Academic Background:
B.A. MacMurray CollegeM.Div. Christian Theological Seminary
M.A. University of Chicago
Ph. D. University of Chicago
Contact Information:
(937) 327- 7402
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Profile
Dr. Warren R. Copeland, Professor of Religion, is noted for his scholarship in social ethics. He co-edited an introductory text on social ethics, Issues of Justice, and writes on topics such as welfare, racism, economic policy, energy, and Third World development. Copeland's research focuses on ethics and economics, which is reflected in his book Economic Justice: The Social Ethics of U.S. Economic Policy. Copeland also studies welfare reform, the subject of his book And the Poor Get Welfare. Receiving several grants to pursue these studies, Copeland received the Distinguished Teaching Award from Wittenberg's Alumni Association in 1995. Copeland has designed numerous courses, including The Ethics of Limits: Hunger and Energy, Ethics of Racism, The Ethics of Poverty, The Ethics of Political Economy, and Ethics and Urban Life. In addition to directing the Urban Studies Program, Copeland was the first director of Wittenberg's Common Learning Program. Appointed to the Springfield City Commission in 1988, he has been elected four times to four-year terms. The Commission selected him three times to two-year terms as mayor. Copeland's B.A. comes from MacMurray College, which named him Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 1983. He earned his M.Div. from Christian Theological Seminary and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He joined the Wittenberg faculty in 1977.