SUMMER MENTORING PROGRAM MODULES
JUNE 15th - JULY 10th, 2026
The UCI Ethics Center selects a few promising students for a mentoring program each summer. We plan a full online program again in 2026, open to qualified college, graduate, and high school students worldwide. Applications are now open, and students may apply to our online program by completing the application below. There is no cost for this intense mentoring program. No recommendations are required. You need only to (1) complete the short form at the end of this announcement and (2) pay a small processing fee. Students for whom the fee presents a financial hardship may request a waiver by contacting Andrada Costoiu, Director of the Summer Program, at andradac@uci.edu. Please note that all waiver requests must include documentation demonstrating financial hardship, so that we may ensure the process is fair and equitable for all applicants.
LINK TO APPLICATION:
Online program. The 2026 summer mentoring program will be exclusively online. Thus, we will accept students worldwide for a virtual mentoring program from June 15th - July 10th, 2026. Students will meet twice a week, in groups of 15-30 students, as part of a mentoring program that will provide hands-on experience in various forms of research. The research activities will teach many different skills, from basic library research that might be used in a literature review to skill sets such as SPSS or other computational programs and introduction to data analysis of various kinds, from archival data, aggregate data, interviews, survey data, and narrative-interpretive analysis. No prior experience with ethics is required. We ask that students be interested in working with a university faculty member or a graduate student mentor.
There is no charge for the program, just a modest processing fee. Please note that this fee is non-refundable. There is no charge for the program itself. To handle the increased demand and to keep the mentoring experience a high-quality one, small enough to retain its personal aspect, we have been forced to ask for a modest processing fee ($246).
Anyone who wishes to contribute further to the Ethics Center to defray costs for other students who may have financial constraints may do so here: Donate Now. We appreciate all your support, which is vital in keeping this program available at no cost.
Modules. Students will be allowed to participate in only one module but may ask to be waitlisted for an over-subscribed module. We will try to assign each student to their preferred module. We will add extra modules if demand requires it to keep the numbers below 30 for each module. (If demand is high for one particular module, then we will try to offer more than one session of that specific module.) We will review applications and send out the first acceptances by January 30th, 2025. Thereafter, admissions will be rolling, with acceptances sent on the 1st and the 15th of each month until May.
TA Applications: We highly value the dedication and expertise of our Teaching Assistants (TAs) and prioritize applicants who have previously completed our course or are highly recommended by their mentors or instructors. Due to the competitive nature of the position and our commitment to maintaining a high-quality learning environment, we accept only a limited number of TAs each summer session. A detailed description of the required application materials can be found at the following link: TA Requirements.
Waiver. Participants in the program who are under 18 on June 15th, 2026, must have a waiver signed by their parents before they can begin the program. Waivers will be sent out by May 20th via email and must be received 2 weeks before the program begins. In the past, we have contacted people who forgot to submit their waivers. The program's size now makes this unfeasible, so the student must make sure their parents submit the waiver before the specified deadline. Students under 18 cannot be admitted to the program until the waiver is signed and submitted.
Application form. The application process is simple and requires no recommendations. Please complete the application (below). Students are allowed to take only one module.
We are delighted to post the following initial modules scheduled for the summer of 2026. If the demand is there, we will post additional modules later. We want to keep all modules below 30 so students can get the personal attention this program is designed to provide. Thank you for your interest in our program.
MODULES
Module 1. The Ethics of AI. David Rosten. UCI Graduate, degree in International and Comparative Law from the University of San Diego, former co-chair of the Dean’s Council at UCI.
Back by popular demand, one of our most well-liked mentors, lawyer/entrepreneur/UCI alum David Rosten, will again offer one module. This year, David tackles the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI). Discussions will focus on a wide range of ethical issues, from privacy and surveillance to bias and discrimination, accountability and transparency, job displacement, environmental impact, and the potential for misuse through deepfakes and misinformation. Rosten adopts a multidisciplinary approach to help students interested in understanding how best to ensure AI development is fair, safe, and beneficial to society. Time taught TBA.
TA’s bio: Charles Gomez is a Junior at Sage Hill School. He plays basketball and is the Co-Founder
of Bridge Forward, a student group that fosters understanding among people with different
viewpoints. Charlie is an active member of the Sage Hill Honor Committee and the Sage
Hill Student Ambassadors. He earned the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for his
work volunteering with Basketball Buddies, the Newport Beach Public Library, and the
Laguna Food Pantry and is a life-long Philadelphia sports fan. Charlie has taken part
in the UCI Ethics Program for the past two summers.
Module 2. Digital Justice & Identity—How Technology Shapes Who We Are. Andrada Costoiu, Director, UCI Ethics Center Summer Mentoring Program. Mondays and Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. (PST).
This module explores how digital technologies—from social media platforms to artificial intelligence—shape identity, belonging, visibility, and inequality in today’s world. Students will examine how online spaces construct and reinforce social categories such as race, gender, class, and disability, and how these categories influence the ways individuals are represented, understood, and treated in digital environments. By analyzing real-world examples, from algorithmic bias to online activism, students will develop a deeper understanding of digital justice and the role of emerging technologies in shaping opportunities, narratives, and communities.
Through a combination of mini lectures, discussions, case studies, films, and collaborative research, students will engage critically with the ethical challenges of modern technology. Throughout the module, they will produce original written work highlighting youth perspectives on technology, identity, and equality.
Week 1: Identity and Belonging in Digital Spaces
Week 2: Algorithms, Bias, Surveillance, and the Digital Divide
Week 3: Film Week — Digital Culture, Power, and Online Activism
Week 4: AI, the Future of Identity, and Ethical Responsibility
Final Project: Students will be divided into groups and will produce collaborative research projects exploring a contemporary digital justice theme.
Instructor’s bio: I’m Andrada Costoiu. My academic background and professional experience have always
centered on human rights, social justice, and the ways societies shape identity. In
recent years, I’ve become increasingly interested in how technology influences these
themes, especially after publishing a journal article on digital communication and
identity formation (The Reading Matrix, 2025). This new branch of my work—digital justice and identity—has grown out of my long-standing passion for understanding how people define themselves
within systems of power, culture, and global change. I’m excited to explore these
emerging questions with students this year as we think together about who we are,
who we are becoming, and how technology is shaping that journey.
Before entering academia, I worked with government agencies and international organizations, co-founded AIESEC Bucharest, and later served at the Romanian Foreign Trade Center, where I helped shape economic strategy and evaluate EU-funded projects. These experiences deepened my understanding of how policy and global systems affect everyday life—perspectives I bring into the classroom.
Outside teaching, I’m a fiction writer; my novel Under the Iron Curtain (2021) explores identity and memory in communist Romania. And when I’m not writing or teaching, you’ll probably find me in the sky—I’m a pilot flying a Cessna 172 and currently training toward my commercial ratings.
TA’s bio: My name is Liam Newton, and I am a rising senior at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School
in San Juan Capistrano. My academic interests focus on technology and digital equity,
and on how access to technology shapes opportunity and social participation. Outside
UCI, I founded SilverTech, a digital literacy program that provides hands on technology
workshops for older adults. The project grew from working directly with seniors who
wanted practical guidance using everyday digital tools and led to the creation of
a published technology workbook for older learners. My related research was published
in the Journal of Academic Inquiry in 2025, and the project was recognized with the
Congressional Award Gold certificate, which was featured in The Capistrano Dispatch.
More recently, my focus has shifted toward expanding technology access for students.
I am currently applying for a grant to support a project refurbishing donated computers
for students at Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano, with the goal of improving access
to reliable technology for learning. Last summer, I participated in the module focused
on wealth inequality. This year, I am excited to return as a teaching assistant because
the module’s emphasis on digital justice aligns closely with my interest in how technology
shapes identity, visibility, and access.
TA’s bio: Emily Chi is an upcoming high school junior with interests in legal and forensic
psychology, digital justice, and ethics in psychological research. She has previously
conducted research examining the #MeToo movement and youth moral decision-making through
the program. In addition to her academic work, Emily is an award-winning poet whose
creative writing explores identity, tradition, and moral responsibility, and she is
interested in interdisciplinary approaches that connect psychology with the humanities.
Module 3. The Ethics of Hope. Paul Nesbitt-Larking. Emeritus, Political Science at Huron University College in London, Ontario, Canada. Mondays and Wednesdays, 10 a.m. -12 p.m. (PST).
Two powerful emotions compete for ascendancy in times of political turbulence, fear and hope. Fear drives the need for security, for building walls, rejecting those perceived to be different, and attaching oneself to strongmen who promise to ward off danger. Fear conditions black-and-white thinking, attracting one to absolute truths and dogmas. Hope builds on faith in others, a sense of security that they will act with basic morality. Hope anticipates that most people, while fallible, can grow into just and competent participants in political society. Hope conditions an openness toward the other and the outsider. Hope is critical but slow to judgment. It is an egalitarian emotion that regards leadership and followership as basic human practices, each of which is evident across a broad range of citizens. Thus, leadership is a civic obligation rather than a charismatic power resting with a single individual. Curiosity toward others, a willingness to listen and respond, and openness to change mean that hope is nuanced and multifaceted. The hopeful agent is not afraid to say, “I had not thought of that” or “We do not know.” This module is an opportunity to learn and apply thematic analysis to the political talk and texts of political figures who advocate and express an ethic of hope. The module begins with an orientation to the project and an introductory explanation of the methodology of thematic analysis. Module participants are then invited to conduct thematic analyses on four pre-selected texts. Following this, they seek out and analyse their own chosen text. Participants then put together a brief statement of self-reflection on what they have learned about the ethics of hope. Finally, participants collaborate to produce a ten-minute video based on their learning regarding the ethics and politics of hope.
Bio. Paul Nesbitt-Larking is interested in how people make sense of their political lives and how they develop their political identities. Paul is Professor Emeritus at Huron University, Canada, and Adjunct Professor at Queen’s University, Canada. Director’s note: Paul is far too modest in his bio. He is past president of the International Society of Political Psychology and an expert on political discourses and narratives, beliefs, values and emotions, political communication, and political agency. His recent work has focused on migration and multiculturalism, citizenship, and the political lives of ethno-religious minorities. He is also one of the world’s gentlest people.
Module 4. Oral Histories, Moral Choice, and Finding Solace in Times of Trouble. Kristen Renwick Monroe, Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Political Science and UCI Ethics Center Director, and Laila Gharazi, Yale University. Tuesday and Thursday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. (PST).
This module continues work begun last year on how to talk with elders and friends about their lives and the moral choices they confronted. What was their life story and what moral choices did they confront? How did they decide what to do? Do they have regrets? What did they learn about moral choice that can help you, the young person interviewing them? Special focus on what people turn to for solace in times of trouble and on the role hope plays in their lives and choices that require moral courage. Students will interview at least two people and will be encouraged to conduct interviews with one person they know well and respect, and one with a public figure they admire and would like to learn more about.
Maximum 20-25 students. Students must have two people who have agreed to be interviewed to apply for this module.
Instructor’s bio. Kristen Monroe is a political scientist interested in politics, ethics, and political
psychology. She has published 22 books and is best known for her award-winning books
on moral choice and moral courage: The Heart of Altruism (1996), The Hand of Compassion (2004), Ethics in an Age of Terror and Genocide (2012), and A Darkling Plain: Stories of Conflict and Humanity during War (2016). She loves working with students and hope some of them will be able to pull
together this project into another exciting book.
Module 5. The Ethics of Nuclear Risk and Responsibility. Gabriella Colello, Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science (IR/Political Theory). Time offered TBA.
At the center of this module is a core ethical question that also guides my dissertation research: What do states owe to those who bear the greatest risks from nuclear weapons, and who gets to decide what counts as “acceptable” harm? The debate surrounding the Treaty on the The Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) makes this dilemma vivid. Many Global South states supported the treaty because they viewed nuclear policies as producing both severe material harm and significant ethical failures, especially environmental destruction and gendered and intergenerational health effects. These harms were never consented to and received little recognition from nuclear-armed states. In contrast, states relying on nuclear deterrence reject the TPNW by appealing to a different ethical claim that maintaining nuclear arsenals protects their own populations and upholds international stability. Students will explore how each side justifies its position ethically: What counts as legitimate security? Whose lives are prioritized? How do concepts like consent, responsibility, reparative justice, global equality, and moral injury shape the arguments for and against the treaty? The aim is to help students understand not only what states argue, but the deeper ethical commitments and tradeoffs embedded in those positions and how those commitments shape real decisions with long-term human consequences.
Research Focus. Students will examine short public materials (e.g., testimony, statements, reports) to see how different groups explain nuclear harm and who they think should bear responsibility. We will work together to uncover the ethical ideas behind these arguments and relate them to concepts like justice, care, and fairness. The goal is to help students practice forming strong questions, evaluating evidence, and applying ethical reasoning to real-world problems.
Student Involvement. Students will participate in identifying and collecting relevant documents; synthesizing material into short research memos; discussing ethical frameworks and their application to real cases; preparing a brief collaborative presentation for the program’s final session (optional but encouraged). The goal is to model how ethical inquiry and empirical research can be done together through shared investigation and guided hands-on practice.
Instructor’s bio: Gabriella Colello is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science (International Relations)
at UC Irvine studying how institutions respond to catastrophic and unevenly distributed
risks. Her dissertation, Securing Precarious Worlds, examines the ethical foundations of nuclear governance, AI-enabled decision making,
and environmental harm, with a focus on gendered and intergenerational vulnerability.
Using archival research, interviews, and interpretive methods, she analyzes how states
and communities justify protection and responsibility in moments of crisis. She is
committed to mentoring students in rigorous, ethically grounded research.
Module 6. Activist Imagination in the City that Never Sleeps: Radical Asian American Movements in New York City. Christina Ong, PhD. Asian and Asian American Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
This module will explore the history of Asian America’s political organizing from the perspective of Asian American activists in New York City. Students will learn about how historical Asian American movements in NYC from the 1960s to the 1980s continue to impact the present-day. Through readings, guest speakers, and workshops with the instructor, students will develop a better understanding of how Asian Americans came to be, how activists are influenced by their geographic surroundings, and how coalitional politics has influenced Asian American history. Through the module, students will learn how to (1) evaluate academic sources and compile reading lists, (2) conduct background historical research, and (3) familiarize themselves with two types of qualitative data: narrative interviews and archival data. The research done over the course of this module will help in the production of a documentary film about the organization, the Basement Workshop. For more about the organization, please visit: https://thebasementworkshop.reclaim.hosting/
Instructor’s bio: Dr. Christina Ong (she/her) is a postdoctoral scholar in Asian and Asian American Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She obtained her PhD in Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh in 2024 and her BA in Political Science from UCI in 2014. Her research uncovers how diasporas create community through place-based activism and art production. Her current work chronicles the impact of the Basement Workshop (1969-1986), the first pan-Asian political and arts organization active in Manhattan’s Chinatown. In her spare time, she writes novels and watches a ton of romantic comedies & reality TV.
TA’s bio: Riley Tsai is a Teaching Assistant with the UCI Ethics Center and a junior at JSerra
Catholic High School. Her academic focus is business and social justice, and she is
excited to return to the summer program.
Module 7. The Moral Market: Ethics and Economics in Advertising. Sofia Franco, Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Economics, UCI. Time TBD.
The success of a product depends not only on its price but critically on a firm's ability to communicate its value through advertising and marketing. An ethical strategy goes beyond just a catchy commercial or following the law. Since the line for morally right and wrong decisions is often undefined, not all unethical advertising strategies are fraudulent or illegal. Producers strive to use ethical practices to earn profits without deceiving consumers or damaging public welfare. This module introduces students to the fundamental economic principles that motivate firms to advertise, engage in marketing, and develop powerful brands, followed by an examination of the ethical and legal aspects of these strategies. This will be accomplished using graphical analyses (e.g., shifts in demand curves), videos, contemporary case studies, and critical discussions. Topics covered include the economics of branding and brand loyalty, the impact of advertising on market competition, and examining case studies of deceptive practices (e.g., false health claims, exploiting vulnerabilities, and manipulative marketing).
Instructor’s bio: My name is Sofia Franco, and I am an assistant professor of teaching in the Economics
Department at UCI. My field of expertise is Urban Economics, and I do research involving
both theory and applied empirical work. I have taught courses related to managerial
economics and strategy and econometrics for both economic and business students for
several years. While I think economic theory is important to lay down the foundation
for good economic analyses, I also think that going from theory to real world applications
is key for students gaining the insights of economic theory and build on their problem-solving
skills. As such, all my courses have an important component of economic applications
with data and data analysis. I have also taught students ranging from high school
(in summer research projects) to undergraduates to master and PhD levels.
Module 8: Women in Mass Crime and Genocide. Alexis Kim, Security Studies Graduate Student, Georgetown University, Mondays/Wednesdays from 5 PM to 7 PM PST.
This module will examine instances of mass crime and genocide from women’s perspectives. Students can expect to examine the origins of genocide, prosecuting genocide in international law, and case studies, including the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the Rwandan genocide, and the Holocaust. The module will begin with brief background discussions on the history of genocide and its role in international law. In subsequent weeks, students will examine the role of women as perpetrators and victims through case studies. By the end of the module, students can expect to conduct literature reviews on one of the case studies and collectively write a paper comparing women’s roles across instances of mass crime.
Instructor’s bio: Alexis Kim is a graduate student in the Security Studies Program at the Walsh School
of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She has four years of experience with
the UCI Ethics Center and previously led a module on the ethics of foreign assistance.
Her research focuses on the intersection of national security, gender, and economics.
Module 9: Solidaristic Representation: Positionality and the Politics of Advocacy in U.S. Legislatures. Savannah Plaskon, Graduate Student, Political Science at the University of California, Irvine. Tuesday/Thursday from 10 am-12 pm PST.
In this module, students will learn how to 1) check over and validate datasets on Congressional bills and 2) how to evaluate and code speeches given in Congress. By doing so, students will uncover how a member of Congress’ identity impacts the kinds of bills that they sponsor and the rhetoric that they engage in when they frame issues on the House floor. While efforts have been made to classify pieces of legislation, my work specifically involves identifying bills that pertain to LGBTQ+ issues and immigration. Students will then prepare brief descriptive results of their findings. This will allow them to investigate what factors (mainly race and gender) may influence the legislative activities that members of Congress engage in. Not only will students develop a better understanding of the research process and the scientific method, but they will also gain a deeper understanding of the inner workings of our legislative institutions.
Instructor’s bio: Savannah Plaskon is a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the University of California,
Irvine. Her work studies American Politics, Congress, race, gender, and intersectionality.
Her work has been funded by UCI’s Jack W. Peltason Center for the Study of Democracy,
and in 2025,she served as the lab manager for UCI’s Citizenship Lab. In her free time,
Savannah enjoys hanging out at the beach, visiting Disneyland, and competing at US
Masters swim meets.
Module 10: “Social Class and Human Cognition”. Jacky Beck, PhD. Student, UCI’s Cognitive Sciences Department. Mondays and Wednesdays 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM PST.
This module examines the social cognitive aspects of economic inequality, exploring how individuals perceive and interpret socioeconomic disparities. Students will engage with academic research findings from scholarly articles, media, and talks. Through collaborative group work, students will explore and present current literature at the intersection of the human mind and social inequality. The learning objectives are to familiarize students with current research in this field, equip them with effective search strategies for addressing research questions, develop their ability to critically analyze sources, and hone their science communication skills.
Instructor’s bio: My name is Jacky Beck (she/her) and I am a 5th year student at UCI’s Cognitive Sciences Department. My research focuses on how people learn and make sense of social information, particularly around social inequalities. I use a developmental approach, which means I'm interested in how these ideas emerge and change during childhood. Before moving to California for graduate school, I took a few gap years to explore different interests. I worked in consulting in Korea and later served as a lab manager in Chicago. These experiences helped me discover my passion for research and shaped the way I think about teaching. I love supporting students as they explore their own interests and figure out what research means to them. I’m excited to be back for my second year as a mentor at the Ethics Center!