Roundtable with Kyoto Prize Laureate Dr. Carol Gilligan, UC San Diego, SDSU & UC Davis scholars, on moral voice & listening.

The public is invited to a roundtable featuring famed psychologist and Kyoto Prize Laureate Dr. Carol Gilligan in conversation with philosophers Manuel Vargas (UC San Diego), Saba Bazargan-Forward (UC San Diego), Joseph Stramondo (San Diego State University), and Hannah Tierney (UC Davis). This moderated discussion brings philosophical perspectives into dialogue with Gilligan’s influential work, exploring questions of moral voice, care, and ethical responsibility.

Dr. Gilligan is hosted by Professor Jonathan Cohen of the UC San Diego School of Arts and Humanities.

Carol Gilligan is the 2025 Kyoto Prize Laureate in Arts and Philosophy. She has critiqued conventional psychological theories for narrowing the model of personality development and relegating the “care” perspective—which emphasizes human relationships—to a subordinate, gendered status as a feminine moral perspective. By envisioning an enmeshment of the “ethic of justice” and “ethic of care,” Gilligan has established a new academic foundation to address global issues related to care.