2018 Seminar Descriptions
Schedule
Click here for the seminar schedule.
June Seminars
Exploring Key Issues in Global Health
An ever-widening gap yawns between those within reach and deprived of medical access throughout the world. Vast populations who subsist in dire need find themselves recipients of foreign aid “donated” by those with frequently competing interests. The legacy of colonialism lingers: the potential for enormous profit from industry and research, as well as geopolitical influence loom behind the scenes. Profound socio-economic and cultural differences frequently threaten to complicate communication between donors and recipients; corruption and profiteering often undermine the most sincere efforts.
Welcome to the front lines of global health, explored with a surgeon who has spent decades working in the field. Key ethical issues in public health, health research, clinical care, and health organization/systems will be surveyed, and the complex dynamics of attempted healthcare delivery in the developing world will be discussed in this seminar. This seminar will be taught by Dr. Rose.
Aron Rose, MD
Associate Clinical Professor, Yale University Schools of Medicine and Nursing
Dr. Aron Rose is an Associate Clinical Professor at the Yale University School of Medicine and Assistant Clinical Professor at the Yale University School of Nursing. He is Chair of the Bioethics Committee for Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment in sub-Saharan Africa, a White House Initiative, and a faculty member of the Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics. He is also an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Frank H. Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University. Dr. Rose is a devoted participant and organizer of programs which seek to combat blindness throughout the developing world. He has lectured and taught throughout the United States, Europe, Central Asia, India, the Far East, and Africa. The youngest invited faculty member of the prestigious international flying eye hospital Project Orbis in 1989, he went on to serve as Director of Residency Training at the Yale Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, where he designed and implemented the surgical training curriculum. He has served as section editor for Techniques in Ophthalmology, published widely in the peer review literature, consulted for new and emerging surgical technology, and acted as primary investigator for numerous clinical research projects.
Medical Ethics During Conflict, War & Genocide
This seminar will introduce students to medical ethics during times of conflict, war and genocide. Through the examination of real historical case studies, we will discuss major ethical dilemmas that medical professionals may and do encounter in extreme circumstances. These case studies will be carefully selected to represent recurring themes and to provide the students with an entry point into broader ethical issues in war and armed conflict. Readings will include the works of leading scholars in military medical ethics and the ethics of war.
By analyzing these texts and case studies, this seminar will attempt to respond to the following questions: Do medical ethics in times of war/conflict differ from those in times of peace? If so, how and why? Similarly, do professional medical ethics differ from ‘normal’ ethics? What common themes can be traced across the history of medical ethics in conflict? This seminar will be taught by Drs. Eagan and Lederman.
Sheena M. Eagan, PhD
Sheena Eagan holds a PhD in the medical humanities from the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch and has been teaching for over five years. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioethics and Interdisciplinary Studies at the Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University. Her research and teaching draw upon this interdisciplinary field to provide historico-ethical analyses founded in phenomenology.
Zohar Lederman, MD
Centre for Biomedical Ethics, Long Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
Zohar Lederman is a medical doctor and a bioethics PhD candidate at the National University of Singapore. His PhD focuses on the ethics of One Health. His other areas of interest include: end of life care, the dual loyalty dilemma, ethics of infectious diseases and public health ethics.
The Great Balancing Act: Biotech Ethics in the Era of Technological Acceleration
This seminar addresses the bioethical challenges spawned by innovations in (a) germ line genetic engineering (e.g., CRISPR, synthetic DNA), for eradicating disease or developing trans-species; (b) bioengineered implants (computer processors, nano-implants) for disease management, prosthetics, prescription delivery and cyborg development; and (c) artificial intelligence employed in robotics and the Internet of Things, related to health care delivery. Each of these advances affect the future of our species and modes of living, raising questions about the wisdom of pursuing particular technological avenues, and the appropriate level of private monopolization and government regulation, especially regarding the creation of new species and humanoid-like artifacts for health care and industrial applications. A seminar goal will be to discuss these technologies, and how bioethical practices should factor into the future narratives for technologists, bio-scientists, and health care providers. This seminar will be taught by Joe Carvalko.
Joseph Carvalko
Joseph Carvalko is a teacher, writer and patent lawyer, with degrees in law, electrical engineering and the arts, who devotes his efforts to navigating the intersection of law, science and technology. He serves as adjunct professor and course creator of: Law, Science, Technology, at Quinnipiac University, School of Law. He’s a member of: IEEE, Society on Social Implications of Technology (Associate editor of Society and Technology); ABA, Section of Science & Technology Law, (former editorial board, SciTech Lawyer; former chair, Behavioral Sciences Committee); member, Yale Community Bioethics Forum on Biomedical Ethics, Yale School of Medicine; attendee, Yale Technology and Ethics Study Group. He has written books and articles on the subject of science and technology, holds 13 patents, some jointly, and as researcher and engineer, worked in biomedical engineering, radar, optics, A.I. (pattern recognition), programming, and communications.
Sex Ethics
This seminar will delve into an array of moral issues regarding sex and sexuality. We will discuss consent, including the debate between “no means no” and “yes means yes,” and consider whether we ought to be reaching for a still higher standard – that of mutuality. We’ll discuss disclosure – what does one have an obligation to reveal to potential sexual partners – and how does an obligation to responsibly disclose relate to, and possibly conflict with, one’s right to privacy? Particular points of focus will be disclosure of STIs and gender identity. Another prominent feature of the course will be the study of various forms of sex and gender discrimination and injustice. The course will be heavily discussion-based, with readings providing us with a backbone for productive dialogue as we explore the moral dimensions of these important issues.
Ruth Tallman
Ruth Tallman is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of Oklahoma. She coaches her school’s Ethics Bowl team, and was the scriptwriter for Crash Course: Philosophy. Her current research focuses on the physician-patient relationship, exploring issues of noncompliance and shared decision-making.
Clinical Ethics
Graduate and undergraduate medical education programs spend years imparting the clinical skills understood as the current “standard of care,” but patients do not always respond well to these standards. Due to the increasing body of clinical knowledge, many medical education programs struggle to provide time and space for ethical reflection on whether the current standard of care is good, just, or respectful. The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction to core ethical questions and common dilemmas inherent in medical care. Brief readings, guided reflection, interactive case studies, and group discussion will be a part of this course. No prior experience in clinical ethics is expected or required – genuine curiosity is highly encouraged.
Jennifer L. Herbst, JD, LLM
Jennifer is a Professor of Law and Medical Sciences in the School of Law at Quinnipiac University. She holds an MBIO and JD from the University of Pennsylvania, an AB from Dartmouth College, and an LLM from Temple University.
Reproductive Ethics
This seminar is structured as recognition that the issues surrounding human reproduction are not limited to nine months of pregnancy and the abortion debate, rather it is central to the health of populations.
We will examine the ethical dilemmas and challenges across the lifespan from preconception to adulthood and considering the biological, social and psychological aspects as well as the real-world implications for public health and resource allocation. Some topics include: The dilemma of the maternal-fetal conflict; life-threatening maternal complications and whose life do you save; assisted reproductive technologies and fertility; high risk pregnancies including fetal anomalies and mortality risks; surrogacy and reproductive labor for sale; uterus transplantation and implications of emerging imaging technology on prenatal attachment.
This course is designed for both clinicians and non-health professionals. The first class will include a foundational background on the biology of human reproduction in a way that the general public will understand.
This seminar will be aimed towards applied ethics – In other words, what should we do to address the human condition in the context of reproduction? As such the dialogue across professional disciplines and cultural insights towards meaningful appreciation of the dilemmas is encouraged.
Like most of the seminars, the format will be seminar style, group discussion and case based learning. This seminar will be taught by Evie Kendal.
Evie Kendal, PhD
Evie Kendal is a Lecturer in Bioethics and Health Humanities at the School of Medicine at Deakin University in Australia. She holds a Master of Bioethics, an Honours degree in English literature and cultural studies and a Bachelor of Biomedical Science. Her doctoral studies focused on feminist bioethics and the representation of emerging reproductive biotechnologies in literature and film. Evie is the former human research ethics committee coordinator of a private hospital in Melbourne and teaches bioethics to philosophy, health, biomedical and medical students at Deakin.
Children and Biomedicine: Human Rights Perspectives
Many biomedical advances have the potential to improve the health and quality of life of children. However, some of them come with considerable risks and uncertainties, with the potential to adversely affect children’s lives and health, as well as their fundamental human rights. This course aims to provide an understanding of the international human rights protection framework in the area of children and biomedicine. It will explore how scientific advances, emerging technologies, innovative therapies and risk-laden practices reach children in biomedicine – from birth through adolescence – and demonstrate how these scientific advances (and uncertainties) may challenge human rights of children. Students will scrutinize the existing, new, and emerging biomedical practices in relation to the children’s human rights, formulate their opinion and justify their stand from a human rights perspective. This seminar will be taught by Drs. Zillen and Slokenberga.
Kavot Zillén, LLD
LL.D. in Medical law, Stockholm University, Sweden
Kavot holds a LL.D. in Medical Law and is a postdoctoral researcher at Stockholm University in Sweden. Her position involves research and teaching in the field of administrative, medical law, and human rights law. Prior to starting her LLD, Kavot worked as a legal expert at the Swedish Medical Responsibility Board and at The National Board of Health and Welfare, under the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.
Santa Slokenberga, LLD
LL.D. in Medical Law, Uppsala University, Sweden
Santa holds a LL.D. in Medical Law and is a postdoctoral researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden. Her research focuses on the coexistence of the EU and Council of Europe in regulating health-related direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Currently, she is a legal expert in B3Africa project and works towards bridging biobank research in Europe and Africa. In addition, she has been teaching in the fields of EU law and medical law and since 2011. Prior to starting her doctoral studies, Santa Slokenberga worked as a legal advisor for Deloitte Latvia.
Ethical Issues in Obstetrics & Pediatrics: Cross Cultural Perspectives
This seminar will explore a variety of ethical issues that arise when becoming pregnant and leading up to childhood: beginning with pre-implantation diagnosis and screening, embryo disposition, then prenatal diagnosis and genetic counseling in early pregnancy, abortion (also including access by minors to abortion and birth control), treatment of premature babies, explaining illness to children. This course will present six cases from these respective stages and examine the cross-cultural ethical issues that arise (mainly, U.S. vs Japan). Often, patients and medical professionals are confronted with difficulty in dealing with these issues due to the wide range of circumstances, governments, policies, religions, and cultural values prevalent in that region. Through discussing these cases, students will learn to recognize and address the cultural dilemmas faced by medical professionals, patients and their families in health care settings, as well as gaining respect for the universal components of biomedical ethics. This seminar will be taught by Dr. Takahashi.
Shizuko Takahashi, MD, PhD
Physician & Genetic Counselor, The University of Tokyo, School of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; The Japanese Red Cross Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
Visiting Researcher, The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Medicine, Center for Biomedical Ethics and Law
Shizuko received BA from Reed College in Molecular Biology and Fine Arts in 1997. She then attended medical school at Tokai University, School of Medicine (Isehara, Japan), and obtained her MD in 2002. After residency at the Japanese Red Cross Hospital and the University of Tokyo Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, she studied at the University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Medicine in both the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Law. She received her PhD in 2010 and her dissertation was on the decision-making process of fate of frozen embryos for infertile women in Japan, focusing on the cultural implications on how embryos are perceived. In addition, after the great eastern earthquake in 2011 in Japan, she has been involved in disaster medical ethics. Her works have been published in BMC Medical Ethics, Lancet, and BMJ, and she has given lectures at the University of Tokyo. She taught at the Sherwin B. Nuland Summer Institute in Bioethics last year.
Philosophy of Technology and Bioethics
This seminar will provide the students with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to understand the role of technologies in our life. Technologies, broadly construed, form an inalienable part of human life. However, their increasing presence poses a variety of questions. Can Artificial Intelligence replace doctors in the healthcare practice? How do genetic tests and fitness trackers co-shape our understanding of what it means to be healthy? How do the values and norms of people change in interaction with technologies? If brining woolly mammoth back to life is possible, is it desirable? To answer these and other questions, the students will learn to identify the impact of specific technologies on human practices, as well as critically approach the normative dimension of technologies. The students will learn that rather than being a neutral object or a deterministic force, technologies always mediate the relations between people and the world, co-shaping us as much as we are designing them. The seminar ultimately argues for an informed perspective towards technologies and equips the students with a combination of theoretical and practical skills to maintain it. To mirror this goal, the seminar will integrate theory and practice, introducing the key approaches in philosophy of technology and teaching the students to apply them to contemporary case studies, inviting to wear the hats of technology users, non-users, designers and policy-makers. The seminar will be of interest to anyone who wants to maintain a reflective and critical stance towards technologies in our life. It does not require any background knowledge of ethics, philosophy or engineering. This seminar will be taught by Olya Kudina.
Olya Kudina
Olya is in the last year of her PhD in Philosophy of Technology in the University of Twente, the Netherlands. Her project investigates the mediating role of technologies in the morality of people. In 2017, Olya successfully completed the Sherwin B. Nuland Summer Institute in Bioethics at Yale. Olya has previously worked on the European Union research project in Belgium, exploring the ethical and social implications of a new security system. Before that, Olya worked in the Council of Europe in Ukraine, in the domain of personal data protection and privacy.
Ethical Issues in Genetics
This seminar examines our fascination with genetic technology and the seductive power and promise of genetic engineering towards a “better world”. We will take a journey from pre-conception genetics that help families understand familial risks and “cures” in making families to the preservation of life in cancer genetics to the rapidly emerging forefront of genetic technologies that explore enhancement, chimeras and the question of genetic privacy.
Some topics include: Pre-conception and prenatal genetic testing; 3-parent embryos; (micro)eugenics and selective pre-implantation genetic diagnosis; cord-blood banking; saviour siblings; cancer genetics; cross-species chimeras; genetic enhancement; and the question of genetic privacy.
This seminar is intended as an introduction to ethical issues in genetics and will be taught in a way that is approachable for both clinicians and those that have no science background. I encourage you to come discuss the meaning of life at the very basic building blocks of life. This seminar will be taught by Dr. Kendal.
Evie Kendal, PhD
Evie Kendal is a Lecturer in Bioethics and Health Humanities at the School of Medicine at Deakin University in Australia. She holds a Master of Bioethics, an Honours degree in English literature and cultural studies and a Bachelor of Biomedical Science. Her doctoral studies focused on feminist bioethics and the representation of emerging reproductive biotechnologies in literature and film. Evie is the former human research ethics committee coordinator of a private hospital in Melbourne and teaches bioethics to philosophy, health, biomedical and medical students at Deakin.
Environmental Justice & Bioethics
Not your typical environmental ethics course. After a short overview of environmental ethics frameworks we quickly move on to the underlying questions that drive the field. What is nature? What is the essence of being human? What is the value of a non-human animal? And how do we relate to one another? What is justice? Whose justice are we talking about? What is the connection between different beings on earth, and their relation to earth itself? How are these relationships reflected in our concepts of justice? What do society and nature offer us? And what do we owe each other?
These fundamental questions will drive our further inquiry into the global challenges we currently face. The interconnectedness and complexity of social and environmental issues make for fascinating and exciting discussions. Throughout this seminar, you’ll learn about the connections between the discovery of oil and world population; between population and education; between animal welfare, human health, and global warming; between subsidies for farmers and ocean pollution; between the use of public land and community interest. But we will also talk about solutions, about ways to move forward. We will discuss the value of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and the different environmental ethics frameworks, and how they can help us decide what is just, and what is not. This seminar will be taught by Mayli Mertens.
Mayli Mertens
PhD Candidate, Department of Philosophy, University of Twente
PhD representative for WTMC Graduate School of Science, Technology, and Modern Culture
Member of 4TU Center for Ethics and Technology
Mayli has a background in journalism and worked as an international correspondent until 2006, living in 12 different countries and traveling all over the world including North, West, and South Africa and the Middle East. Mayli has also lectured on social and environmental justice to international audiences. She obtained her MA in Applied Ethics from Linköping University in Sweden and was awarded ’Best Formal Paper by a Graduate Student’ by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) for her work “Objectivity beyond the red line: A case for binocularity in war reporting.” Her current research in neuroethics and philosophy of technology is on responsible innovation in the prognosis of postanoxic coma.
Bioethics & the Law
This seminar will examine the basic treatment by American law of some major issues in contemporary biomedical ethics. Readings will include standard legal materials such as cases and regulations, a number of quasi-legal sources such as government commission reports and institutional guidelines, and some academic articles. No familiarity with legal materials is assumed; indeed, this seminar is designed for students with no background in American law. For each of the topics listed below, the instructor will offer a very broad and necessarily cursory overview of the area, and then will focus seminar discussion on one or two sub-issues to be addressed in detail. While the focus will be American law, some comparative-law readings will be supplied in order to bring possible alternative approaches to light. Topics include the basics of the US legal system; abortion; end-of-life care and aid-in-dying; assisted reproduction; mandated vaccination; state power to quarantine; and standards of determining death. This seminar will be taught by Dr. Latham.
Steve Latham, JD, PhD
Director, Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics
Steve has been Director of the Bioethics Center since 2011, having served as Deputy Director since 2008. For the previous nine years, he was Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Health Law & Policy at Quinnipiac University School of Law. Before entering academia full-time, he served as Director of Ethics Standards at the American Medical Association and as secretary to its Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs. He was for several years a member of Connecticut’s Stem Cell Reseach Advisory Committee, and served for three years on the board of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, which gave him its distinguished service award. He has done clinical ethics consultation with the Pediatric Ethics Committee of Yale-New Haven’s Children’s Hospital; currently chairs Yale’s Human Subjects Committee (its social/behavioral IRB); and serves on the Medical Review Board of Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families. His 100+ publications on health law and bioethics have appeared in journals and law reviews including JAMA, NEJM, the American Journal of Law and Medicine, the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, and the Journal of Legal Medicine. He has been book review editor of the American Journal of Bioethics, and is currently a contributing editor for the Hastings Center Report. His co-edited book, The American Medical Ethics Revolution (Johns Hopkins Univ. Press) was selected by Choice as one of the “top academic books of 2000.”
Bioethics and Psychiatry
The aim of this seminar is to explore emerging ethical issues in psychiatry through professional and personal experiences, with case study analysis and discussion of the latest developments in scientific literature and thinking in the bioethics of psychiatry.
The seminar series will look at identifying and dissecting ethical issues in psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. It will focus on issues such as gender dysphoria in adolescents and adults, personal autonomy in psychiatry and involuntary treatment, the use of legal and restricted drugs for psychiatric treatment, the bioethics of psychoanalysis, and more.
In the context of the bioethics of psychiatry, participants will develop speaking skills, an understanding of dialectic argument based on principles of bioethics, and advanced skills in critical analysis. This seminar will be taught by Dr. Peregalli.
Santiago Peregalli, MD
Medical Doctor, trainee in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève (HUG), Switzerland.
Masters in Bioethics and Law, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
Santiago studied medicine at the Universidad de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay and the Universidad Europea de Madrid in Spain. Santiago is a licensed physician in Uruguay, Spain and Switzerland, where he is currently an advanced trainee in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy at the Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève. Santiago is a graduate of the Yale Summer Bioethics Institute in the class of 2013. He received a scholarship by the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics of the University of Barcelona to study a master by research in Bioethics and Law with a research focus on gender, and adolescent agency and autonomy.
Responsibility and Moral Conflicts
What does it mean to be a morally responsible agent? What happens to our sense of responsibility when we face conflicting interests, values, or obligations? What happens when moral theories conflict? This seminar explores the complex and problematic issues that arise at the intersection of moral responsibility and moral conflicts. Building upon the basic foundations of ethical theory, we will begin the course by examining the nature of agency and responsibility. While many historical traditions emphasize having a free will or being properly informed, recent work encourages us to focus on how we naturally respond to others and to ourselves. We will examine whether or not any of these accounts help us to evaluate – to praise or blame – agents faced with extremely difficult decisions. In medical emergencies, just like in many high-stakes political contexts, action must be taken, even when the right thing to do is far from clear. The course will analyze what it means to face a moral dilemma, when we might be required to get ‘dirty hands’ (to do wrong for the sake of a good outcome), and how we are often subjected to moral luck. Participants will be encouraged to discuss a host of perplexing case studies and to question the adequacy of some of the most widely-accepted ethical theories. This seminar will be taught by Dan Tigard.
Daniel Tigard
Daniel earned his BA from the University of Washington–Seattle (2009) and his MA from Brandeis University (2012). He is currently completing his dissertation on the nature and value of moral distress in medical practice. Along with topics in moral responsibility and moral conflicts, his published work addresses issues concerning informed consent, clinical research ethics, and moral distress among healthcare professionals. He lives in Vienna, Austria.
Comparative Human Rights and Healthcare
The course aims to provide an understanding of the international human rights protection framework in healthcare context and to explore linkages between health, healthcare and human rights (both how human rights violations undermine health and how the protection and promotion of human rights can contribute to improved health status). Through problem based learning and collaborative work in study groups prior to coming to the classroom, the students will examine the State’s obligations not to intervene with the individuals’ freedoms and take measures to safeguard rights in the area of health. At the end of the course, the students are expected to be able to scrutinize human rights violations, and those practicing medicine, are enabled to work in human rights compliant manner. This seminar will be taught by Dr. Zillen and Slokenberga.
Kavot Zillén, LLD
LL.D. in Medical law, Stockholm University, Sweden
Kavot holds a LL.D. in Medical Law and is a postdoctoral researcher at Stockholm University in Sweden. Her position involves research and teaching in the field of administrative, medical law, and human rights law. Prior to starting her LLD, Kavot worked as a legal expert at the Swedish Medical Responsibility Board and at The National Board of Health and Welfare, under the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.
Santa Slokenberga, LLD
LL.D. in Medical Law, Uppsala University, Sweden
Santa holds a LL.D. in Medical Law and is a postdoctoral researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden. Her research focuses on the coexistence of the EU and Council of Europe in regulating health-related direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Currently, she is a legal expert in B3Africa project and works towards bridging biobank research in Europe and Africa. In addition, she has been teaching in the fields of EU law and medical law and since 2011. Prior to starting her doctoral studies, Santa Slokenberga worked as a legal advisor for Deloitte Latvia.
Cultural & Contextual Bias in Bioethics
During this seminar, we will start with an overview of some of the most widely recognised cognitive, cultural, and contextual biases that we are innately subject to. Second, we will deepen our understanding of how bias works in practice by exploring the boundaries of our own moral compasses through an extensive case study. By taking an in-depth look at a variety of surgeries on sex organs, we’ll come to understand why we think of some as inherently problematic and some as self-evidently valuable. Third, we will continue to step out of our comfort zones by analyzing some basic assumptions about the current state of the world, the environment, and cultural and socio-economic global facts. Fourth, having acquired these new insights, we’ll discuss different views on suffering and end-of-life decisions. In addition, you will get a crash course on contemporary problems of bias in medicine. Finally, you will showcase your advanced understanding of bias by presenting and defending opposing views on a controversial bioethical issue. This seminar will be taught by Mayli Mertens.
Mayli Mertens
PhD Candidate, Department of Philosophy, University of Twente
PhD representative for WTMC Graduate School of Science, Technology, and Modern Culture
Member of 4TU Center for Ethics and Technology
Mayli has a background in journalism and worked as an international correspondent until 2006, living in 12 different countries and traveling all over the world including North, West, and South Africa and the Middle East. She then founded ‘artists united’ http://forabetterworld.net, directed art productions, and gave lectures on social and environmental justice - activities for which she continued to operate internationally. Mayli obtained her MA in Applied Ethics from Linköping University in Sweden and was recently awarded ’Best Formal Paper by a Graduate Student’ by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) for her work “Objectivity beyond the red line: A case for binocularity in war reporting.” Her current research in neuroethics and philosophy of technology is on responsible innovation in the prognosis of postanoxic coma.
Medical Humanities (in Spanish)
This seminar is an introduction to Medical Humanities and will be taught in Spanish (an English version of this seminar will also be offered). Medical Humanities is mainly concerned with training medical practitioners but how does Medical Humanities shape this moral aspect of the medical practice? Shall we study arts and humanities to become a better person? We will aim in this seminar to explore the relationship between medicine, arts, and humanities, how they are related to each other and how they could enrich oneself from the other. We will observe, reflect and debate how that richness could help when ethical issues seem not to have an outcome as well as identify ethical problems throw the art, literature or movies. As a support, we will use clinical cases for discussions, out-of-classroom learning, like visiting Yale University facilities as Yale’s Medical Historical Library, watching movies extracts, and contemplating works of art. This seminar will be taught by Dr. Peregalli.
Santiago Peregalli, MD
Medical Doctor, trainee in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève (HUG), Switzerland.
Masters in Bioethics and Law, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain.
Santiago studied medicine at the Universidad de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay and the Universidad Europea de Madrid in Spain. Santiago is a licensed physician in Uruguay, Spain and Switzerland, where he is currently an advanced trainee in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy at the Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève. Santiago is a graduate of the Yale Summer Bioethics Institute in the class of 2013. He was offered a scholarship by the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics of the University of Barcelona to study a master by research in Bioethics and Law with a research focus on gender, and adolescent agency and autonomy.
Public Health Ethics
Ensuring the health and well-being of a population is a fundamental goal of public health. While state and local governments have expansive powers meant to preserve and protect the public’s health, actions taken in order to protect health and well-being may conflict with the rights and freedoms of individuals. Thus, a central question in public health ethics involves the balances of public good and personal liberty.
This seminar will introduce students to ethics in public health. The first half of the course will cover the history and general principles of public health ethics, the notion of social justice as a core element, and the social determinants of health. The second half of the course will focus on specific topics and case studies, including vaccination, quarantine and isolation. This seminar will be taught by Drs. Eagan and Lederman.
Sheena M. Eagan, PhD
Sheena Eagan holds a PhD in the medical humanities from the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch and has been teaching for over five years. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioethics and Interdisciplinary Studies at the Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University. Her research and teaching draw upon this interdisciplinary field to provide historico-ethical analyses founded in phenomenology.
Zohar Lederman, MD
Centre for Biomedical Ethics, Long Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
Zohar Lederman is a medical doctor and a bioethics PhD candidate at the National University of Singapore. His PhD focuses on the ethics of One Health. His other areas of interest include: end of life care, the dual loyalty dilemma, ethics of infectious diseases and public health ethics.
July Seminars
Ethics in Military Medicine
This seminar will explore how one practices medicine ethically in a culture that does not incorporate the “four pillars” of bioethics in the same way they are practiced in the civilian setting. The question is posed: “In a culture whose ethical standards do not place autonomy, even of one’s own body, as primary, how does one conduct oneself bioethically?” The military’s medical culture is designed to function proficiently in the midst of war. Failing to understand the differences between civilian and military codes and values can lead to extreme and severe misunderstandings and miscalculations in determining best practices. This seminar will incorporate real life scenarios and case studies as we explore the unique factors and formula that play into the decision- making process in the military medical community. Class members will be introduced to and learn to utilize the Military Medical Ethical Decision-Making Process (MED-DMP) currently being taught to healthcare professionals at the nation’s premiere military hospital, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and its medical school, the Uniform Services University of Health Sciences. This seminar will be taught by Jeff Matsler.
Jeff Matsler
Chaplain Major Jeff S. Matsler is a United States Army Chaplain, assigned to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) and an instructor at The Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Matsler hosts two events each year at WRNMMC: The Medical Ethics Short Course – a weeklong event designed to provide basic and advanced concepts in bioethics for the military community; and the Defense Medical Ethics Symposium – a national gathering of minds to address specific ethical issues facing the military medical community.
Chaplain Matsler regularly lectures at US Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) facilities around the nation on the topic of medical ethics in the military setting. He holds an S.T.M. with an emphasis on bioethics from Yale Divinity School, a Th.M. in the subject of Ethics from Duke Divinity School, and an M.Div. from Southern Methodist University.
Ethics at the End of Life
We are all going to die, but the ways in which we die are changing. The ‘end of life’ is increasingly managed, and modern death has become both medicalised and institutionalised. The purpose of this seminar series is to explore the complex and sensitive ethical issues that arise in relation to end of life across the human lifespan, and to provide an introduction to core questions that arise in considerations of modern end of life, broadly including but not limited to: definitions of ‘life’ and ‘death’, the art of ‘dying well’, and contemporary approaches to end of life law, policy, and practice, including physician-assisted death and suicide, and ethical disputes in the clinical setting. Students will participate in rigorous seminar discussions lead by a variety of expert seminar leaders, and will attend a special panel event on ‘Ethical considerations at end of life: Perspectives from religious representatives’. No prior experience in end of life ethics is required – students will be encouraged to be inquisitive, exploratory, and interactive in their learning. This seminar series will be coordinated by Courtney Hempton and taught by Lydia Dugdale, David Hersh, and Courtney Hempton.
Courtney Hempton
Courtney holds a Master of Bioethics and is a Teaching Associate and Research Assistant at the Monash Bioethics Centre at Monash University. She has particular interest in the regulation of dying and death, and her doctoral thesis focuses on the emergence of law and policy regarding ‘voluntary assisted dying’ in the Australian state of Victoria. Courtney completed undergraduate and honours degrees in behavioural science, and has previously been engaged as a researcher across the health sector, conducting empirical studies on aspects of dementia care, elder abuse, palliative care, and psycho-oncology. Courtney serves on the Monash Health Clinical Ethics Committee, the Natural Death Advocacy Network Executive Committee, and the Student and Early Career Researcher Stream Committee of the Australasian Association of Bioethics and Health Law. Courtney is currently completing her PhD at Monash. Connect with Courtney on Twitter @CourtneyHempton.
Lydia Dugdale
Lydia S. Dugdale, MD, is an associate professor in the Section of General Internal Medicine and the associate director of the Program for Biomedical Ethics at Yale School of Medicine. Her teaching commitments at Yale include clinical medicine and general ethics to medical students and residents, and she is the director of a research ethics course for doctoral students. Lydia’s scholarship focuses on biomedical ethics, with particular emphasis on care at the end of life. She has edited and published widely on bioethics topics, especially end-of-life care. Lydia has done interviews with NPR and on television with i24 News, and has received grant funding from the John Templeton Foundation. Lydia is currently completing a master’s degree in philosophical ethics at Yale Divinity School. She received her medical degree from the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine and completed her clinical training at Yale-New Haven Hospital. She practices primary care medicine with Yale Internal Medicine Associates.
Ethics of Emergency Medicine
This seminar will introduce you to the ethical issues that arise in the course of work in an emergency medicine setting. Through case-based discussions, we will put you “in the shoes” of an emergency physician, to learn about and apply what we know about ethics to a unique environment - the fast paced emergency room, where quick decisions have lasting implications. This seminar will be taught by Dr. Marcolini.
Evie Marcolini, MD
Assistant Professor, Departments of Emergency Medicine and Neurology
Division of Neurocritical Care and Emergency Neurology
Medical Director, SkyHealth Critical Care
Yale University School of Medicine
Evie Marcolini, MD is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care. She has clinical appointments in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Neurology; and is core faculty in the Emergency Department as well as the Division of Neurocritical Care and Emergency Neurology. She has board certifications in Emergency Medicine and Neurocritical Care. Dr. Marcolini is the Medical Director for the new SkyHealth Critical Care helicopter transport service that is shared between Yale-New Haven Health Center and Northwell Health System. She also has a special academic interest in Critical Care and end of life issues, and is a member of the Yale-New Haven Hospital Ethics Committee. She is a member of the American College of Critical Care Medicine Ethics committee, and teaches an ethics seminar annually for the Sherwin B. Nuland Summer Institute in Bioethics. She has been active as faculty for Wilderness Medical Associates International since 1992, and teaches wilderness medical courses to medical students, residents, faculty and allied health professionals nationally and internationally.
Neuroethics
This seminar will introduce you to some of the issues in the area of neuroscience that have ethical implications. We will, as much as possible, study through cases and interactive classroom discussion. We hope to have a session dedicated to the Cushing Center, and tour the historic collection of human brains, and have a discussion of the ethical issues around human bodies in a museum setting. This seminar will be co-taught by Drs. Marcolini and Olaciregui.
Evie Marcolini, MD
Assistant Professor, Departments of Emergency Medicine and Neurology
Division of Neurocritical Care and Emergency Neurology
Medical Director, SkyHealth Critical Care
Yale University School of Medicine
Evie Marcolini, MD is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care. She has clinical appointments in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Neurology; and is core faculty in the Emergency Department as well as the Division of Neurocritical Care and Emergency Neurology. She has board certifications in Emergency Medicine and Neurocritical Care. Dr. Marcolini is the Medical Director for the new SkyHealth Critical Care helicopter transport service that is shared between Yale-New Haven Health Center and Northwell Health System. She also has a special academic interest in Critical Care and end of life issues, and is a member of the Yale-New Haven Hospital Ethics Committee. She is a member of the American College of Critical Care Medicine Ethics committee, and teaches an ethics seminar annually for the Sherwin B. Nuland Summer Institute in Bioethics. She has been active as faculty for Wilderness Medical Associates International since 1992, and teaches wilderness medical courses to medical students, residents, faculty and allied health professionals nationally and internationally.
Karmele Olaciregui, MD
Resident, Neurology Department - RWTH University Clinic Aachen (Uniklinik RWTH Aachen) Germany
Dr. Olaciregui, a 2014 alumna of the Summer Institute in Bioethics, is currently a third-year resident in Neurology. In 2009 she obtained her degree in physical therapy and in 2015 in medicine. Her research interests include brain imaging and epilepsy. She is part of the epilepsy research group at her institution, and is currently involved in a number of clinical research projects, chiefly in biomarkers in epilepsy. Currently her main project is focused on serotonin metabolism as a biomarker for SUDEP (sudden death in epilepsy) risk. Her other main area of interest is the intersection between bioethics and epilepsy diagnosis, treatment, and complications.
An Introduction to Animal Ethics: Ethical Approaches to Nonhumans
Using classical and non-classical ethical philosophies, and tools such as the ethical matrix, we will explore various ways of thinking about nonhumans within cultural and historical contexts. Case studies in animal research, wildlife management, food animal production, and companion animal care will be presented and discussed. Topics will include current theories of animal ethics, cross-cultural constructions and categorizations of animals, the relationship of the animal mind to ethical standing, breeding and genetic manipulation of domestic animals, and ethical paths toward humane treatment of wildlife. This seminar will be co-taught by Dr. Maas & Laure Hoenen.
Jennifer Maas, DVM
Dr. Jennifer Maas received her DVM from Cornell University in 1980. Since then she has been involved in active clinical work, practicing large animal and companion animal medicine and surgery at her veterinary practice in Southern Massachusetts. In 2016 she received a MS in Animals and Public Policy from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Particular areas of interest include animal consciousness, clinical behavior, quality of life issues and genetic manipulation of non-human lifeforms. Her work explores the intersection between social justice and animal ethics within various historical, cultural and environmental contexts. In addition to clinical practice, Dr. Maas is a guest lecturer at Tufts University and Salem University. She teaches animal ethics courses at Tufts’ Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and Yale’s Summer Institute for Bioethics. Dr. Maas works with non-profit organizations to promote humane legislation and support community based animal care. She is a member of the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Society’s Animal Welfare Committee, the Society of Veterinary Medical Ethics, and participates in the Animal Ethics Study Group, at the Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics at Yale University.
Laure Hoenen
Laure Hoenen is a 2013 graduate of Yale’s summer institute, and has been a seminar leader in the program since 2016. She is currently a PhD candidate in history of science and an assistant lecturer in history of biology at the Faculty of Life Sciences at Strasbourg University in France. Her fields of expertise include animal ethics, the history of animal experimentation and, in particular, the history of primatology. Laure’s dissertation is based on work done at the Primatology Center of Strasbourg. Since 2014 Laure has been a member of an animal ethics committee for animals used for scientific purposes (the French equivalent of an IACUC). She is also co-creator and member of Ethosph’R, an association dedicated to research animal rehoming and rehabilitation.
Ethics of Enhancement
This seminar will provide a firm and wide-ranging grounding in ethical issues associated with human enhancement. We will cover the history of enhancement theory and discourse; we will learn about key theorists in the field and the views that they advance in favour of or against enhancement; and we will consider ethical dilemmas in applied areas including: cognitive enhancement; moral enhancement; sports enhancement; enhancement in literature, film, and myth; genetic enhancement and disease prevention; and enhancement in public health and health policy. We will have in-depth discussions about relevant case studies across these found in contemporary and historical medical practice, the media and wider society, and the bioethical literature.
Alexander McKeown, Ph.D.
Alex is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Psychiatry - Neuroscience, Ethics and Society group at the University of Oxford, and a Research Associate at Wellcome Centre for Ethics and the Humanities. Previously, Alex was a Research Associate at the University College London Medical School, a Teaching and Research Associate at the University of Bristol, Centre for Ethics in Medicine, and a Research Associate at the University of East London, Institute for Health and Human Development. He has a BA in Philosophy and an MA in Healthcare Ethics from the University of Leeds, and a PhD from the University of Bristol in Bioethics.
Ethical Issues in the Care of LGBTQ Populations
The LGBT population has been largely overlooked by the medical community, leading to gaps in research and difficulty in accessing care. In this seminar, we will begin with a historical look at the emergence of sexual and gender identities, from the works of early sexologists Magnus Hirschfeld and Krafft-Ebing, Freud, and Kinsey, and progress to more recent debates about who is included in the DSM, and under what diagnostic label (whereas homosexuality was declassified as a mental disorder in 1973, gender identity is still controversially included, now under gender dysphoria rather than gender identity disorder). Topics of special interest to LGBT bioethics include policies on blood donation by gay men, the history of clinical trials for HIV drugs, access to hormone treatment for transgender youth/children and trans prisoners, reproductive choice in a queer/trans context and access to new reproductive technologies and surrogacy by the LGBT population, durable power of attorney, visitation rights, and social barriers to accessing health and geriatric care. We will consider particular cases, such as: the use of puberty blockers in the Ashley X case, Chelsea Manning’s claim to hormone treatment in prison, Martin Shkreli and price-fixing AIDS drugs, Sharon Kowalski and the right to visitation after an accident. This seminar will be run by Karl (KJ) Surkan.
K.J. Surkan, PhD
Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. K .J. Surkan has been teaching in the interdisciplinary field of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies for the past 25 years. Since 2005, he has been a lecturer at MIT, teaching topics courses in Gender and Media, Gender and Technology, and Sexual and Gender Identities, as well as feminist research methods and methodology. His fascination with bioethics emanates from his research interests in transgender health, social media health activism, and data sharing. Dr. Surkan serves on the board of the National LGBT Cancer Network and is a Participant Representative to the Steering Committee of the All of Us Research Program, an NIH precision medicine initiative.
Ethics of Information
In an era marked by a rapid increase in the flow of information, sometimes called the Information Age, there is a pressing need to consider the ethical implications of new technologies and their impact on how we receive and transmit various types of data: medical, genetic, financial, personal. From our credit records to our FitBits to our electronic health records, massive amounts of information is being collected and collated, resulting in what John Cheney-Lippold describes as a blurring of self and information in his book We Are Data. In this seminar, we will consider the tensions between consequentialist and deontological ways of thinking about the ethics of information, particularly as they apply to issues of privacy and security, and the veracity of news. To what extent does the individual have a right to information or to access data? When is that right mitigated by public health interests, national security interests, or privacy interests? Can sharing information be harmful, and under what circumstances? How might this impact democratic ideals and the freedom of speech? Examples may include a consideration of the return of genetic data to medical study participants, BRCA variant data sharing, FDA and EPA warning labels, HIPAA protections and their relationship to sensitive medical data (reidentification), tracking of consumer spending, election polling, digital manipulation of images, “fake news,” spreadability of social media memes and status updates, hashtag campaigns, and hacking.
K.J. Surkan, PhD
Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. K .J. Surkan has been teaching in the interdisciplinary field of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies for the past 25 years. Since 2005, he has been a lecturer at MIT, teaching topics courses in Gender and Media, Gender and Technology, and Sexual and Gender Identities, as well as feminist research methods and methodology. His fascination with bioethics emanates from his research interests in transgender health, social media health activism, and data sharing. Dr. Surkan serves on the board of the National LGBT Cancer Network and is a Participant Representative to the Steering Committee of the All of Us Research Program, an NIH precision medicine initiative.
Ethics of Eating: Analysis of Consumption Patterns and Practices
Preparing food, eating food and getting food are activities that are central to human survival and daily life. This seminar will explore the ethical implications that human food choices and eating habits have on people, animals and the environment. We will address topics such as food security, international trade, economic policy, subsistence farming, consumption patterns and environmental justice. Taking a cross-cultural perspective, we will pay particular attention to marginalized populations and the environmental consequences of choosing what and how we eat. This seminar will be taught by Dr. Maas.
Jennifer Maas, DVM
Dr. Jennifer Maas received her DVM from Cornell University in 1980. Since then she has been involved in active clinical work, practicing large animal and companion animal medicine and surgery at her veterinary practice in Southern Massachusetts. In 2016 she received a MS in Animals and Public Policy from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Particular areas of interest include animal consciousness, clinical behavior, quality of life issues and genetic manipulation of non-human lifeforms. Her work explores the intersection between social justice and animal ethics within various historical, cultural and environmental contexts. In addition to clinical practice, Dr. Maas is a guest lecturer at Tufts University and Salem University. She teaches animal ethics courses at Tufts’ Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and Yale’s Summer Institute for Bioethics. Dr. Maas works with non-profit organizations to promote humane legislation and support community based animal care. She is a member of the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Society’s Animal Welfare Committee, the Society of Veterinary Medical Ethics, and participates in the Animal Ethics Study Group, at the Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics at Yale University.
Bioethics & the Media
Bioethics involves questions of good and evil, right and wrong, life and death. Naturally, bioethical topics make for lively cocktail party conversations, exhaustive graduate studies and front-page, above-the-fold headlines. But do these headlines address the most important bioethical issues of the day? We’ll look at what gets covered in bioethics and who covers it. We will consider the role of journalists and journalism in the birth of bioethics as an academic discipline. We will sample and critique popular coverage of bioethics (from The New Yorker to People magazine), looking at the competing demands of storytelling, explanation and balance. A half-dozen bioethics “perennials” will help focus these inquiries: news coverage of suicide; organ transplantation and resource allocation; coverage of infertility treatment and “miracle births;” defining illness and marketing cures; and vaccination. A significant amount of class time will be reserved for discussion of student-written opinion pieces on wide-ranging bioethics topics. This seminar will be taught by Jeff Stryker.
Jeff Stryker
Jeff is a freelance writer and commentator on pubic radio, specializing in bioethical issues. He has been a frequent contributor to the New York Times and has published peer-reviewed articles on bioethics in the Hastings Center Report, the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA. As a staff researcher and writer, he has contributed to reports on bioethics published by the Institute of Medicine, the National Commission on AIDS, the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and the Kaiser Family Foundation. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
History of Biomedicine
Biomedical solutions to the problem of health and management of life are so ubiquitous that one seldom asks how biomedical practices came into being in the first place. What ideas and practices changed to make biomedical interventions acceptable? How is biomedical research entangled with the longer history of medicine and public health? And how can this history help inform the people who are confronted with ethical challenges in their own lives and professions? These are questions that this seminar will examine as we explore the historical conditions in which biomedicine arose. This historical approach will help students understand the complex issues underlying the bioethical questions and choices that many are confronted with today. No prior knowledge in the history of biomedicine or medicine is required. We will alternate between reading excerpts and articles alongside some short case studies that will help frame the discussions during our meetings. The seminar is meant to be interactive and encourages participants to share any questions they have about the relationship between the history of biomedicine and bioethics. This seminar will be taught by Hae Soo Park.
Hae Soo Park
Haesoo is a Ph.D. candidate at Yale University, currently working on his dissertation project on the history of epigenetics from the interwar period to the post-genomic age. His primary research interest is in the 20th century history of the life sciences and applies an interdisciplinary approach drawing from medical anthropology, STS, and postcolonial feminism alongside historical methods. His works are driven by the fascinating ways that the question of “life itself” became the center of governmental calculations, ethical concerns, technoscientific practices, capitalist logic, and hopes of a better future.
Research Ethics
This seminar will cover the principles of research ethics, looking at historical examples of ethical violations and how these led to the development of human and animal research ethics committees. The seminar will provide practical tips on applying and reviewing research ethics applications, in addition to considering which normative ethical theories are prioritized when evaluating research protocols. Students will be asked to discuss how research is ethically reviewed in their own country and any recent examples of unethical research. This seminar will be taught by Agata Bloswick.
Agata Bloswick
Bloswick is a Yale Bioethics Summer Program graduate of 2011. She is a PhD candidate focusing on improvement of Informed Consent Forms in Clinical Trials. She has 12 years of experience working in clinical trials of various indications on behalf of pharmaceutical and small biotech companies. She managed over 35 different trials in over 40 countries. Having worked on trials involving vulnerable populations, she is striving to achieve the highest ethical standards of the research she oversees. She was also a speaker at a UNESCO Chair in Bioethics conference. She teaches Project Management in Clinical Trials at the Faculty of Pharmacy of Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.
Disability, Illness, & Difference
This seminar will explore disability as a social category of difference through engagement with disability studies and disability rights critiques of healthcare and medical intervention. This will help contextualize contemporary bioethical debates about disability. Some see disability as a condition to be cured; others view it as a social category and a valuable difference that should be preserved. We will look at different types of disability and their specific cases in bioethics such as Deaf culture and cochlear implants, prenatal testing, physician assisted death, and more. The class will provide an introduction to the fundamental assertions of disability studies, investigating how these are often seen in conflict with the field of bioethics and examining some of the sociopolitical aspects of specific conditions. We will have group discussions, brief readings, and film viewings, as well as possibly a few guest speakers. Students need not have any familiarity with disability (in fact, you are especially encouraged to take this seminar if that is the case!) and are encouraged to be interactive and curious. This seminar will be taught by Laura Mauldin.
Laura Mauldin
Laura Mauldin is an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut. She is a sociologist who specializes in health and illness, focusing on the power of medical knowledge, critical analyses of the healthcare system, patients’ and families’ interactions with medicine, and experiences and social aspects of illness and disability. One of her main areas of expertise is the politics of medical interventions for the disabled. Her past research has focused on Deaf communities and cochlear implants, culminating in her first book, Made to Hear: Cochlear Implants and Raising Deaf Children. In addition to being a professor, Laura is also a Nationally Certified American Sign Language interpreter, and primarily works in hospital settings. For more information, visit www.lauramauldin.com.
Religious Reasoning in Bioethics
With regard to the emergence and development of bioethics, one could argue that while theological ethicists helped to shape the questions and concerns of the field in the 1960s, religious perspectives have gradually been phased out of public discourse. Religious beliefs are often treated as private ethical commitments that are indefensible, cannot speak to public normative discussions, and should not be invoked in decisions about legal policies; in fact, the very idea of religious reasons may seem contradictory, as there is a long-standing tradition of viewing religion as irrational or a-rational. Nevertheless, the insights and values of religious traditions and communities seem to have survived the alleged secularization of bioethics; and insofar as religious adherents continue to encounter and make contributions to the field, they are beholden to engage in the normative practice of providing reasons for their positions. Some of the questions we will ask in this seminar include: Can religious reasons appeal to those outside of the religious communities that invoke them? Must religious reasoning avoid relying on unverifiable theological claims in order to be persuasive? And what is the difference between a “religious” and “non-religious” or “secular” reason, anyway? To see how some of these questions have practical import, we will discuss individual legal cases where religious reasoning has played a role in bioethical issues. This seminar will be taught by AJ DeBonis.
AJ DeBonis
Theology Teacher, Regis High School
AJ holds a BA in Philosophy from Eastern University, a dual MA in Theology and English Literature from Villanova University, and an MA in Religious Ethics from Yale Divinity School. He has taught courses on the Catholic intellectual tradition and world religions at Sacred Heart University, and currently teaches theology, philosophy, and ethics at the secondary school level. He is a 2015 graduate of the Sherwin B. Nuland Summer Institute, and lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.
Medical Humanities (English version)
This seminar, like the June section taught in Spanish, will draw from the humanities to explore the human experience of illness, suffering, death and the body. The medical humanities is an interdisciplinary field that explores the contexts, experiences, and conceptual issues in medicine and health care. This field compliments traditional bioethics by broadening the discussion and bringing new perspectives into the fold: students will explore visual art, literature, patient narratives, and the work of physician-writers, as well as scholarly articles, to reflect on the individual, social, and political human experiences of illness, health, and healing. We will examine how we define health and illness and reflect on the provision of medical care, the practice of medicine, and professional identity formation, as well as the social construction of disease. Additionally, the interdisciplinary approach provided by the medical humanities will provide critical skills for future health care professionals: development of empathy, observation, and self-reflection. This seminar will be taught by Dr. Eagan.
Sheena M. Eagan, PhD
Sheena Eagan holds a PhD in the medical humanities from the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch and has been teaching for over five years. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioethics and Interdisciplinary Studies at the Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University. Her research and teaching draw upon this interdisciplinary field to provide historico-ethical analyses founded in phenomenology.
Finding Common Ground: Bioethics, Religion, and Dialogue
Religion can profoundly influence bioethical decisions on both an individual and policy level. Using case studies, this seminar will open a small door onto understanding a few key, religious frameworks, and the underlying need for dialogue around decision making processes. The seminar will journey along two converging paths: The first includes brief discussions of several important Judeo-Christian themes (faith-based views on pain/suffering, the varying emphasis’ regarding human life, the quest for physical immortality…) and their implications for current bioethical thought and policy. The second will introduce different tools for fostering dialogue and understanding around these challenging and often polarizing issues. Due to time constraints, emphasis is on Judeo-Christian themes, although input related to other faith traditions – or from a non-religious framework – are strongly encouraged. Open to all students interested in deepening their understanding of dialogue around difficult and challenging issues. This seminar will be taught by Dr. Kopp
Sue Kopp, DVM
Professor Emeritus of Health Sciences, City University of New York (CUNY)
Dr. Susan Kopp is a recipient of the New York State Humane Association Award for Exemplary Veterinary Service, and also served as veterinarian for the New York City animal shelter system, where her work included areas related to public health and the human-animal bond. A past chair of Yale’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics Animal Ethics study group, Sue developed and taught our Summer Institute’s first animal & veterinary ethics seminar in 2010. Her personal and professional commitments include both efforts around fruitful dialogue on challenging issues of faith in society, and interest in the interface between religion, ethics, animals, and the environment. Her collaborative work includes articles in The Hastings Center Special Report, the Journal of Moral Theology, America magazine, and Living City magazine. Sue holds a BS in biochemistry from Virginia Tech, doctor of veterinary medicine from Purdue University, and advanced coursework in religious studies.
Aliens Among Us: Ethically Thinking about “The Other” using Science Fiction
In this seminar we will explore ethical dilemmas that are related to “others.” Each seminar will be dedicated to particular kinds of alien-seeming-beings such as robots and extra-terrestrial life forms. Parallels to animals, the environment and human minorities will be explored. During this seminar, we will address the risks and benefits of science, the balance between societal responsibility and human rights, immortality, self-enhancement and transhumanism. Academic articles and excerpted speculative and science fiction will be discussed. Other materials may include Movies and TV episodes. This seminar will be taught by Laure Hoenen.
Laure Hoenen
Laure Hoenen is a 2013 graduate of the Bioethics Summer Institute and has been an instructor there since 2016. She is currently a PhD candidate in history of science and an assistant lecturer in history of biology at the Faculty of Life Sciences at Strasbourg University in France. Her fields of expertise include animal ethics, the history of animal experimentation and, in particular, the history of primatology. Laure’s dissertation is based on work done at the Primatology Center of Strasbourg. Since 2014 Laure has been a member of an animal ethics committee for animals used for scientific purposes (the French equivalent of an IACUC). She is also co-creator and member of Ethosph’R, an association dedicated to research animal rehoming and rehabilitation.