Amy Sepinwall

All Courses

• LGST1000 - Ethics & Social Resp

  This course explores business responsibility from rival theoretical and managerial perspectives. Its focus includes theories of ethics and their application to case studies in business. Topics include moral issues in advertising and sales; hiring and promotion; financial management; corporate pollution; product safety; and decision-making across borders and cultures.

• LGST1008 - Ethics & Social Resp

  This course explores business responsibility from rival theoretical and managerial perspectives. Its focus includes theories of ethics and their application to case studies in business. Topics include moral issues in advertising and sales; hiring and promotion; financial management; corporate pollution; product safety; and decision-making across borders and cultures.

• LGST2080 - Law At Work: Emp Law Mgr

  This course is based on the principle that knowledge and understanding of employment law facilitate (1) promotion of a workforce with a high degree of commitment to reaching business goals, (2) the development of practical business solutions to problems arising in the workplace, (3) effective human resources policy and procedures that comply with applicable laws, and (4) justice for workers. The course provides students with an introduction to the law of the workforce and examines the balance between business goals and employment law compliance. The course examines the various employment laws with which businesses must comply and the legal rights and responsibilities of employees and employers. The emphasis is on laws concerning equal employment opportunity with respect to discrimination and harassment because of sex, race, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability and other characteristics protected by workforce laws; constitutional -- and especially free speech -- rights at work; work-related privacy including investigations, electronic communication and social media; classifying workers in the gig economy; diversity and affirmative action; and the legal and regulatory environment regarding immigration, wage and hour, leaves of absence, hiring, termination and afterwards; and labor/management relations and collective bargaining.

• LGST2210 - Const Law & Free Enterpr

  The course explores the fundamentals of U.S. constitutional doctrine and adjudication, with an emphasis on commercial and business issues and implications of constitutional law. The course starts by considering the Constitution and the structure and relationship of the governmental entities it establishes and upon which it depends. Special attention is given to the role of the federal courts, especially the Supreme Court, in interpreting and applying constitutional principles. From this foundation, the course moves on to examine in detail the major economic and business implications of constitutional law in different eras of the nation's history. A core theme is how historical events and changing notions of public policy have affected and been affected by the evolution of constitutional doctrine.

• LGST8080 - Employment Law

  This course is based on the principle that knowledge and understanding of employment law facilitate (1) promotion of a workforce with a high degree of commitment to reaching business goals, (2) the development of practical business solutions to problems arising in the workplace, (3) effective human resources policy and procedures that comply with applicable laws, and (4) justice for workers. The course provides students with an introduction to the law of the workforce and examines the balance between business goals and employment law compliance. The course examines the various employment laws with which businesses must comply and the legal rights and responsibilities of employees and employers. The emphasis is on laws concerning equal employment opportunity with respect to discrimination and harassment because of sex, race, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability and other characteristics protected by workforce laws; constitutional -- and especially free speech -- rights at work; work-related privacy including investigations, electronic communication and social media; classifying workers in the gig economy; diversity and affirmative action; and the legal and regulatory environment regarding immigration, wage and hour, leaves of absence, hiring, termination and afterwards; and labor/management relations and collective bargaining.

• LGST9200 - Ethics in Bus & Econ

  The seminar explores the growing academic literature in business ethics. It also provides participants an opportunity to investigate an ethical issue of their choosing in some depth, using their field of specialty as context. The seminar assumes no previous exposure to business ethics. Different business ethics theories and frameworks for investigating issues will be discussed, including corporate social responsibility, corporate moral agency, theories of values, and corporate governance. In turn, these theories will be applied to a range of issues, both domestic and international. Such issues include: corruption in host countries, the management of values in modern corporations, the ethical status of the corporation, ethics in sophisticated financial transactions (such as leveraged derivative transactions), and gender discrimination in the context of cultural differences. Literature not only from business ethics, but from professional and applied ethics, law, and organizational behavior will be discussed. Often, guest speakers will address the seminar. At the discretion of the class, special topics of interest to the class will be examined. Students will be expected to write and present a major paper dealing with a current issue within their major field. The course is open to students across fields, and provides integration of ideas across multiple business disciplines.

• PPE3999 - Independent Study

  Student arranges with a faculty member to pursue a research project on a suitable topic. For more information about research and setting up independent studies, visit: https://ppe.sas.upenn.edu/study/curriculum/independent-studies

• PPE4998 - Directed Honors Research

  Student arranges with a Penn faculty member to do research and write a thesis on a suitable topic. For more information on honors visit: https://ppe.sas.upenn.edu/study/curriculum/honors-theses

First-prize winner of the Robert J. Papazian Award for best essay on ethics and the emotions for Shared Guilt Among Intimates, 30 International Journal of Philosophical Studies 202 (2022)

Best conference paper award, Society for Business Ethics Annual Meeting, for “Artificial Moral Agents”, 2023

Wharton Teaching Awards for 2018-2023

Distinguished Proceedings Award, Academy of Legal Studies in Business, 2016

Virginia Maurer Best Ethics Paper Award, Academy of Legal Studies in Business, 2015

Charlotte Newcombe Dissertation Fellowship, Woodrow Wilson Foundation, 2007-2008

• Dean’s Research Fund award to pursue work on money and expressive implication., 2016
• Dean’s Research Fund award to pursue work on complicity., 2015
• Dean’s Research Fund award to pursue work on corporate conscience., 2014
• Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research Award to pursue work on corporate conscience., 2014
• Wharton Public Policy Initiative Summer Research Program Funding, 2013 Description

  Covered expenses for a full-time R.A. over summer 2013. 

• Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research award of $3500 to pursue work on faultless wrongdoings, 2013
• Dean’s Research Fund award of $1500 to pursue work on constitutional commodification, 2013
• Dean’s Research Fund award of $3500 to pursue work on corporate moral personality, 2012
• LGST Reach Fund award f $10,000 to pursue work on responsibility in corporate and international criminal law, 2012
• Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research award of $3500 to pursue work on the Responsible Corporate Officer Doctrine, 2012
• Legal Studies Summer Research award of $10,000 to pursue work on the Supreme Court’s Citizens United case, 2010
• Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research award of $2500 to pursue work on the Supreme Court’s Citizens United case, 2010

• More Protection From Weight-Based Discrimination Is Needed, U.S. News & World Report - 09/16/2019
• Should a Business Reflect the Values of Its Owner?, KNOWLEDGE@WHARTON - SIRIUS RADIO - 08/09/2016
• Apple v. the FBI: What It Could Mean for Privacy and Security, KNOWLEDGE@WHARTON - SIRIUS RADIO - 03/09/2016
• The Hobby Lobby Decision: How Business Got Here, Harvard Business Review Blog - 07/03/2014
• Could the Hobby Lobby Ruling Unleash a ‘Parade of Horribles’?, Knowledge@Wharton - 07/02/2014
• The Price of GM Recalls: Advice for Mary Barra, Knowledge@Wharton - 04/09/2014
• It’s Complicated: When a CEO’s Personal Position Becomes Public, NPR - 04/04/2014
• Conscientious Objectors: Local Ethicists Lead the Way to Better Behavior, Jewish Exponent - 11/19/2013
• Don’t Mention It: How ‘Undiscussables’ Can Undermine an Organization, Knowledge@Wharton - 12/20/2011
• Wal-Mart Women: In a Class by Themselves?, Knowledge@Wharton - 03/28/2011
• Citizens ‘Dis-united’: How a Recent Supreme Court Case Sounds the Alarm about the Political Role of Corporations, Knowledge@Wharton - 10/10/2010
• Financial Industry Overhaul: Will the New Law Avert Another Crisis?, Congressional Quarterly Researcher - 07/30/2010
• ‘A Race to the Bottom’: Assigning Responsibility for the Financial Crisis, knowledge@wharton - 12/09/2009

Knowledge at Wharton

• Why the Supreme Court Bakery Ruling Raises More Questions Than It Answers, Knowledge at Wharton - 6/5/2018
• Should a Business Reflect the Values of Its Owner?, Knowledge at Wharton - 8/12/2016
• After Hobby Lobby, Is There a Limit to Corporate Religious Freedom?, Knowledge at Wharton - 6/26/2015
• Separation of Church and Cubicle: Religion in the Workplace, Knowledge at Wharton - 4/30/2015
• Could the Hobby Lobby Ruling Unleash a ‘Parade of Horribles’?, Knowledge at Wharton - 7/2/2014
• The Price of the GM Recalls: Advice for Mary Barra, Knowledge at Wharton - 4/9/2014