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Seton Hall University
Business meeting with four people talking at a table.

Annual Business Humanities Conference

“Meaningful Work and the Meaning of Work”

Friday, October 30, 2026, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Jubilee Hall, 4th Floor Atrium, (400 South Orange Avenue, South Orange, New Jersey)

Business Humanities is an emerging, multi-disciplinary field wherein practitioners seek to better integrate teaching, learning, and research in the humanities and business. The idea is that the separation of the humanities and business is artificial and detrimental and, correlatively, that studying the humanities and business together is vital for understanding and solving complex issues in business and society, helping to cultivate ethical, innovative and effective leaders, and creating business practices and cultures that better protect and promote human dignity, contribute to human flourishing, and serve the common good. Universities have long taken for granted that the liberal arts prepare students well for successful business careers, but they have not explicitly taught students how to apply what they learn in humanities courses to actual business issues. This conference and the Business Humanities program at Seton Hall directly address how to connect the two.

This conference invites scholars, teachers and professionals to learn about and examine this emerging field of study and share and discuss innovative ways in which the humanities can and perhaps ought to be used to teach students and professionals about business. Examples of may include, but are not limited to, teaching business through literature or film, using the humanities to promote moral awareness, cultural competence, and creativity and entrepreneurship, teaching students to “deconstruct” business case studies to better understand how power shapes business practices and cultures, and using the humanities as a “disruptive” pedagogy. What humanistic knowledge, values, methods, skills, or experiences do companies wish their employees would learn better in college? How can academic programs genuinely integrate humanities with business education without diluting either? How can humanities not just critique business but also contribute constructively to it? What assignments or experiences might work best?

Register for the Conference

The conference is free and open to the public, but registration prior to the event is required in order to attend.

The conference will be in-person only.

Key Speakers

Time  Event  Location
8:30 to 9 a.m.  Registration. Welcoming remarks by Interim Provost Erik Lillquist. 4th Floor Atrium, Jubilee Hall
9 to 10:15 a.m. 

Breakfast and Keynote Talk. 

  • Christopher Wong Michaelson, Professor and Barbara and David A. Koch Endowed Chair in Business Ethics, University of St. Thomas.
  • Moderated by Wesley Pech, Associate Professor of Economics, Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University.
 4th Floor Atrium, Jubilee Hall
10:30 to 11:45 a.m. 

Panel #1: 

  • Njoke Thomas, Assistant Professor of Management and Organization, Carroll School of Management, Boston College. “Compassion interpolation: How compassion finds a home in a high-performing organization.”
  • Benjamin Rogers, Assistant Professor of Management and Organization, Carroll School of Management, Boston College. 
  • Moderated by Abe Zakhem, Professor of Philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences, Seton Hall University.
 Chancellor’s Suite, Student Center
Noon to 1:30 p.m. 

Lunch and Fireside Chat

  • Amy Wrzesniewski, William and Jacalyn Egan Professor of Management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. 

In conversation with:

  • Jonathan Farina, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Seton Hall University.
  • Joyce Strawser, Dean, Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University.
 4th Floor Atrium, Jubilee Hall
1:45 to 3 p.m. 

Panel #2: 

  • Jason Brennan, Robert J. and Elizabeth Flanagan Family Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University. “The Purpose of Purpose.”
  • TBD
  • Comment by Travis Timmerman, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Seton Hall University. 
 Chancellor’s Suite, Student Center
3:15 to 4:30 p.m. 

Panel #3: 

  • Kevin Jackson, Professor of Law and Ethics, Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University. “Should Shareholders Be Beneficent or Benevolent?”
  • Abe Zakhem, Professor of Philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences, Seton Hall University. “Beneficence, Utility, and the Humanistic Shareholder.”
  • Comment by Christopher Wong Michaelson, Professor and Barbara and David A. Koch Endowed Chair in Business Ethics, University of St. Thomas.
 Chancellor’s Suite, Student Center

Questions? 

Please submit any questions to Abe Zakhem, Ph.D. at [email protected].

Register