Speaker to Address Changing Nature of War Feb. 3

Davidson College's Vann Ethics Center invites the public, Monday, Feb. 3, to a talk concerning "Ethics and the Changing Nature of War."

Professor Martin L. Cook of the Naval War College will present the subject beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Chambers Building, Hance Auditorium. There is no charge to attend.

Cook is the Admiral James Bond Stockdale Professor of Professional Military Ethics at the U.S. Naval War College. He previously served as Professor of Philosophy at the Air Force Academy, Professor of Ethics and Elihu Root Chair of Military Studies at the Army War College, and a tenured member of the religion faculty at Santa Clara University.

He also has taught at St. Xavier University, Gustavus Adolphus College, The College of William and Mary, and the Graduate Institute of St. John's College, and has lectured on military ethics in the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, France, The Netherlands, Hong Kong and Norway.

Cook is the author of the books The Moral Warrior: Ethics and Service in the U.S. Military (2003), and Issues in Military Ethics: To Support and Defend the Constitution (2013). He is co-editor of The Journal of Military Ethics, and serves on the editorial board of Parameters, published by the Army War College. He also has published several dozen articles in scholarly journals. Cook graduated from the University of Illinois summa cum laude, and earned masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Cook's talk is funded by the Richard Davoud Donchian Foundation as part of a lecture series on Ethics in Professional Life, hosted by the Vann Center for Ethics.

Established through a generous gift from Davidson alumnus James Vann Jr. and Lee Stanton Vann, the Vann Center promotes moral inquiry and imagination, careful analysis and reflection, civil dialogue and responsible action. It was dedicated in November 2009, and is located on the historic campus in Eumenean Hall. The Vann Center is led by Director David L. Perry, who also serves on the faculty as Professor of Applied Ethics.

For more information on the upcoming forum or other Vann Center events, contact Amber MacIntyre at 704-894-2095.