Courses

Please click on course titles below to see course descriptions.
Bioethics Core Courses
Bioethics Elective Courses
Bioethics Master’s Thesis

BIET K4300. History of Bioethics. 3 pts.

Description

This course is designed to introduce students to the historical development of bioethics as an intellectual endeavor, a set of professional practices, and an institution. The organization of the course is both chronological and thematic. Over the span of the semester, students are presented with a narrative account of how bioethical ideas and practices developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with individual sessions organized around critical issues and episodes that shaped this development. By the end of the course students are able to identify and analyze the forces that have influenced the evolution of bioethics over the past two centuries. We pay close attention both to the advances in science and technology (such as dialysis and transplantation) that raised new ethical challenges and to the social, cultural, political, and legal context within which these advances emerged. Readings for the course comprise a mixture of historical analyses and primary documents, including seminal court rulings.

In addition to seminar-style discussion, students participate in a variety of in-class group activities and exercises that enable them to critically engage with the course materials. Students submit a short paper on one of the topics covered in the syllabus and a longer paper on a topic of their choosing. In the eighth week of the course, students make brief presentations about their planned final paper and have an opportunity to receive comments and feedback from their classmates at an early stage in their research.

Back to Top

BIET K4320. Philosophy of Bioethics. 3 pts.

Description

In contemporary bioethics, we find ourselves grappling with practically important, and at the same time, philosophically fundamental questions such as: What is health and why is it especially important? When does someone’s life begin and how should it end? What is the proper role of physicians, nurses and other health care providers and what are the rights of their patients? What is a just and fair way to provide access to health-care services and resources? In a society committed to protecting a diversity of lifestyles and opinions, how can citizens resolve policy controversies such as whether there should be public funding of human embryonic stem cell research, or a legally protected right to physician assistance in ending one’s life?

The aims of this course are to identify the fundamental ethical questions that underlie contemporary biomedical practice; develop skill in analyzing and clarifying key concepts such as health, disease and disability; critically assess the health-care implications of different ethical outlooks; and finally, to explore how citizens can reasonably resolve controversial bioethical issues in a mutually respectful way.

The course meets once a week in two-hour sessions. In-class discussion play a key role as students explore, in a give-and-take spirit, the pros and cons of each position.

This course is designed for medical students and for students at the graduate or advanced undergraduate level in biology, philosophy, political science, public health, law and other related fields. Course requirements include readings,participation in class discussions, a five-to-six page midterm paper and a final paper of approximately 12-15 pages.

Back to Top

BIET K4330. Law and Bioethics. 3 pts.

Description

This course introduces students to selected legal and policy texts that have addressed issues in bioethics and shaped their development. Students will explore and contrast legal reasoning and bioethical analysis, often of the same issues. By the end of the course, students will understand the legal or regulatory status of selected issues and have begun to independently navigate major legal, regulatory, and policy texts. Individual sessions will be focused around particular issues or questions that have been addressed by (usually) American courts and/or in legislation, regulation or policy, and that have been the subject of scholarship and debate within bioethics.

The course begins with a theoretical look at the relationship between law and ethics, and includes a brief introduction to legal decision-making and policy development. We then survey a range of bioethics issues that have been addressed by the courts and/or in legislation, regulation, or significant policy documents, contrasting and comparing legal argument and reasoning with arguments utilized in the bioethics literature.

Back to Top

BIET K4400. Clinical Ethics. 3 pts.

Description

While this course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of clinical ethics and the basic terminology and framework of ethical analysis in biomedical ethics, it offers a more sociological perspective, putting the contemporary clinical issues into a broader context. After an introductory course on the development of clinical ethics and its impact on hospital care and doctor-patient relationships, on the prevailing autonomy norm and its critique, the course focuses on issues encountered in clinical practice such as informed consent, patient capacity, decision-making, end of life, advance directives, medical futility, pediatrics ethics, maternal-fetal conflicts, organ transplantation, cultural competence and diversity of beliefs and others.

Over the span of the semester, students become familiar with the ethical questions surrounding major topics in the clinic with a practical case-based approach toward ethics dilemmas and ethics consultation. During the semester students attend a meeting of the adult or pediatric ethics committees of New York Presbyterian and Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, as well as ethics lectures given at the medical center. Exposure to a clinical ethics rotation may be offered to provide the student with real-life cases and an application of the concepts discussed in class.

Students are expected to submit a short paper on one of the topics covered in the syllabus and a longer paper on a topic of their choosing. In the eighth week of the course, students make brief presentations about their planned final paper and have an opportunity to receive comments and feedback from their classmates at an early stage in their research.

Back to Top

BIET K4440. Global Bioethics. 3 pts.

Description

Increasingly, issues of medical research and clinical care are posing complex ethical issues not only in the United States, but in other countries in both the industrialized and the developing world. Yet varying economic, political, social, cultural and historical contexts shape these issues. In diverse contexts in Asia, Africa, Europe and North and South America, practices and policies, along with cultures and moral values differ enormously. Yet ethical issues are arising not in isolation, but as part of global communities and discourses. In research, multi-national pharmaceutical companies are increasingly conducting studies in both industrialized countries and the developing world, posing numerous ethical tensions. In clinical care, uses of reproductive technologies differ across national borders, leading to “reproductive tourism”. End of life care varies widely, reflecting in part differing attitudes toward death and dying. This course examines the political, economic, social, cultural, philosophical, medical, and historical roots and implications of these issues. Course requirements are a short, five-page paper that may be either an “Op-Ed” type essay or a more academic paper and a written assignment of approximately 15-20 pages.

This course meets for two hours a week for a lecture and discussion, facilitating in-depth analysis and debate of these vital areas. Course requirements include participation in class discussions, a five-page paper that may be either an “Op-Ed” type essay, or a more academic paper, and a written assignment of approximately 15-20 pages. This course can fulfill the requirements for Responsible Conduct of Research that the National Institute of Health and other funders currently mandate for training programs that they support.

Back to Top

BIET K4450. Research Ethics. 3 pts.

Description

In recent years, many crucial issues have arisen concerning research ethics. Scientists in biomedicine, social science and other areas, as well as policy makers face rapidly evolving challenges. In recent years, violations of research ethics have attracted attention from the public, the media, the government, and the scientific community, which have all responded in varying ways. Issues arise in deciding how best to protect human subjects, obtain informed consent, protect privacy and confidentiality, finance research without biasing results, and avoid “misbehavior” among scientists. Questions arise concerning the professional responsibilities and rights of scientists, the rights of study participants, and the appropriate role of the state in these matters.

This course meets for two hours a week for a lecture and discussion, facilitating in-depth analysis and debate of these vital areas. Course requirements include participation in class discussions, a five-page paper that may be either an “Op-Ed” type essay, or a more academic paper, and a written assignment of approximately 15-20 pages. This course can fulfill the requirements for Responsible Conduct of Research that the National Institute of Health and other funders currently mandate for training programs that they support.

Back to Top

BIET K7001 Topics in Neuroscience and Ethics. 3 pts.

Description

In this course, students will examine ethical, social, legal, and philosophical issues related to developments in the neurosciences. Students will explore both the ethics of neuroscience (e.g, the responsible conduct of neuroscience research and the impact of emerging neuroscience technologies on society) and the neuroscience of ethics (e.g., the use of neuroscience in debates about moral reasoning).

Back to Top

BIET K4990 Master's Thesis

Description

The master's thesis provides an opportunity for students to expand their understanding of the complexities of the issues involved in a specific topic within bioethics. They work closely with the core faculty member to whom they are assigned, and often with an additional faculty affiliate as well, depending on their interest. They identify and focus on a topic and conduct a rigorous review and analysis of the relevant theoretical and/or empirical literature. Students are encouraged to choose a topic that draws on their specific interests, past experiences, and/or future professional or academic goals.

Back to Top