Bioethics

Course Overview

Ethics is the study of what one should do as an individual and as a member of society. Bioethics refers to the subset of this field that focuses on medicine, public health, and the life sciences. In this course, students explore contemporary, pressing issues in bioethics, including the “right to die,” policies around vaccination and organ transplantation, competence to consent to care, human experimentation and animal research, and genetic technologies. Through reading, writing, research, and discussion, students will explore the fundamental concepts and questions in bioethics, deepen their understanding of biological concepts, strengthen their critical-reasoning skills, and learn to engage in respectful dialogue with people whose views may differ from their own. The course culminates with a student-driven exploration into a particular bioethical issue, recognizing the unique role that bioethics plays within the field of ethics.

UC-approved course

Course Outline

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Competencies

• Reflect on and take responsibility for your learning and that of others
• Communicate and empathize with people who have perspectives and experiences different from your own
• Curate and create content relevant to real-world issues
• Organize your time and tasks to learn independently
• Leverage digital tools to support and show your learning
• Applies a set concepts and skills aimed at analyzing a specific case or issue in bioethics
• Develops cohesive arguments with strong justifications for positions taken on cases or issues in bioethics
• Demonstrates an awareness of and appreciation for the complexity associated with issues in bioethics