700.650.01
Race and Bioethics
Location
East Baltimore
Term
3rd Term
Department
Berman Institute (Bioethics)
Credit(s)
3
Academic Year
2024 - 2025
Instruction Method
In-person
Wednesday, 3:30 - 6:20pm
Auditors Allowed
Yes, with instructor consent
Available to Undergraduate
Yes
Grading Restriction
Letter Grade or Pass/Fail
Course Instructor(s)
Contact Name
Frequency Schedule
Every Year
Resources
Prerequisite
Introduction to Ethical Theory
Race has been used to categorize humans for at least 200 years. Bioethics focuses on the moral and ethical dimensions of health and medicine. How can the field of bioethics help us to understand the meanings and uses of race? How do issues of race and racism matter for bioethics? Because many bioethical debates revolve around what it means to be human, understanding race is relevant to bioethics. In this course, we will examine the varied meanings and uses of race, as well as how bioethics has and has not engaged with these meanings and uses. We will explore how contemporary bioethics can engage more substantively with race and its implications, specifically racism and health inequities.
Focuses on the moral and ethical dimensions of health and medicine, but because many bioethical debates revolve around what it means to be human, understanding race is relevant to bioethics. Examines the varied meanings and uses of race, as well as how bioethics has and has not engaged with these meanings and uses. Explores how contemporary bioethics can engage with bioethics more substantively with race and its implications, specifically racism and health inequities.
Learning Objectives
Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
- Identify multiple meanings and uses of race and racial hierarchies
- Identify how bioethics has and has not engaged with the topics or race and racism
- Analyze how moral and ethical theories can be applied to racial discrimination, specifically in healthcare
- Use bioethics concepts to present multiple viewpoints on an issue focusing on race and healthcare
Methods of Assessment
This course is evaluated as follows:
- 20% Participation
- 20% Student Discussion Leadership Presentation
- 15% Reading Analysis One-Pagers (3)
- 5% Final Paper Outline
- 5% Final Paper Sloppy Rough Draft
- 35% Final Paper