Readings can be found by following blue hyperlinks. If there is no blue hyperlink, there is no assigned reading.
Please bookmark this page (rather than printing it or downloading it). Readings and lecture topics are subject to change, and not all guest lectures have been confirmed yet. This page should always be accurate with respect to the next class session, however.
| Date | |
| 2/2 | Introductions. Meaning of “ethics,” philosophical and professional |
| 2/4 | Syllabus. Normative/empirical distinction. Evaluating normative arguments. |
| Metcalf, Thomas. 2018. “Philosophy and Its Contrast with Science.” 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology. | |
| 2/9 | Moral Skepticism, Individual and Cultural Moral Relativism |
| Westacott, Emrys. n.d. “Moral Relativism.” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Please read sections 2 g, 3 a, b, c, d, and 4 b, c, d, e. | |
| 2/11 | Consequentialist Ethics |
| Nathanson. Stephen. n.d. “Consequentialist Ethics.” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Please read all of sections 1 and 2. | |
| 2/16 | Deontological Ethics |
| Jankowiak, Tim. n.d. “Immanuel Kant.” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Please read all of section 5. | |
| 2/18 | Building an interdisciplinary case study, Part IA: Developing an annotated bibliography entry |
| Le Morvan, P., & Stock, B. 2005. Medical learning curves and the Kantian ideal.Journal of Medical Ethics, 31(9), 513–518. | |
| 2/23 | Principles of biomedical ethics |
| McCormick, Thomas R. 2013. “Principles of Bioethics.” | |
| 2/25 | Building an interdisciplinary case study, Part IB: Researching ethics cases. |
| Mazor, K. M., Reed, G. W., Yood, R. A., Fischer, M. A., Baril, J., & Gurwitz, J. H. (2006). Disclosure of medical errors. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21(7), 704–710. | |
| 3/2 | Respecting patient autonomy |
| Macklin, R. (1977). Consent, Coercion, and Conflicts of Rights. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 20(3), 360–371. | |
| 3/4 | Decision Making Capacity and Competence |
| Appelbaum, P. S. (2007). Assessment of patients’ competence to consent to treatment. The New England Journal of Medicine 357(18), 1834–1840. | |
| 3/9 | Surrogate Decision Making |
| Brock, Dan W. 2004. “Surrogate Decision-Making.” In Encyclopedia of Bioethics, 3rd ed., edited by Stephen G. Post, 2483-2486. Vol. 4. New York, NY: Macmillan Reference USA. Gale Virtual Reference Library. | |
| 3/11 | Midterm Review. |
| 3/16 | Midterm |
| 3/18 | Medical decision making for children |
| Navin, Mark Christopher, and Jason Adam Wasserman. 2017. “Reasons to Amplify the Role of Parental Permission in Pediatric Treatment.” The American Journal of Bioethics 17 (11): 6–14. | |
| 3/23 | Guest Lecture. “Sociology and Environmental Justice.” Prof. Diana Mincyte, Sociology. |
| No reading. | |
| ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE | |
| 3/25 | Justice and the distribution of health |
| Sterba, James P. “Justice.” In Encyclopedia of Bioethics, 3rd ed., edited by Stephen G. Post, 1354-1361. Vol. 3. New York, NY: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. Gale Virtual Reference Library. | |
| 3/27-4/4 | Spring Recess. No classes. |
| 4/6 | Guest Lecture—Statistical Reasoning and Comparing Health Care Systems, Prof. Gulgun Bayaz-Ozturk (Economics). |
| No reading. | |
| 4/8 | Building an interdisciplinary case study Part II: Thesis and argument workshop |
| *Homework assignment due: see “Homework” page on OpenLab. | |
| 4/13 | Guest Lecture—“Medical authority, autonomy and reactance.” Prof. David H. Lee (Communication/Humanities) |
| No reading. | |
| 4/15 | Guest Lecture—“Ethical Concerns in Health Communication.” Prof. David H. Lee (Communication/Humanities) |
| No reading. | |
| 4/20 | Introduction to research ethics |
| Willowbrook Case. | |
| 4/22 | Race in research |
| Cho, Mildred K. 2006. “Racial and Ethnic Categories in Biomedical Research: There Is No Baby in the Bathwater.” The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 34 (3): 497–99. | |
| WRITTEN REPORT DUE | |
| 4/27 | Guest Lecture. “Ethical Concerns for Conducting Survey Research in Health Psychology”—Prof. Amanda Almond (Psychology) |
| Maxwell, Scott E., and Ken Kelley. “Ethics and Sample Size Planning.” In Handbook of Ethics in Quantitative Methodology, edited by A. T. Panter and Sonya K. Sterba. New York: Routledge, 2011. Pages 159-184. **Please note: this link downloads the whole book. Please read only pages 159-184. | |
| 4/29 | Guest Lecture—“Self-care and health behaviors of health care providers,” Prof. Amanda Almond (Psychology) |
| Barnett, J. E., Baker, E. K., Elman, N. S., & Schoener, G. R. (2007). In pursuit of wellness: The self-care imperative. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 38(6), 603–612. | |
| 5/4 | Vaccine allocation and vulnerable groups |
| Kaposy, C., and N. Bandrauk. 2012. “Prioritizing Vaccine Access for Vulnerable but Stigmatized Groups.” Public Health Ethics 5 (3): 283-295. | |
| 5/6 | Group presentations: Groups 1+2 |
| 5/11 | Group presentations: Groups 3+4 |
| 5/13 | Group presentations: Groups 5+6 |
| 5/20 | Review |
| 5/25 | FINAL |
