Bioethc 2000 ONL AU18 PDF

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College of Medicine Center for Bioethics & Medical Humanities

SYLLABUS: BIOETHC 2000 THEORY & FOUNDATIONS OF BIOETHICS TERM: AU 2018 Instructor Instructor: Matthew Vest, PhD Email address: [email protected]

Phone number: 614-366-8405

Office hours: By appointment

Course description This General Education (Culture and Ideas) Course offers a philosophical, cultural, and biopolitical survey of the moral foundations of contemporary bioethical theories and health care policies. This course explores issues such as the nature of health and disease, therapy and enhancement, the definition of death, end of life care, the morality of abortion, euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, health care reform, social justice, environmental ethics, and more. Special attention will be given to the four moral principles—autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, & justice—as well as to the challenge of securing consensus of moral norms or values in a pluralistic age. NOTE: this course is a General Education (GE) course that fulfills the “Culture and Ideas” category requirement.

Course learning outcomes In this class, students will: 1. learn about the history, general features, and limitations of the field of bioethics 2. learn to see the complex interplay of philosophy, anthropology, theology, sociology, biopolitics, and more engaged in bioethics 3. identify and evaluate the norms, principles, and values commonly appealed to in bioethics 4. apply moral reasoning to specific situations and defend the conclusions of that reasoning 5. hone writing skills, learning to write clearly and effectively about moral dilemmas 6. practice skills of collegial & courteous disagreement amidst foundational differences

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Course materials Required 1) Lewis Vaughn, Bioethics: Principles, Issues, and Cases (3rd Ed). Oxford University Press, 2016. ISBN

978-0190250102. Student Resources page online: http://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780190250102/stud/

NOTE: the 3rd edition is required for this course; changes made for the third editions are included in course quizzes such that students may/will miss quiz questions if reading the 1st or 2nd editions. 2) Select articles from The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy (Oxford University Press) and other journals as listed in course outline/schedule—all are supplied/linked as PDFs within each week’s module.

Optional, recommended materials H.T. Engelhardt, The Foundations of Bioethics (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, 1996. Beauchamp & Childress, Principles of Biomedical Ethics (7th ed.), Oxford University Press, 2012.

GE Culture & Ideas Goals and ELO Goals Students evaluate significant cultural phenomena and ideas in order to develop capacities for aesthetic and historical response and judgment; and interpretation and evaluation. Expected Learning Outcomes: 1) Students analyze and interpret major forms of human thought, culture, and expression. 2) Students evaluate how ideas influence the character of human beliefs, the perception of reality, and the norms which guide human behavior. How BIOETHIC 2000 helps students achieve these ELOs: Bioethics is a major form of human thought, culture, and expression as healthcare and medicine are realities all human engage. As such, BIOETHIC 2000 addresses identification and understanding of biomedical ethics as a major form of human thought, culture, and expression. Likewise, this course seeks to address different modes of evaluating, conceptualizing, and applying how bioethics functions as a norm that affects one’s perception of reality and guides human behavior.

Disclaimer & Warning Students should note that bioethics—particularly in a film and media course on bioethics— inherently involves discussions and images of human frailty, pain, death, surgery, body parts and more. Just as medicine and bioscience that dissect “whole” entities and bodies to understand “parts” require courage and a level of scientific curiosity, so, too, bioethics requires something of a strong constitution when discussing what morally should and should not be done with life (bios). Studying

3 bioethics—especially blatant ethics violations—is often cautionary and can offer important lessons for future scientists, physicians, policy workers and more. Please note that being moved or challenged by disturbing matters is a natural reaction, and hence students are encouraged to learn how to think and react rightly in the face of troubling material (vs. avoiding/ignoring such issues altogether). Counseling and help is available through Counseling and Consultation Services (614.292.5766), and you are welcome to contact the faculty of this course for discussion as well. Please be aware.

Course technology Baseline technical skills necessary for online courses • •

Basic computer and web-browsing skills (including Word or PDF document navigation) Navigating Carmen Canvas

Necessary equipment •

Computer: current Mac (OS X) or PC (Windows 7+) with high-speed internet connection & ability to upload a Word or PDF doc into Carmen.

Grading and faculty response Grades Assignment or category

% Points

Course Participation I: Short answer discussion forum (P/F)

20

Course Participation II: Bioethics in the media and culture (P/F)

20

Weekly Quizzes

35

Final Exam

25

Total (possible total)

100

See course schedule, below, for due dates

Brief description of graded assignments Additional instructions and descriptions for the below are written out in Carmen. •

Course Participation I: Short essay answer discussion forum (7 total in the semester) Students will respond to 7 reading reflection questions over the course of the semester. These short response essays are to be substantive and between 400-500 words per answer. Students must record the word count at the top or header of each essay answer, and essays less than 400 words will not meet expectations (Incomplete or Fail). The point of the word

4 count is not to be pedantic but rather to guide you towards a reasonable reflection post. These discussion forum posts are not to be formal “research writing” but rather should display personal considerations and reflections on the questions provided. These student posts are due Saturdays by 11:59pm (excepting Module/weeks 1 & 15). Students must also offer at least one peer review comment on another group member’s post of their choice, and this will be due by 11:59pm on Sundays (excepting Module/weeks 1 & 15). These peer-review comments should aim for 50-100 words and should highlight: (a) at least point of agreement/disagreement and then (b) one thoughtful follow-up question that the essay provoked (i.e., “in light of your peer’s post, this _____ question comes to mind”). The peer-review assignment is part of the collective PASS / FAIL, and students must complete both the media-culture post and the peer-review comment in a timely manner to receive a passing mark for the course participation. •

Course Participation II: Bioethics in the media and culture discussion forum (6 total in the semester) This self-directed assignment allows students to select an item or “sample” from news sources, academic or pop culture, arts, media, film, music or other that clearly raises an important bioethics topic/issue. After providing a link to the sample, students will write a 400-500 word essay post summarizing/identifying/analyzing the media/culture sample. As with the discussion forum posts, students must include the number of words written for the media post at the top or header of the post. Students are recommended to focus on questions such as: why is this issue significant? For whom is it significant? What moral issues are raised in the media sample? How does this sample connect to readings/lectures in this course? What moral authorities are being followed/questioned in this sample? Does this issue/sample affect one or many (ie, universal)? Who should be involved in regulating/managing the policies surrounding this issue? As with the discussion forum posts, these culture/media posts are due Saturdays by 11:59pm (excepting Module/week 1). Students will again offer at least one peer review comment of 50-100 words on another group member’s post of their choice (again highlighting (a) at least point of agreement/disagreement and then (b) one thoughtful follow-up question that the essay provoked (ie, “in light of your peer’s post, this _____ question comes to mind”), and this must be due by 11:59pm on Sundays (excepting Module/week 1). This assignment is part of the collective PASS / FAIL assignment grade, and students must complete both the media-culture post and the peer-review comment in a timely manner to receive passing marks.

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Weekly Quizzes These weekly quizzes are intended to be process-oriented, learning quizzes. In other words, the goal is only partly to “quiz” students’ reading apprehension each week; more importantly, however, the goal is to confirm what’s most important and what “should be remembered” from the readings (and occasional podcasts) each week. Most of the quizzes will cover the assigned readings from Vaughn’s bioethics textbook, and, IMPORTANTLY, as evidence of how these quizzes are to be learning experiences as much as testing opportunities, please note that you will have access to 10 pre-quiz questions through the Oxford publisher’s web site (link here: http://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780190250102/stud/). Most weeks, these

5 10 pre-quiz questions will appear on your weekly quiz of ~20 questions such that you will have access to study and reflect on 50% of the quiz answers before taking the quiz. In short, this quiz-methodology is quite friendly to the student who wishes to put in respectable effort both to reading and reviewing/preparing for the quizzes. In addition to addressing material from the Vaughn textbook, these quizzes may/will address additional material from assigned recorded lectures, podcasts, and bioethics films. Students should also note that these quizzes are timed quizzes (most allow 20 mins) to encourage students to study and know the material well in advance. Quizzes will be due on Thursdays by 11:59pm. • Final Exam The final exam is an open-book, short-essay style final designed to allow students the chance to demonstrate their developing thinking on the course topics and issues. In format, the short essays will be similar to the Discussion Question posts students have composed through the semester. Students will also have the opportunity to self-assess their own development in understanding the foundations of bioethics by aligning/comparing their thinking from the start of the semester and the end. Given the nature of this final, there is no study guide offered, and yet it should be noted that students should be well prepared for the final given the similarity in format between the Discussion Questions and the Final Exam. NOTE: the Final Exam will be uploaded into Carmen and must be uploaded in a Word or PDF doc (no exceptions!). This is to ensure that I am able to view/download your final via Carmen (unusual file options in the past have not been visible/downloadable).

Late assignments Part of the advantage of an online class is the flexibility and time management that rests in the hands of the student. At the same time, to ensure steady progress through the semester, all students must adhere to the two weekly deadlines. These assignments will CLOSE at the listed times, and students will be unable to submit late work. In other words, late assignments are not accepted with the exception of emergencies or dire illness (note: doctor’s note or other demonstrable proof is required). Assignments submitted late (but before the assignment closes) may be assessed a late penalty. Deadline One to author a Discussion or Culture/Media Post: every Saturday by 11:59pm. Deadline Two to reply to a classmate’s Discussion or Culture/Media Post & to complete the weekly quiz: every Sunday by 11:59pm.

Grading scale 93–100: A 90–92.9: A87–89.9: B+ 83–86.9: B 80–82.9: B77–79.9: C+

73–76.9: C 70 –72.9: C67 –69.9: D+ 60 –66.9: D Below 60: E

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Faculty feedback and response time I am providing the following list to give you an idea of my availability throughout the course. (Remember that you can call 614-688-HELP at any time if you have a technical problem.) Please note that there is a FAQ for this course, and all students are expected to reference both the Syllabus and the FAQ before emailing the course instructor. Due to the volume of emails that can the instructor (and TAs, if any) fields for questions that have been addressed in the Syllabus or FAQ, please do not be surprised to receive a simple email that may not answer your question directly, but rather reminds you to look for the answer to that question in the Syllabus or FAQ.

Grading and feedback Weekly quizzes will be graded immediately. The Discussion Forum and Bioethics in Media/Society class participation assignments are PASS/FAIL, and you can expect to know this grade within 7 to 10 days. For the final exam, you can generally expect a grade within 7 days.

E-mail I do my best to reply to e-mails within 1-3 school days, and I always seek to reply to emails received over the weekend on the first school day of the next week. If I am unable to respond exactly within this timeline, please do not panic. Also, importantly, as a result of this email timeline policy, please note that I cannot be responsible for questions/concerns that are emailed hours before a deadline.

Discussion boards (for Course Participation I & II) I will spot check the discussion boards several times a week. Please be diligent in posting your Discussion Question Short Answers as well as your Bioethics in the Media/Culture as this PASS/FAIL component of the course both measures your class participation and is designed to encourage peer learning. Simply put, your thinking and participation matters immensely in this course as it is inevitable that many of our ethical foundations will be at odds. Learning what your own ethical foundation is (and what that means!) is an important part of the whole course.

Attendance, participation, and discussions Student participation requirements Because this is a distance-education course, your attendance is based on your online activity and participation. The following is a summary of everyone’s expected participation: •

Logging In/Class Participation: 2+ TIMES PER WEEK Be sure you are logging in to the course in Carmen each week in preparation for the Thursday/Sunday deadlines, including weeks with holidays or shortened weeks for whatever reason (during most weeks you will probably log in many times.) If you have an emergency or health situation that might cause you to miss an entire week of class, discuss it with me as soon as possible (note: a doctor’s note or other demonstrable proof of emergency is expected).

7 Office hours and live sessions: OPTIONAL OR FLEXIBLE Any live, scheduled events for the course, including my office hours, are optional; in other words, this course is entirely asynchronous within the weekly module schedule.

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Discussion and communication guidelines The following are my expectations for how we should communicate as a class. Above all, please be respectful and thoughtful. Disagreements are inevitable and expected given the subject matter of bioethics, and one of the main Learning Objectives (# 6) is “to practice skills of collegial & courteous disagreement amidst foundational differences.” Writing style: While there is no need to participate in class discussions as if you were writing a research paper, you should remember to write using good grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Informality (including an occasional emoticon) is fine for non-academic topics.

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Tone and civility: Let's maintain a supportive learning community where everyone feels safe and where people can disagree amicably. Remember that sarcasm doesn't always come across online. • Citing your sources: When we have academic discussions, please cite your sources to back up what you say. (For the textbook or other course materials, list at least the title and page numbers. For online sources, include a link.) • Backing up your work: Consider composing your academic posts in a word processor, where you can save your work, and then copying into the Carmen discussion. •

Course Week/Module schedule Module

Dates

Modules Topics, Readings, Assignments, Deadlines Course Intro: Is there right and wrong? Who judges? Assignments: Read the Course Syllabus

1

8/21

“Judge Not?” First Things 46 (Oct. 1994): 36-41. Assessment: Quiz # 1 (Course Intro) Quiz # 2 Discussion Question # 0 “Intro and Bios” Moral Principles & Theories I

2

8/27

Assignments: Vaughn pp. 3-30: “Moral Reasoning in Bioethics”

8 Assessments: Quiz # 3 Discussion Question Post # 1 Moral Principles & Theories II Assignments: Vaughn pp. 34-52: “Bioethics and Moral Theories” 3

9/3

RadioLab Podcast: “The Primitive Streak” (key words: history of bioethics, consensus on 14-day embryo rule) http://www.radiolab.org/story/primitive-streak/ (30 min) Assessments: Quiz # 4 Media & Culture Post # 1 Reflections on Bioethics: Academic Discipline, Political Agency, Other? Assignments: H. T. Engelhardt, “The Foundations of Bioethics: Rethinking the Meaning of Morality” in The Story of Bioethics: From Seminal Works to Contemporary Explorations, eds. J. Walter & E. Klein, Georgetown University Press, 2003, 91-109. Carl Eliot, “The Tyranny of Expertise” in The Ethics of Bioethics: Mapping the Moral Landscape, eds. L Eckenwiler & F. Cohn, John’s Hopkins Press, 2007, 43-46.

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9/10

H. T. Engelhardt, “Bioethics as Politics: A Critical Assessment” in The Ethics of Bioethics: Mapping the Moral Landscape, eds. L Eckenwiler & F. Cohn, John’s Hopkins Press, 2007, 118-133. View Engelhardt Lecture: “The Search For Global Morality: Bioethics, Moral Diversity, and the Collapse of Consensus” (The U of Chicago, 1/14/11). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRjUIxXYRw Assessments: Quiz # 5 Discussion Question Post # 2 Autonomy I: How much paternalism is too much?

5

9/17

Assignments: Vaughn, pp. 81-93: “Paternalism and Patient Autonomy” Vaughn, pp. 196-208: “Informed Consent”

9 Film (via Secured Media Library): “The Hospital” (1971) Assessments: Quiz # 6 Media & Culture Post # 2 Optional/recommended: Cherry & Engelhardt, “Informed Consent in Texas: Theory and Practice” in The Journal of Medicine & Philosophy 29(2)2004:237-252. Cong, “Doctor-Family-Patient Relationship: The Chinese Paradigm of Informed Consent” in The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 29(2)2004: 149178. Film: “One Few the Cuckoos Nest” (1975) Autonomy II: The whole truth and nothing but the truth? Assignments: Vaughn, pp. 144-154 “Truth Telling and Confidentiality” Fan & Li, “Truth Telling in Medicine: The Confucian View,” The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 29(2)(2004): 179-93. 6

9/24

Assessments: Quiz # 7 Discussion Question Post # 3 Optional/recommended: Ana Iltis, “Towards a Coherent Account of Pediatric Decision Making” in The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 35(5)2010:526-552. Research Ethics Assignments: Vaughn pp. 239-258: “Human Research”

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10/1

RadioLab Podcast: “HeLa Cells/Henrietta Lacks Case” (26 mins) http://www.radiolab.org/story/91716-henriettas-tumor/ Film: “Unforgotten: Twenty-Five Years After Willowbrook” (57 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcjRIZFQcUY Assessments: Quiz # 8 Media & Culture Post # 3

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Optional recommended: Bioe...