Ethics in Science

Historical perspectives and current practices of ethics and social responsibility in science.

Courses

IDNS 6397-01 (33642)

IDNS 4397-01 (33640)

HIST 4394-4 (32489)

Ethics in Science

Historical perspectives and current practices of ethics and social responsibility in science
Fall 2009: MW, 4-5.30 pm, Classroom: SEC 202

-------------------------------------------------------

Instructors: Ioanna Semendeferi E-Mail: isemendeferi@uh.edu
Office Hours: Tu, 3-5 pm Office: Science & Research Building 1, Room: 227E
Office Phone: (713) 743-3544

-------------------------------------------------------

Description

Science, technology, and medicine are driving forces in our society. They inspire hopes but also fears. They are used but also abused. Billions are spent for research and practice. What is the dark side of science, technology, and medicine? How do scientists, engineers, and physicians cope with it? What are their ethical dilemmas? How the current ethical standards and practices originated? Using history, this course addresses some of the above questions and attempts to enrich the understanding of ethics and social responsibility in science, technology, and medicine. Furthermore, it links up to present standards and practices and offers multi-faceted training and experiences, which would be indispensable to the young scientist throughout his/her career. The course is a rare combination of in-depth historical-philosophical perspectives coupled with hands-on experiences. It aims to teach students how to deal effectively with issues pertaining to human/animal experiments, peer review, paper authorship, conflict of interest and other big career items not only for the time being but also for life, as these are in a state of continuous flux.

 

Requirements

The course will incorporate lectures, debates, presentation of documentary films, mentored experiences, expert panels, and hands-on clinics.

Debate Classes

For some topics, there will be one class exclusively devoted to debate (please see specifics in the Course Outline section below). The debate will take place between individual students or groups of students and the instructor will act as the moderator.
Of course, aside from the dates of the “Debate Classes”, students should be prepared to talk in every class: They should read carefully the assigned material (book chapters, articles) and bring comments and issues for discussion at each class.

One-Page Position Statements

For some topics, at the beginning of the “Debate Class”, students will provide the instructor with a one-page position statement on the particular topic (please see the specifics in the Course Outline section below).

Exams

There will be two take-home essays: One mid-term essay and one final essay (please see specifics in the Course Outline section below).

Mentored Experiences

Students will be assigned mentors who will help them in scientific paper review and Institutional Review Board (IRB) formulation exercises in their areas of interest. The results of these assignments will be presented in a special class.

Grading

  • Debates and one-page position statements: 25%;
  • Mentored experiences: 25%;
  • Mid-term take-home essay: 25%;
  • Final take-home essay: 25%.

Prerequisite: Instructor’s approval.

Maximum number of students: 40 students.

Recommended Approach

In the debates and in the writings the student should try to develop thoughtful arguments and comments. He/she should avoid presenting a simple summary of case facts. The goal is to analyze the ethical issues involved in each case study and develop nuanced interpretations. In other words, the student “should become part” of each historical episode and then develop his/her own personal code of ethics.
In the experiential exercises (paper reviews and IRBs) the student should work closely both with the assigned mentor and the instructor.

 

-----------------------------

Course Outline

TOPIC 1: Ethics and Responsibility in Scientific Research and Practice

  • M, Aug 24 - LECTURE
  • W, Aug 26 - FILM: “Silent Spring” [1992]
  • M, Aug 31 - DEBATE CLASS


REQUIRED READINGS (Copy-Center Package)

  • [1] Bernard E. Rollin, Science and Ethics (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006): pp. 1-10 (Ch. 1); pp. 11-30 (Ch. 2); pp. 247-274 (Ch. 10)
  • [2] Jessica Wang, “Ethics and Social Responsibility in Science,” in Marc Rothenberg (ed.), The History of Science in the United States: An Encyclopedia (New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 2001), pp. 190-193.

RECOMMENDED READINGS (Available through Amazon.com)

  • o Allegra Goodman (2006): Intuition. Dial Press, New York

 

TOPIC 2: Authorship, Publication, and Peer Review

  • W, Sept 2 – LECTURE
  • W, Sept 9 - PANEL DISCUSSION: Professors share publication/review experiences/ASSIGNMENT of MENTORS and PAPERS FOR REVIEW


REQUIRED READINGS

  • [3] Notes downloadable from WebCT

 

THEME: Treatment of Animals and Humans (Topics 3-6)

 

TOPIC 3: Questionable Medical Experiments: The Case of Human Radiation Experiments

  • M, Sept 14 – FILM: “The Day after Trinity” [1980]
  • W, Sept 16 - LECTURE and SHORT FILM: “The Atom and You” [1953]
  • M, Sept 21 - DEBATE CLASS


REQUIRED READINGS (Copy-Center Package)

  • [4] Eileen Welsome, The Plutonium Files: America’s Secret Medical Experiments in the Cold War (New York: Delta-Random House Inc., 1999):
    • pp. 1-11 (Prologue);
    • pp. 42-54 (Ch. 4);
    • pp. 75-81 (Ch. 7);
    • pp. 120-123 (Ch. 12);
    • pp. 189-228 (Ch. 19-Ch. 22);
    • pp. 383-402 (Ch. 38);
    • pp. 447-470 (Ch. 42-45);
    • pp. 481-489 (Epilogue).

 

TOPIC 4: Questionable Medical Experiments: The Case of Syphilis Experiments

  • W, Sept 23 - LECTURE
  • M, Sept 28 - FILM: “The Deadly Deception” [1993] & “Tuskegee” [1998]
  • W, Sept 30 - DEBATE CLASS


REQUIRED READINGS (Copy-Center Package)

  • [5] James H. Jones, Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment (New York: The Free Press-Simon & Schuster Inc., 1993):
    • pp. 1-15 (Ch. 1);
    • pp. 113-131 (Ch. 8);
    • pp. 151-170 (Ch. 10);
    • pp. 171-187 (Ch. 11);
    • pp. 206-219 (Ch. 13).

 

TOPIC 5: Current Practices: Animal and Human Subjects - Stem Cell

  • M, Oct 5 – LECTURE/ASSIGNMENT of IRB EXERCISES
  • W, Oct 7 – PANEL DISCUSSION: IRB serving members share insights


REQUIRED READINGS

  • [6] Notes downloadable from WebCT
  • [7] Online NIH Ethics Training

 

Topic 6: Data Management

  • M, Oct 12 – LECTURE
  • W, Oct 14 – DATA MANAGEMENT CLINIC


REQUIRED READINGS

  • [8] Notes downloadable from WebCT
  • M, Oct 19 – DUE IRB EXERCISES & PAPER REVIEWS/PRESENTATIONS

 

THEME: Conflict of Interest (Topics 7-9)


TOPIC 7: Conflict of Interest: The Case of the Atomic Energy Commission and the Civilian Nuclear-Power Industry

  • W, Oct 21 – LECTURE
  • M, Oct 26 – FILM – “Three Mile Island Revisited” [1992] & “Meltdown at Three Mile Island” [1999]
  • W, Oct 28 - DEBATE CLASS/DUE MID-TERM EXAM (Take-Home Essay)


REQUIRED READINGS (Copy-Center Package)

  • [9] Allan M. Winkler, Life Under a Cloud: American Anxiety about the Atom (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1999): pp. 136-164 (Ch. 6)
  • [10] J. Samuel Walker, Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004): pp. 1-33 (Ch. 1 & first few pages of Ch. 2)
  • [11] Jerome Price, The Antinuclear Movement (Boston, MA: Twayne Publishers-G.K.Hall & Company, 1982): pp. 65-83.
  • [12] Ioanna Semendeferi, “Legitimating a Nuclear Critic: John Gofman, Radiation Safety, and Cancer Risks,” Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences 38:2 (May 2008): pp. 259-301 (Downloadable from WebCT)

 

TOPIC 8: Unethical Underpinnings of Engineering Disasters: The Case of the Challenger Space-Shuttle Accident

  • M, Nov 2 - LECTURE
  • W, Nov 4 - FILM: “Challenger: The Untold Story” [2006]
  • M, Nov 9 - DEBATE CLASS/DUE ONE-PAGE POSITION STATEMENT

REQUIRED READINGS (Copy-Center Package)

  • [14] Diane Vaughan, The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997): pp. 1-32 (Ch. 1)
  • [15] Richard P. Feynman, “What Do You Care What Other People Think”? Further Adventures of a Curious Character (New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2001): pp. 113-237 (Part 2)

 

TOPIC 9: Bias and Conflict of Interest: Current State in Biomedicine

  • W, Nov 11 - LECTURE

REQUIRED READINGS

  • [13] Notes downloadable from WebCT

 

THEME: Public Health (Topics 10-11)


TOPIC 10: Revealing Public-Health Hazards: The Case of Tobacco

  • M, Nov 16 - LECTURE
  • W, Nov 18 - FILM: “Tobacco Wars” [1997] & “The Nicotine War” [1995]
  • M, Nov 23 - DEBATE CLASS/DUE ONE-PAGE POSITION STATEMENT


REQUIRED READINGS (Copy-Center Package)

  • [16] Allan Brandt, The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product that Defined America (New York: Basic Books, 2007):
    • pp. 131-157 (Ch. 5);
    • pp. 159-207 (Ch. 6);
    • pp. 211-239 (Ch. 7)

 

TOPIC 11: Revealing Public-Health Hazards: The Case of Lead

  • M, Nov 30 - LECTURE
  • W, Dec 2 - FILM: “Trade Secrets” [2001]
  • M, Dec 7 - DEBATE CLASS

REQUIRED READINGS (Copy-Center Package)

  • [17] Gerard Markowitz and David Rosner, Deceit and Denial: The Deadly Politics of Industrial Pollution (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003):
    • pp. 1-11 (Introduction);
    • pp. 12-35 (Ch. 1);
    • pp. 36-63 (Ch. 2);
    • pp. 108-138 (Ch. 4).
  • M, Dec 7 - DUE FINAL EXAM (Take-Home Essay)