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The Professions and Civic Culture

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013

This project explores the role of specific professions in a modern, liberal democratic society and their effect on the civic culture of the nation. Each essay analyzes and comments on a profession and its impact on the character and quality of American citizenship today. Among the questions we will address are:

  • What is distinctive (or not) about the specific profession as it came to be practiced in the United States?
  • Given the specialized knowledge, training, and sometimes licensing of a profession, what do the professions perceive to be their role in promoting the larger common good? Is that perspective adequate? If not, what might its shortfalls be and how might one develop a corrective for those shortfalls?
  • Is the “ethic” of a particular profession at odds with the American conception of self-government and/or a healthy civic life?

To learn more about our work, please contact Rebecca Burgess at [email protected].