Pugwash Pledge of Ethics Relaunched

We’re very pleased to announce the relaunch of the Pugwash Pledge, a program that we successfully ran in the 1990s and 2000s, with some new twists. Meant for students and young professionals going into STEM fields or with a strong lay interest in STEM, the Pledge is a commitment to always bring ethical considerations into account when making decisions in their careers, and in their actions and thinking regarding STEM policy issues.

What’s new about the Pledge is that we’ve reimagined it as a self-study certificate course, to ensure that those taking the Pledge give serious thought to ethical issues. The Pledger spends some time reviewing optional selections from a menu of course materials on ethics issues, and is asked to add their own choices of materials that speak directly to their careers or STEM interests. We provide them with sample text for their Pledge, which they can amend or rewrite as they require during their studies to make it fit their conclusions. During their studies, we’ll have occasional “office hours” where they can discuss their work with other Pledgers and mentors. They then submit their Pledge along with a brief essay or similar work demonstrating the seriousness they’ve brought to the program.

Upon completion and review, we’ll provide them with a certificate with their Pledge, intended to be a visual reminder going forward of their commitment. Pledgers submitting exceptional essays and Pledges will be awarded Honors on their certificate; we intend to collect these essays and Pledges into an annual ebook or similar publication.

How you can get involved with the Pledge:

• We’re relying on our members, supporters, and friends to get the word out about the Pledge. If you know any students (high school to PhD) or young professionals who might be interested in the Pledge—and if you are one—please point them our way. (Not-so-young professionals are also welcome.)

• We’re looking for a wider selection to include on the menu of suggested study materials. Ideally we want lists broken down by topical category so students can get started with readings and media in their own field, no matter which area of the broader STEM umbrella they focus upon.

• Submissions are not graded per se, but we will review them for seriousness and demonstration of commitment, as well as an ethical perspective that’s not opposed to Pugwash values. We also want to pick out the best submissions for Honors awards, and make ongoing changes to the suggested curriculum. If you’re interested in serving in these roles, we can use the help.

Reach out to contact@studentpugwash.org for any of the above, and thanks in advance for your support.

Student Pugwash Events, Past and Upcoming

Like everyone else, our intentions for events over the past year were hugely disrupted by the pandemic, and we’re still figuring out how to navigate the post-COVID landscape, especially in areas where “post-COVID” is premature. Highlights of our past and planned future events include:

• We just wrapped the hybrid onsite/virtual Thinkers Lodge Summit on the Nuclear and Climate Crises, which Student Pugwash USA and International Student/Young Pugwash co-sponsored. Thinkers Lodge was the site of the first Pugwash Conference in 1957 and many Pugwash events held since. We’ve supported previous Summits which, like this one, featured student and young participants, and look forward to upcoming Summits planned for 2022 and beyond.

• We presented a panel on “Ethics in STEM Careers: The Pugwash Approach” at the STGlobal conference in April. STGlobal is a graduate-student-led organization of academics and practitioners in social and policy dimensions of science and technology. If you want to hear what we had to say, the panel is on YouTube.

• We're working with students at Yale on an upcoming series of events of interdisciplinary conversations between scientists and the social scientists who study the impacts of that work. The Yale team is running the show for their local events; we're going to run with the ball afterwards by virtualizing the events and working to bring the program to other campuses.

• We’re looking forward to sending students to the January 2022 International Seminar on Disarmament and Research into Conflicts (ISODARCO) in Andalo, Italy, a program of the Italian Pugwash Group. Applications are open until November 8. And we’re hoping to send students to the next  “Senior” Pugwash Conference, the most recent of which in Doha, Qatar in March 2020 had to be cancelled due to COVID.

• Student Pugwash USA has sent and will be sending representatives or co-sponsoring events at several upcoming conferences, including Netroots Nation and the annual meeting of the American Academy of the Advancement of Sciences. If you know of an event where we should be present, or want to be an ambassador for us to an event you're attending, let us know.

Coordination with International Student/Young Pugwash

As you may be aware, Student Pugwash USA is one of many Student Pugwash national groups around the world, all coordinated by International Student/Young Pugwash (ISYP). ISYP just elected their new Board, and we’re very pleased that two of our Board members are simultaneously serving on theirs. We look forward to collaborating closely with ISYP, offering our resources to help out other Student Pugwash national groups and the Pugwash movement as a whole.

If you’re one of our international members or friends and want to be put in touch with your National Group (or form one where there isn’t one), get in touch with us and we’ll connect you to the right people in ISYP.

Get Involved with Student Pugwash and the Rotblat Society

We’re looking forward to launching more programs in the near future, and we expect to have more news in next month’s newsletter. But one thing we haven’t been able to do yet is launch an ongoing online community. We simply need more members to get that off the ground: more student members to interact, hold Pugwash-style discussions, and organize their own events and activities; more Rotblat Society members to act as mentors, create professional networks, and provide the resources we need to support the students.

If you haven’t already joined Student Pugwash or the Rotblat Society, please consider doing so. Your membership will include you in conversations about what we’re doing and what we plan to do; more importantly, your presence as an involved member makes you part of the network we want to create. We intend the best part of Pugwash membership to be “all other Pugwash members,” and to create in-person and virtual spaces that facilitate valuable interaction. Join us and help us build and shape that community.