This course will examine historical and current topics at the interface of biological science, ethics, and law.  Students will be introduced to sufficient basic elements of biological science to understand all topics covered, as well as jurisprudence, and ethical theory and reasoning.  During the two semesters of the course a variety of issues in biomedical, health care, and environmental ethics and policy will be discussed.  Issues covered include abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, cloning, genetically modified foods, human population growth and control, aging, eugenics, informed consent, HIV/AIDS, health care and poverty, sustainable development, legal enforcement of morality, and research ethics and methods.

We hope Bioethics will be a particularly interesting course, but it will also be a considerable amount of work.  If you have average reading skills, you should be spending at least 8 hours per week outside class working on the course, that time includes reading the material, thinking about it, and discussing issues with others in your discussion group.  Keeping up with reading assignments is crucial, because the course covers an enormous amount of material and falling behind for any significant period will have a clear impact on your ability to understand and discuss the material in class as well as complete homework assignments.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR EVENING MEETING TIMES SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 20 & NOVEMBER 10 WILL TAKE PLACE IN CNR ROOM 10