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Bioethics Minor

The Bioethics Minor offers students across all majors tools of interdisciplinary analysis   

     to critically evaluate the goals of medicine, explore the moral responsibility of science

     and discern the relevance of public debate in a democratic society.

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Meet the Director

Nicholas Brown, PhD

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Program Goals

 

 

We seek to create a scholarly community of professors and students who contribute to the life of the Institute, as well as the University. Our goal is to facilitate faculty and student intellectual growth and professional development as they engage in contemporary issues in bioethics.

 

We have three specific goals for students in this minor. The first (1) is to equip them with a foundational understanding of bioethics which includes substantive knowledge of the subject matter as well as strategies for making interdisciplinary connections. In addition, (2) we nurture the critical thinking, writing and research skills that are necessary to approach complex questions at the intersection of science, medicine, and ethics. Finally, (3) we encourage ethical engagement as citizens with a shared sense of responsibility for cultivating a just society. 

About the Minor

Integrating a challenging liberal arts and

science curriculum with a commitment to pursue

the common good, our minor invites students to:

  • Appreciate the complexity of moral decision-making and the importance of dialogue among different moral positions.

 

  •   Explore the evolution of life’s key questions: What does it mean to be human? Who gets to decide? How am I accountable for these answers?

 

  •  Examine ethical issues at the intersection of science, philosophy, theology, law and the arts.

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Why Minor in Bioethics?

You take “bioethics” with you wherever you go.

 

 Interested in law? There are legal ramifications with genetic profiling, data storage and confidentiality. Thinking of clinical research? Ethical reflection is critical when deciding what kinds of research should be attempted and the best way to do it. Want to put your writing and filming skills to use? Health and science literacy is increasingly important as the general public struggles to engage in meaningful discussion about advances in medicine and technology. Looking for a modern application of traditional philosophical thought? The questions haven’t changed much, but the way they unfold in a rapidly changing world impacts the answers. Fighting for social justice? The rights of individual persons require the context of the greater good; decisions about medicine, research and public health deserve a conscientious public forum.

A minor in Bioethics provides you with the critical thinking skills, reflective experience, and moral vocabulary necessary to engage new and emerging questions of ethics in a variety of fields. The Bioethics minor is an interdisciplinary subject, open to students in all majors: the Humanities, English, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, History, Theological Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, Biochemistry, Biology, Health and Human Sciences, Engineering, and the Pre-Law and Pre-Medical, Pre-Dental Post-Baccalaureate Programs. 

Minor Requirements

The Bioethics minor requires students to maintain and average of C (2.0) in five courses (18-20 units), which include two Bioethics Core courses, two required General Core courses and one Elective course. 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

TWO REQUIRED BIOETHICS CORE CLASSES

•        BIOE 1000 Introduction to Bioethics 

                              (Theological Inquiry)

•        BIOE 3000  Advanced Topics in Bioethics

                              (Interdisciplinary Connections) 

2 Core Classes (ANY 2)

•        FFYS 1000 Health Psychology

•        FFYS 1000 Biotechnology Issues

•        PHIL 3100 Ethics 

•        PHIL 3105 Ethics of Love & Marriage

•        PHIL 3110 Environmental Ethics

•        PHIL 3115 Ethics for Engineering/Science

•        PHIL 3145 Topics in Applied Ethics

•        PHIL 3998 Science & Religion 

•        PHIL 3998 Race, Sex & Gender

•        THST 3238 Theology & Science

•       JWST 4370 Nazi Germany & Questions of Conscience

 

1 ELECTIVES (ANY 1)

•        BIOL 585 Issues in Biotech Seminar

•        HIST 4433 Health & Disease in American Culture

•        PHIL 3200 Philosophy of Science

•        PHIL 4210/CATH 4998 Science and Religion

•        PHIL 4830 Philosophy of Mind

•        POLS 3350  Elderly and the Law

•        SCEM 398 Healthcare & Humanities

•        SOCL 3250 Health and Social Justice

•        SOCL 3150 Sociology of Health & Illness

•        PSYC 3998 Science & Religion: Psychological Perspectives

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Our Faculty

The Bioethics Minor engages faculty from disciplines within the liberal arts and sciences, who approach the study of bioethics from the unique perspectives of their field including Law, Medicine, Philosophy, Theology, Public Policy and Patient/Subject Advocacy.

 

Our faculty bring a mixture of scholarly expertise and real-world experience to the classroom, making for a dynamic learning experience where theoretical understanding and critical inquiry are applied to contemporary practical issues.

Courses

BIOE 1000 Introduction to Bioethics Course Description:  While now largely considered a secular discipline, it is important to recognize how the field of bioethics was and remains inescapably theological in its origins. Indeed, some of the earliest and most influential bioethicists were Roman Catholic and Protestant theologians who viewed their work as Christian theology proper inasmuch as they sought to probe and answer a number of fundamental existential, metaphysical and normative questions [...] Click HERE to continue reading this course description and to download the course syllabus. 

Contact Us

        If you are considering this minor or you are simply interested in bioethics we would love to hear from you! Browse the rest of our Hub site to learn more about bioethics and catch up on the latest bioethics news and events around the world. For more information, please call 310-258-5416 or visit us on the University's website:

          https://bellarmine.lmu.edu/bioethics/academics/bioethicsminor/

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