FASPE

About the organization

FASPE was founded in response to two distinct yet interrelated societal forces. The first was a growing concern over the rampant breakdown of ethical values in several of our most important and respected professions. The second was the challenge of memorialization and education as the Holocaust becomes more distant over time. It is FASPE’s challenge to draw contemporary meaning and currency from the increasingly distant Nazi period through the study of the ethical breakdown of the professions in Nazi Germany and what can be learned from this regarding the ethical responsibilities of professionals in our day. In 2019, FASPE awarded fellowships to 69 individuals (14 in Business, 14 in Journalism, 13 in Law, 14 in Medical and 14 in Seminary) out of a large pool of applicants from across the United States and abroad. FASPE’s fellowship programs are led by distinguished faculty comprised of university professors and practicing professionals in the five disciplines, along with leading ethicists and historians who have specific expertise in the role of the professions in Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe from 1933 to 1945. FASPE has also been playing a growing role in the public discourse around contemporary ethical issues in the professions through published commentary and participation on public panels by FASPE staff, faculty, and fellows.