Name: Ann Thebaut
Title/Institution: Director, Center for Applied Ethics and Humanities, Santa Fe College
APPE member since: 2016

You were just elected to the APPE Board of Directors.  What type of role do you hope to play on the board?
It truly is an honor to have been elected to serve on APPE’s Board of Directors. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to give back to an organization that has played such a key role in my own development as an educator, ethicist, and public philosopher. As a board member, I hope to expand the reach of APPE’s programming to individuals and institutions not currently engaged with APPE. In particular, I would like to find ways to connect APPE to more ethics educators working with underserved student populations at institutions such as community colleges, which currently enroll approximately 40% of all college students in the United States. Additionally, I’d like to support APPE’s efforts at expanding opportunities for increased connection and support between its members. Through membership in APPE, we have a wealth of expertise and experience at our disposal—let’s find ways to tap into this unique consortium to maximize our collective impact on the advancement of APPE’s mission!

You are a longtime Ethics Bowl coach and founded the team at Santa Fe College.  How did you get involved in Ethics Bowl, and how has it impacted your students’ lives?
I stumbled across Ethics Bowl ten years ago, when I was teaching an Intro to Ethics course at one of Santa Fe College’s rural branch campuses. I was looking for a way to teach ethics that really got the students thinking through and discussing with one another current ethical issues. Some Google searching led me to information about Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl and APPE. The Ethics Bowl model was just the ticket for engaging my students in meaningful dialogue about issues that mattered to them. Shortly thereafter, I attended one of APPE’s Summer Ethics Bowl Workshops, where I learned more about IEB competitions, met other IEB coaches, and got the support and guidance I needed to start a team at SF. We’ve fielded an IEB team for nine years and have supported a high school Ethics Bowl team for five years. The impact that this academic team activity has had on our students can’t be overstated. Many of our students come into the academic arena with imposter syndrome, not sure if they belong in college. Participating in Ethics Bowl competition, sitting across the table from students hailing from some of the most prestigious colleges and universities across the country, while holding their own is life-changing for many of them. SF’s Ethics Bowl alumni have gone on to complete prestigious undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs and have become ethically engaged civic leaders—I like to think that their Ethics Bowl experience served as a springboard for their successes. As one former team member recently said, “This has changed my life for the better and I couldn’t imagine myself not having been a part of Ethics Bowl.”

Santa Fe College is part of a group that includes many APPE members partnering on something called the Intercollegiate Civil Disagreement Partnership (ICDP).  Tell us about it.
The Intercollegiate Civil Disagreement Partnership (ICDP) is a consortium of six colleges and universities across the US that collectively provides a year-long hybrid fellowship experience for students at those institutions focused on developing students’ abilities to engage in and lead conversations about difficult, timely topics. These skills are seen as being important for developing students’ capacity for leadership, civic engagement, and personal development. As the ICDP has developed over the course of its five-year history, its mission has become promoting undergraduate student flourishing through a character-based approach to civil disagreement and dialogue across differences. The six partnering institutions—Harvard University, California State University Bakersfield, St. Philip’s College, Stanford University, DePauw University, and Santa Fe College—are diverse geographically, in their structure, and in the students they serve, which has provided unique character-building opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds to interact across many dimensions of difference. Moving forward, the consortium aims to expand the reach and depth of ICDP programming, both externally to other academic institutions and internally on participating institutions’ own campuses. My fellow ICDP institutional coordinators, who are active APPE members, include Jess Miner (Harvard), Collin Anthony Chen (Stanford), Nate Olson (Cal State Bakersfield), Jeff Dunn (DePauw), and Tony Givhan (St. Philip’s).

As the academic year comes to a close, what are you most looking forward to in the months ahead?
Summer is my time to take a deep breath and slow down a bit. It’s been quite a year, particularly here in Florida, so I’m looking forward this summer to reflecting on the current landscape and imagining how my work can more positively impact my students, my college, and my community. Summer is also my time to reconnect with family and friends. I have two daughters and a soon-to-be 3-year-old grandson—spending time with them is a top priority, which necessitates travel to LA and to Oxford in the UK. Once I’ve recharged my batteries a bit, I’ll be excited and ready to start a new academic year and begin my term as an APPE board member. Here’s hoping you all have a wonderful summer!