society, given its priorities
Create an ethical economy

Dr. Karen Rezach

Dr. Karen Rezach is the Ethics Institute's Founding Director and is a leader in primary and secondary school ethics education.

Her doctoral research, “Spiritual Leadership as a Model of Effective Leadership in Independent School,” explores the ways that educators can bring values and moral awareness into non-sectarian settings, and was the catalyst for the founding of the Ethics Institute at Kent Place School.

She has an M.Div. from Yale University, an Ed.D. from Seton Hall University is an ordained Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Newark and serves on numerous boards in the community.

Dr. Rezach is the coach of the National Champion Kent Place High School Ethics Bowl Team.

She has 23 years of experience as an independent school administrator, including Director of the Middle School at Kent Place and Assistant Head of School at St. Philip’s in Newark, New Jersey.

Alicia Rodriguez

Alicia Rodriguez joined Kent Place in 2017 after a 12-year career at Summit High School. Ms. Rodriguez served as 8th grade team leader for three years and has volunteered to be a member of the admission committee and economic and financial literacy task force. Ms. Rodriguez also helped to develop the curriculum for the new mathematics pathways program. In 2022, Ms. Rodriguez was honored at Princeton University as one of four recipients of the Distinguished Secondary Educators Award.

PROGRAM INFORMATION

DATES: June 26–30, 2023

Participants who enroll are asked to commit to the full program.

TIME: 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

LOCATION: Kent Place School campus

WHO: The program is open to rising 9–12 grade students, both KPS and non-KPS students. This program is coed and capped at 20 participants.

COST: $1100 with scholarships available; includes lunch, a field trip, and materials. 10% discount for KPS faculty/staff children.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: May 15, 2023

Registration will open on Friday, December 9.