Rocky Mountain Ethics Congress

Julia Nefsky (Toronto) giving a talk at RoME IV

Poster session at RoME V

Jeff McMahan (Oxford) talking about military ethics at RoME V

Roksana Alavi (South Texas College) during the poster session at RoME III

RoME founder and co-organizer Alastair Norcross presiding over RoME VI

Keynote speaker Judith Jarvis Thomson (MIT) at RoME II

Annual Saturday hike during RoME VII

Mylan Engel giving a talk at RoME IV

Eva Dadlez (Central Oklahoma) has been to RoME every year since its inception

Frances Kamm (Harvard) keynote address on the trolley problem at RoME VI

Annual Saturday hike during RoME VII

Molly Gardner and Eric Wiland having trouble accepting the thesis of a talk at RoME VI

Apparently entertaining talk during RoME VII

Bonnie Steinbock (SUNY Albany) keynote address at RoME I

RoME

Eighteenth annual
Rocky Mountain Ethics Congress
University of Colorado, Boulder
August 7-10, 2025
Boulder, Colorado

an international conference geared to offer the highest quality, highest altitude discussion of ethics, broadly conceived

Call for Papers

The Center for Values and Social Policy in the Philosophy Department at the University of Colorado Boulder is pleased to invite paper proposals to our annual RoME Congress.

Papers from all areas of ethics and political theory are invited.

This year, RoME will have a special section dedicated to normative issues in the philosophy of law—"RoMan Law”. While our understanding of the philosophy of law is broad, papers addressing the intersection of law, ethics, and political theory will be particularly welcome. Examples of relevant topics could include self-defense, burdens of proof, legal causation, political legitimacy, civil liability, private property, promising, consent, and punishment.

Keynotes: Saba Bazargan-Forward (UCSD) and Ishani Maitra (Michigan)

Format
As we have done since 2021, all sessions will be both in-person and on Zoom. Although our preferred format is in-person, we wish to encourage as much participation as possible, so remote participation will be an option for presenters, commentators, and audience members. Please indicate in your submission whether you anticipate participating remotely (in-person participation is the default).

Awards and Support
To encourage participation of junior scholars, as well as scholarship in underrepresented branches of ethics, the University of Colorado offers two targeted awards. Applicants may submit their paper to as many prizes as they are eligible, though please be sure to read the eligibility criteria:

First, as we have for over fifteen years, we award the Young Ethicist Prize (YEP) of $500 for most meritorious submission by an early career scholar. The prize competition is open to any participating untenured (or equivalent) philosopher (including, but not limited to, tenure-track faculty, instructors, and graduate students).

Second, since 2017 we have been awarding the Minorities and Philosophy Ethicist Prize (MAP) of $500 for the most meritorious submission on a topic that addresses a moral, social, political, or legal question or set of questions (i) relating to issues in the profession regarding members of under-represented groups, (ii) regarding philosophy of gender, race, sexual orientation, class, disability, native language, etc. or (iii) addressing normative philosophical questions from an under-represented group perspective.

Deadlines
- Submission of abstracts: March 31, 2025.
- Notification of acceptance: Early to Late May, 2025.
- Full paper submission for Young Ethicist Prize and MAP Prize Consideration: June 30, 2025.

Format
= Abstracts only (750-1000 words). Shorter or longer abstracts will not be accepted.
= Double spaced, prepared for blind-review.

(Anticipate full papers at half-hour reading time or 4500 words, whichever is shorter.)

In order to be considered for the YEP or MAP, complete papers must be submitted by June 30, 2025 and abstracts must have already been accepted for participation.

Announcement of a winner will be made at the event.

Indicate in your submission whether you would consider being a commentator on another paper, should your paper not be accepted to the conference for presentation.

Please submit abstracts electronically (in Word format) to Benjamin Hale (bhale@colorado.edu) and Alastair Norcross (Alastair.Norcross@colorado.edu). For record-keeping purposes, please submit with your document title in the following format: [Lastname], [Firstname] -- [Title].docx

(For example: Hale, Benjamin -- How to Title a RoME Paper.docx)

Visit our website at https://www.colorado.edu/cvsp/events/rocky-mountain-ethics-congress

Galleries of past RoME Congresses (and other CU talks) can be found here. Galleries for individual RoME congresses can also be found at:

RoME II: https://prettygoodpics.smugmug.com/Chronological/2009/2009-15-RoME/

RoME III: https://prettygoodpics.smugmug.com/Chronological/2010/8-RoME-2010

RoME V: https://prettygoodpics.smugmug.com/Chronological/2012/26-RoME-V

RoME VI: https://prettygoodpics.smugmug.com/Chronological/2013/23-RoME-VI

RoME VII: https://prettygoodpics.smugmug.com/Chronological/2014/20-RoME-VII

RoME X: https://prettygoodpics.smugmug.com/Chronological/2017/19-RoME-X

RoME XI: https://prettygoodpics.smugmug.com/Chronological/2018/9-RoME-XI

RoME XII: https://anorcross.smugmug.com/Events/CU-Events/RoME-XII

RoME XIV: https://anorcross.smugmug.com/Events/CU-Events/RoME-XIV-RoME-Prius