Our seminars mix expert presentations, real-world case studies, and collegial exchange. They not only enhance the individual knowledge and skills of our fellows, but reinforce PAN Works’ collective ability to shape the ethics and policy discourse around animal wellbeing.
In an era where informed public discourse and sustained funding for the public good are under direct threat, cultivating our fellows for positions of responsibility has never been more important.
Our suite of professional development opportunities includes internships, fellowships, Mentorship in Public Writing, the Salon book club, the PAN Thinks podcast, and the Praxis seminar series. Altogether, these opportunities provide intellectual rigor and practical skills.
The Seminars
Praxis seminars are highly prized by PAN Works fellows, especially those not well settled in academia, feeling their way on ethics and policy, or working in the public and social sectors.
Seminars are open to all fellows, new or old, and held online. Topics change according to the needs of our fellows and shifts in the policy landscape. Fellows also suggest new topics that we incorporate into our offerings.
In no specific order, some of the topics, issues, and skills we cover include the following:
- The history and role of Think Tanks in public policy
- What it means to be a fellow at a think tank
- Interdisciplinary in theory and practice
- Praxis as the intersection of theory and practice
- Understanding the meaning and significance of compassionate coexistence
- The nature and implications of animal wellbeing
- Designing and leading research, education, or outreach projects
- Project management and team-based writing coordination
- Planning and facilitating meetings
- Grant writing, budgeting, and administration
- Speaking in the public sphere in a way that elevates animal wellbeing
- How to approach both featured and backgrounder interviews
- Ways of introducing ethics into the workplace
- Navigating agency/NGO resistance to ethics and values
- Dealing with prior review and censorship in the workplace
- Adapting scholarly work into op‑eds, short-form articles, and policy briefs
- The ethical use of AI in scholarly and public writing
- Outlets for popular writing in ethics and public policy
- The meanings and practice of explanatory journalism
- Media engagement & pitching strategies
- Clarifying arguments and framing them for non-technical readers
- Values‑based communication strategies from book reviews to agency memos