Episode 28 of Liberal Arts Voices is also our first podcast of the 2011-12 academic year.  To all our dedicated listeners out there, we are happy to say we’re back!  What better way to start our season than with a thrilling conversation on a current hot topic: food ethics.

Brill Professor of Women’s Studies, English, and Science Technology and Society Susan Squier and History major and Paterno Fellow Lisa Lotito join Liberal Arts Voices to discuss numerous issues at the center of contemporary food ethics debates.  This podcast was inspired by the recent event “Key Issues in Food Ethics: A Paterno Fellows Town Hall Forum” in which faculty members and first-year aspiring and admitted Paterno Fellows discussed similar topics.

Professor Squier, Dean Long, and Lisa continue the conversation on this episode of Liberal Arts Voices. They consider a variety of relevant topics and questions. What do people think of when they hear terms like organic, local, and sustainable?  Is there a disparity between expert knowledge in this field and beginners’ understandings of these issues? What is our responsibility to the production and consumption of the food we eat?  How do personal, social and economic factors contribute to an ontology of ignorance? (You have to listen to the podcast to figure out what ontology of ignorance means). What do undergraduate students think about these issues and why?  How is or should Penn State be engaging with these issues?

If you are interested in these issues, make sure to check out the Rock Ethics Institute’s 2011-12 Lecture Series on Food Ethics.  Distinct faculty members and specialists will be speaking on campus throughout the year on a variety of topics related to food ethics.  In the meantime, listen to Episode 28 of Liberal Arts Voices:

Liberal Arts Voices: Episode 28

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We encourage all of our listeners to write to us with comments, questions, or suggestions at laus@la.psu.edu. We may even respond to these comments on the next episode of Liberal Arts Voices.