Philosophy. Moral Psychology. Moral Injury. Aesthetics. University Leadership & Ethics.

Christa Acampora

Christa Acampora serves as the Buckner W. Clay Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia. Her philosophical research and teaching focus on modern European philosophy, moral psychology, and aesthetics, and her administrative areas of expertise include faculty recruitment and advancement as well as student success. She has led numerous projects that span the full spectrum of disciplines and professions, and she is a champion of public scholarship and community-engaged learning.

Acampora is author, co-author, or editor of seven books, and has published dozens of articles and book chapters. Her philosophical interests range from conceptions of responsibility to the beauty of baseball. Her current work examines various forms of moral breakdown and what they can show us about morality more generally.

She has earned numerous fellowships and developed successful grant proposals funding her own academic work, institutional development, and university-wide signature initiatives. She was previously funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, leading an institutional grant that engaged the broader public in discussions about experiences of war using classic and contemporary sources from the humanities, social sciences, and medical literatures.

Currently, Acampora is writing a book that develops a conceptual framework for analyses of moral transformation, injury, and repair in the contexts of experiences in war, the refugee crisis, healthcare settings, and institutionalized racism. Prior to joining the faculty at Emory, she taught and mentored students at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center. Before leaving Hunter, she was the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and Research.

At Emory, she is Deputy Provost for Academic Affairs, serving as the chief deputy to the provost and as a strategic thought partner for stewarding Emory’s academic mission. She supports faculty and leadership recruitment, institutional development, and academic innovation, and she works closely with the vice provosts and staff, deans, and other campus leaders to advance initiatives and implement strategic goals and objectives.

The Moral Injury Lab

Our primary interest is to understand how moral injury occurs, what specifically is injured, what might constitute moral repair, and what these answers reveal about our moral condition. Learn more